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Improving the ACCRA U.S. regional cost of living index

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  • Christina Daly
  • Keith R. Phillips

Abstract

The broadest and most commonly used measure of the cost of living across U.S. cities is the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association (ACCRA) index. This index is used by business and government organizations and the media to rank living standards and real wages across U.S. cities. In this study we reduce the aggregation bias in the index by calculating national average prices for the 59 item prices using population weights instead of the equal weight formula used by ACCRA. This correction results in a decline in the index values for all cities and changes in the rankings and bi-variate comparisons between city pairs. In some high-cost cities the index values decrease by over 25 percent, and in 74 percent of the cities the rank changes by greater than one spot.

Suggested Citation

  • Christina Daly & Keith R. Phillips, 2009. "Improving the ACCRA U.S. regional cost of living index," Working Papers 0902, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:feddwp:0902
    Note: Published as: Phillips, Keith R. and Christina Daly (2010), "Improving the ACCRA U.S. Regional Cost of Living Index," Journal of Economic and Social Measurement 35 (1-2): 33-42.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael Raper, 1999. "Self-selection bias and cost-of-living estimates," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 23(1), pages 64-77, March.
    2. Koo, Jahyeong & Phillips, Keith R & Sigalla, Fiona D, 2000. "Measuring Regional Cost of Living," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 18(1), pages 127-136, January.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Michael Amior & Alan Manning, 2018. "The Persistence of Local Joblessness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1942-1970, July.

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