Alaska's cost of living.

PositionALASKA TRENDS

Most any Alaska resident would agree that living here is expensive. The costs associated with getting even the basics to our homes and businesses are passed on to us, the consumers, making Alaska the third most expensive state in the union in terms of cost of living after Hawaii and California, according to recent data from the Alaska Department of Labor& Workforce Development. Anchorage residents spend nearly half of their income on housing, with the rest parceled out between transportation, food and beverages, medical care, recreation, and other goods and services (including clothing). For those looking to purchase a home. Bethel boasts the least expensive homes for sale at about $239,333 compared to the most expensive place to buy a home Anchorage, where the average home price is $383,830, Kodiak had the highest rent for an average two-bedroom apartment in 2016 at $1,429, When it comes to buying staples such as eggs, milk, bread, and gas. prices vary by region A gallon of milk in Barrow cost $10.29 in March 2017 compared to $3.69 in Anchorage.

Meanwhile, gas in Barrow set drivers back $6.50 per gallon during the same time period compared to $2 55 in Anchorage. Alaska's GDP fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2016, this time by 5 percent to $50.7 billion. This marks the longest downward trajectory for GDP in the state's history, according to Alaska Economic Trends.

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Alaska cities are expensive, but other US cities now higher

The Council for Community and Economic Research, or C2ER, is the most widely cited source for comparing the cost of living in different cities. C2ER conducts detailed surveys of more than 250 US cities, including four in Alaska: Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, and Kodiak.

Is there really an 'average consumer'?

All cost-of-living measures have their shortcomings. No two consumers spend their money alike, and no index can accurately capture all the differences.

For example, the average household in Kotzebue may spend money differently from the average household in Petersburg, and they may differ even more dramatically from a family in Seattle. An index may or may not take these differences into account, depending on how sophisticated it is.

Also, in Alaska's case, none of these measures take the consumption of subsistence goods into account.

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Current decline the longest in Alaska's modern history

The four-year decline in the...

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