Durango Cost of Living

A Cost of Living Index (COLI) measures relative price levels for a "basket" of consumer goods and services in different areas at a given point in time. A reference point is calculated by taking the average cost for the "basket" of goods for all participating places.Then the participating areas are compared against this reference point and are read as a percentage of the average for all participating places. For example, if the average of all costs for all participants were $43,000 it would be given an index value of 1.0. Individual cities or areas are then compared and their measured costs indexed as a percent of the benchmark.

Cost of Living Studies are a single point in time study and not used to measure price
changes over time. Cost of Living studies are very sensitive to the number of participants because the average for all participating places (the reference point) will change depending on the number of participants. The Cost of Living Index (COLI) for La Plata County measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services for the county compared to the state average. As of December 2002, The Cost of Living Index (COLI) for the State of Colorado was recorded at 1.00% with the Cost of Living Index (COLI) for La Plata County being recorded at 0.990%.