While many Odessans feel the continued pinch of inflation sparked by Bidenomics, a recent study by The Council For Community And Economic Research shows that Odessa is fairing better than many areas of the country in terms of living affordability.
Each quarter The Council gathers information from 274 urban areas. Locally, the Odessa Development Corporation (ODC) helps gather and submit the data for Odessa. The composite index is based on six component categories – housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.
In addition to an overall cost of goods and services, each quarter the index focuses on particular areas of interest for a deeper dive. For the second quarter 2023 survey the index focused on two detail areas: grocery costs and appliance repair costs. In terms of food cost Odessa ranked just below the average at 97.5%.
Odessa residents placed exactly at the average for appliance repair costs while Midland, interestingly, placed higher at 110 meaning that, on average, it cost more to get an appliance repaired in Midland than in Odessa.
Odessa Development Corporation President Kris Crow stated “It’s important to gather this information on our local cost of living because this is something that companies looking to relocate or expand to Odessa are interested in. While it sometimes seems that the prices in Odessa are high the reality is that Odessa is well positioned below the national averages and this creates a favorable environment for companies who are concerned about their employee’s cost of living.”