Tri-Cities has lowest cost of living in Northwest

Living in the Tri-Cities can help you stretch your dollar.

The latest ACCRA Cost of Living Index, which tracks cost of living trends nationwide, says the Tri-Cities still is the least expensive place to live in the Pacific Northwest.

The index gave the Tri-Cities a 88.9 composite rating in its third quarter listing.

Though the cost of transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services increased marginally in the area in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, the declines in housing and grocery costs helped the Tri-Cities improve its current rating by 1.0 point.

In the second quarter, the Tri-Cities composite rating was 89.9.

More than 350 communities are included in the index.

Spokane at 93.5; Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton at 95.1 and Boise at 96.0 are the closest competitors of the Tri-Cities.

This story was originally published October 23, 2008 at 3:36 AM with the headline "Tri-Cities has lowest cost of living in Northwest."