
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 2, 1991                   TAG: 9102020077
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROANOKE AREA LIVING COSTS LESS THAN OTHER STATE AREAS

Living costs in the Roanoke Valley have inched upward from a year ago but they are lower than in five other Virginia areas measured by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association.

The average costs of 59 items in a half-dozen categories during last year's third quarter gave Roanoke a composite index of 96.6 points, down 3.4 from the national average of 100.

Roanoke's lowest costs were in the utilities component, amounting to an idex of 81.9 points. Health care was 89.6; groceries, 95.3; miscellaneous services, 98.2; transportation, 100.4, and housing, 102.9.

The components are weighted, giving more than half of the index points to miscellaneous goods and services and housing.

In the other Virginia metro areas participating in the index, Lynchburg had an index of 99.4; Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, 102.9; Fredericksburg, 109.9, and Northern Virginia along with Prince William County, 114.5.

Roanoke's 96.6 point index was up from 96.3 in the second quarter of last year and 96.5 a year earlier.

Over the year, the price of a pound of coffee rose 5 cents to $2.61 in the Roanoke Valley. A pound of bacon took a big jump from $1.82 to $2.97 but a dozen eggs decreased from 93 cents to 87 cents.

A carton of cigarettes was up from $10.51 to $12.10. A six-pack of beer rose from $2.37 to $2.89. And a man's shirt increased from $24.25 to $26.

The index of goods and services excludes taxes and non-consumer expenditures. Local information for the quarterly index was collected by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Among the most expensive places to live in the July-September quarter, according to the index, were Long Island, N.Y., with an index of 153.7; San Diego, Calif., 131.2, and Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif., 128.8.

by CNB