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The latest results from the ACCRA (American Chamber of Commerce Research Association), Cost of Living Index released this week by the Economic Development Commission shows the continuing impact of the rising Canadian dollar and a rapidly increasing real estate market on the cost of living for Kelowna compared to many American cities.
Three hundred and fourteen North American cities participated in the ACCRA fourth quarter comparison study. Of the four British Columbia cities (Chilliwack, Kamloops, Kelowna and Vancouver) that participated, only Vancouver at 111.9 is more expensive to live than Kelowna at 110.7. A comparison chart appears below:
The ACCRA Cost of Living Index provides a measure of relative differences between urban areas. The Index is based on comparisons of consumer goods and services appropriate for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile.
Kelowna led the Canadian pack for a higher cost of living, paying the most for miscellaneous goods and services as well as transportation, including gasoline. As the following comparisons show, moving from Kelowna to a number of key United States locations is still a bargain:
ACCRA Cost of Living
Composite Index Fourth Quarter 2004
Average for 314 Urban Areas = 100
Overall, Kelowna continues to rank well, but like many Canadian cities it has been impacted by the rise in the Canadian dollar and the continued rapid escalation of housing prices," says EDC Executive Director Robert Fine.
"The EDC will continue to use this data to attract highly skilled employees from larger metropolitan areas where lifestyle impacts are even greater. At the same time, we continue to boast our Kelowna #1 ranking by KPMG as the most cost competitive place to do business in the Pacific Region of North America."
Each quarter, over 50,000 prices are collected by ACCRA from communities across the United States and Canada. Of the two participating cities in British Columbia from the last reporting period, Chilliwack saw a quarterly increase of 7%, while Kelowna rose 9.8%.
