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 Cass County offers some of the lowest living costs in a metropolitan area that already ranks among the nation’s most affordable. Metro Kansas City boasts a composite cost of living of 95.1—25th in the ACCRA’s cost of living index that ranks 36 of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. Cass also benefits from Missouri’s overall affordability. In the second quarter of 2006, Missouri had the fifth lowest cost of living in the United States (of the 49 states and the District of Columbia surveyed by ACCRA). In general, the most expensive areas to live are New England, Alaska, Hawaii and the West Coast. The least expensive areas continue to be the Midwest and Southern states. Leading these low costs is Cass County’s affordable housing. Cass County’s home prices have increased steadily since 2000 along with the number of permits issued, a reflection of a steady market upswing from early starter homes to a market leaning more toward “step-up” homes. Yet Cass County’s $168,900 average cost for new homes remains below national and regional averages. Other housing costs were reasonable as well. Cass County’s fair market rent in 2006 for a one-bedroom apartment was $612 a month, $703 for a two-bedroom apartment and $951 for a three-bedroom apartment. The area’s economic health tends to provide a positive balance to the low expense figures. According to a recent study by the University of Missouri Extension Center, Cass County has experienced the Kansas City region’s highest increase in employment, a 22.5 percent increase in jobs. U.S. Census figures also show Cass County doing well, with the median household income of $49,562, well above the national average of $41,994 and Missouri’s median of $37,934. Cass County’s population growth is its most dramatic statistic, and promises to remain so for several years. Cass County ranked sixth of all Missouri counties in terms of population growth between 2004 and 2005, reaching an estimated 94,232 in July 2005. That 14.8 percent growth was one of the highest in Missouri, and with housing permits continuing to increase even in a year that was slow nationally, this upward trend is likely to continue. |
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