Honolulu ranks as
second costliest
U.S. city

New York 'wins'
in Runzheimer survey

Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu is the second most costly city in the United States, after New York, to buy a typical family's bundle of goods and services, according to a recent survey.

Giving the average U.S. city a cost-of-living factor of 100, Honolulu came in at 116.2, according to the survey by Runzheimer International, a Rochester, Wis.-based management consulting firm. Honolulu's ranking was well under New York's 131.9 but much higher than the next expensive cities. Washington, D.C., was in third place at 112.5, followed by San Francisco at 110 and San Jose, Calif., at 109.8.

The least-expensive cities were Billings, Mont., at 91; Janesville, Wis., at 91.6; and Fayetteville, N.C., at 92.1.

The Runzheimer index is based on typical purchases of a family of four, including food, furnishings, clothing, services such as medical care, and normal family operating expenses.

It does not include housing, however, since Runzheimer reports separately on that. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, housing costs make up a larger part of household expenses in Honolulu than they do anywhere else. Also not included were taxes and transportation expenses, also separately reported.

"Another way of viewing these cost differentials is that for every $1.32 you spend in Manhattan, you require only 91 cents in Billings to purchase the same goods or services," said Art Balicki, a Runzheimer consultant.