St. Lucie County-Hutchinson Island Cost of Living

Stuart, Ft Pierce, Port St Lucie and St. Lucie County Cost of Living

The cost of living index is based on the composite price of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, clothing and entertainment.

Cost of living indexes will generally be higher in areas that offer access to beaches, culture, arts and recreation. In addition areas, that offer a wider variety of services such as health and education will run higher due to higher wages, and increased quality of living.

Cost of living indexing explanation
A figure of 100 points is used as an average both for the USA and Florida. For example:
Boise Idaho is ranked at a 99
Boston Mass is rated at 240
San Francisco at 217
Statewide, Florida cities come in from a low of 90 and up.
One way to compare Florida areas to salary requirements

For example-If you were relocating from Portland Oregon (whose rate 1s 94.0) to Orlando, and you currently make $50,000 per year, the formula is as follows
Take the destination index, in this case Orlando-94.0 and divide by Portland’s index-120, then multiply by a salary of $50,000. This will give you a figure of $39,166 which would be required to make in Orlando to have the same quality of life.
See comparable Florida statewide
* Re cost of living--in some areas Real Estate has went up dramatically however costs that factor in such as food, transportation, rents etc have not increased at the same rate-so in some areas, even though housing is expensive, the overall rating may still be low

2007 stats per Sperlings best Places http://www.bestplaces.net/

Boca Raton-154.74
Bradenton-114
Cape Coral-Ft Myers-108.0
Ft Lauderdale-132.0
Fort Walton-Destin-120
Jacksonville metro-94.0
Big Pine Key fl-132.46
Key Largo-146.0
Key West-168.0
Marathon fl-162.06
Miami metro-138.0
Melbourne-92.72
Naples Fl-250.59
Orlando metro-94.0
Palm Bay-84.56
Palm Coast-Flagler-125.01
Panama City-86.35
Pensacola metro-82.0
Sarasota-108.75
Tampa 94.60
Stuart 146.63
St Pete-Clearwater-91.58
Vero-Beach Indian River-122.87
West Palm Beach metro-112.05
(Population Weighted-State Average=100
See national comparisons
Cost of living (100 = nationwide average)

* New York, NY -164.50
* Long Beach, CA -135.71
* Palo Alto, CA -234.42
* Boston, MA -127.60
* Malibu, CA -492.80
* San Francisco, -187.23
* Greenwich, CT 215
* Chicago, IL -126.45
* Dallas Tx -92,94
* Atlanta Ga -112.21

For more information about cost of living go to either
Sperlings best Places http://www.bestplaces.net/
or Accra's site at http://www.coli.org

• Ad Valorem Millage Rates (2004):   
• Government 5.6020
• Schools 7.5920
• Special 1.0692
• Total  14.2632
• Ad Valorem Tax Exemption: Yes
• Retail Sales Tax (Local Option) 0.0
• Local Communications Service Tax 1.8
  As of 2004, the total Cost of living index was 99.82

Above stats from http://www.eflorida.com/profiles/CountyReport.asp?CountyID=67&Display=allSee For more information about cost of living stats go to http://www.coli.org

• Housing. Minimum two bedroom single family homes in Martin/St Lucie Counties.
• As of August 2009, the median sold price is $157,600

• Utilities.
  For water and sewer go to
• Indiantown Company
• City of Stuart Water Dept.
• St. Lucie County Utilities & Solid Waste Dept.
• South Martin Regional Utilities
• Hobe Sound Water Company
• Hydratech Utilitie
• For electric go to Florida Power & Light
•  Gas Companies:
• TECO/People's Gas
• Tri-County Gas    
• St. Lucie County Petroleum & Propane

In conclusion, with the recreational and job opportunities and the quality of life, mixed in with low housing costs, the Treasure Coast is a great option.

What if you never had to go back from your vacation? You can! You can live the vacation.