Cost of Living in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

Published: September 17, 2020 8:02 pm

Cost of Living in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

Dickson City is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, with a population of 5,868. The total cost of housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, taxes, and other necessities for a single adult in Dickson City is $33,672 a year — less than the annual cost of living for Pennsylvania of $36,278 and less than the national figure of $38,433.

Using cost of living data from the nonprofift think tank Economic Policy Institute, 24/7 Wall St. estimated the cost of living in Dickson City and over 29,000 other cities and towns in the US.

Housing Costs in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

Housing is one of the largest components of cost of living. In Dickson City, the median home value is $138,400, less than the national median home value of $204,900.

Renting is a sometimes lower cost alternative to homeownership. In Dickson City, some 37.50% of occupied homes are rented, about the same as the 36.2% national renter rate. The typical renter in Dickson City spends $774 a month on housing, about the same as the $1,023 national median monthly rent.

In addition to home value, one of the largest determinants of housing affordability is area income. While nationwide the price of a typical U.S. home is 3.4 times the $60,293 U.S. median household income, housing affordability ratios range from approximately 1.0 in the least expensive cities to more than 10.0 in the country's most expensive markets. In Dickson City, the median household income is $46,325, 3.0 times the median home value.

Transportation Costs in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

Transportation can also be a significant component of cost of living. In Dickson City, 93.40% of commuters drive to work, compared to 85.5% of commuters nationwide. An estimated 84.40% of workers commute to jobs outside of Dickson City, a larger share than the 43.7% share of commuters nationwide who live and work in different cities. The average commute in Dickson City is 17.9 minutes long, compared to the 26.6-minute average commute nationwide. Taking into account the cost of gas, as well as public transit and car maintenance, the EPI estimates that a single person in Dickson City spends $9,277 a year on transportation, about the same as the national average of $9,760.

Health Care Costs in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

Out-of-pocket health care costs and insurance premiums — assuming at least a basic level of health insurance coverage — are slightly higher than they are on average nationwide in Dickson City but in line with what they are across Pennsylvania as a whole.

For a single adult living in the area, average health care costs come out to $4,466 per year, compared to an average of $4,616 across Pennsylvania and $4,266 nationwide.

Child care Costs in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

For families with children, child care adds thousands of dollars to overall annual spending. In Dickson City, the average annual cost of child care for two children — one 4 year old and one 8 year old — is $16,884, about $900 less than the comparable average of $17,820 across all of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, across the U.S. as a whole, childcare expenses for two children averages $15,853 per year.

Food Costs in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

Food is another every day expense that has a significant impact on overall cost of living. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that the cost of food varies from city to city and town to town.

In Dickson City, a single adult spends an average of $3,238 on food annually, and a family of four spends $9,350 on average. For context, average annual food expenditure across Pennsylvania and the U.S., respectively, are $3,223 and $3,240 for a single adult, and $9,308 and $9,354 for a family of four. These estimates are calculated for a nutritionally adequate diet of food purchased at a grocery store for at-home preparation.

Taxes in Dickson City, Pennsylvania

Few expenses vary as much from city to city and town to town as taxes. Accounting for state and federal income taxes, as well as Social Security contributions and Medicare payroll taxes, the average adult working in Dickson City, Pennsylvania pays $5,575 annually — relatively little compared to the statewide average of $6,109.

It is important to note that these calculations do not include other common taxes such as property, sales, and excise taxes. Accounting for these taxes, while excluding taxes levied at the federal level, Dickson City residents live in a state with a modest average tax burden. Per capita state tax collections in Pennsylvania total $3,179 per year, compared to the $3,151 average across all states.

Methodology

To estimate the cost of housing, food, transportation, health care, child care, taxes, and other necessities, 24/7 Wall St. assigned county-level Economic Policy Institute data to cities, towns, villages and Census-designated places based on boundary definitions from the U.S. Census Bureau. For places that span multiple counties, data was aggregated based on the percentage of boundary overlap.

Cost of Living in Dickson City, Pennsylvania