If you have the feeling it’s getting harder to make ends meet in your household expenses, you probably are not imagining it. The State of Wyoming, Economic Analysis Division reported that Wyoming experienced a 3.3 percent increase in annual inflation from the second quarter of 2017 to the second quarter of 2018. Inflation is measured over six consumer categories in the Wyoming cost-of-living Index. Statewide annual inflation rates by consumer category for the second quarter of 2018 include Transportation at 8.7%, Apparel at 6.6%, Medical at 3.6%, Housing at 2.1%, Food at 2.1%, and Recreation & Personal Care declining by -0.3%. The Comparative Cost of Living Index for the second quarter of 2018 ranked Teton County as the county with the highest value of all items compared, which indicates that the cost of living in Teton County was estimated 58 percent higher than the statewide average for the quarter. Sublette County ranked second. Not surprisingly, housing carries the largest weight in a consumer’s budget and typically drives the overall comparative cost-of-living index values. Once again, Teton County was at the top of the list among Wyoming counties for those costs.
