Surveys are conducted quarterly: March, June, September, December

 

Cost of Food at Home for a Week in Alaska

March 1998

22 Communities Surveyed

 

Up to three stores in each of twenty two communities were surveyed during March of 1998 for the cost of a specific set of food and non-food items. The 104 food items selected were taken, with some modification, from the USDA Low-cost Food Plan which is itself based on a nationwide survey of eating habits of Americans, conducted in 1977-78. In addition, the costs of such items as water, propane and electricity were collected. All costs were adjusted to reflect local sales tax where applicable. Since Wasilla and Palmer were combined in this census, their differing sales taxes were averaged when calculating food costs.

The estimated prices of unavailable food items in various communities were calculated as the expected cost as judged from the prices of all available items relative to the price of those items in Anchorage. The percent of foods unavailable in each community are shown in the survey.

Weekly food consumption rates for a family of 4, children 6 - 11 years, form the basis of the expressed food costs. All other costs are ratios of that cost as calculated from the USDA Cost of Food at Home survey issued December, 1997. The cost for this family of 4 can be calculated from the table by summing the individual members. For smaller families such a sum would be too low and should be adjusted up by 20%, 10% or 5% for families of 1, 2 or 3 persons respectively. Similarly, the sum for larger families would be too high and downward adjustments of 5% and 10% are suggested for 6 and 7 or more member families. These adjustments reflect that some economies may be realized when preparing foods for larger families.

The USDA Cost of Food at Home for March 1998 was not available at the time of publication. The December 1997 adjustments for family size were used in the present report.

Figure 1 shows the cost ranked results for the cost of food for a week for a family of four with school aged children. Portland, Oregon food costs were 21% less than Anchorage or Fairbanks, a typical difference. The next most expensive region of the state was the panhandle followed by western communities.

Figures 2 and 3 show the relationship between the cost of a 2" x 4" x 8' board and the cost of electricity relative to the cost of food during the present survey period. The points in figures 2 and 3 represent the communities of the present survey. Not surprisingly, some of the same factors that determine food costs are influencing the cost of non-food items since the relationships were roughly linear. However, the correlations are not exact, indicating that other factors are at work.

For further information concerning the Alaska food cost survey contact Bret Luick, 907.474.6338 at Alaska Cooperative Extension. Further information on the USDA survey is available from the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and on the world wide web at http://www.usda.gov/fcs/cnpp.htm.

 

• Anchorage, Bethel, Cordova, Craig
• Delta, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Galena
• Haines, Homer, Juneau, Kenai
• Ketchikan, Klawok, Kodiak, Mat-Su
• Naknek, Nome, Sitka, Tok
• Valdez, Portland

		Anchorage	Bethel	Cordova	Craig
1	Sales Tax (In percent)	0	5	6	5
2	Percent of Food Unavailable	0	0	1	0
3	Family of 2 (20-50 years)	58.52	90.26	81.19	70.23
4	Family of 2 (51 & older)	56.26	86.77	78.05	67.52
5	Family of 4, children 1-5 years	84.31	130.04	116.97	101.18
6	Family of 4, children 6-11 years	99.18	152.98	137.6	119.03
7	Children 1-2 years	14.87	22.94	20.63	17.85
8	Children 3-5 years	16.25	25.06	22.54	19.5
9	Children 6-8 years	21.5	33.16	29.83	25.8
10	Children 9-11 years	24.49	37.78	33.98	29.39
11	Females, 12-19 years	23.85	36.78	33.08	28.62
12	Females, 20-50 years	24.9	38.4	34.54	29.88
13	Females, 51 years and over	24.09	37.15	33.42	28.91
14	Males, 12-14 years	27.64	42.64	38.35	33.18
15	Males, 15-19 years	28.45	43.89	39.48	34.15
16	Males, 20-50 years	28.29	43.64	39.25	33.95
17	Males, 51 years & older	27.08	41.77	37.57	32.5
	% Change From:
18	Anchorage March 1998	0	54	39	20
19	Anchorage December 1997	1	49	38
20	Anchorage March 1997	0	49	38
21	Anchorage March 1996	-4	50	55
22	Anchorage March 1995	-7	50	34
23	Electricity, 1000 kwh	101.11	240.99	226.28	183.75
24	Electricity, paid by State		59.15	53.13	77
25	Heating oil, 55 gal	58	74.5	85.25	61.21
26	Gas, 55 gal unleaded auto	66.22	93.79	94	89.65
27	Lumber, 2X4X8'	2.19	5.2	4.29	4.18
28	Propane, 288 gal	406.79	1103.76	720	520.13
29	Propane, 100 lb refill	35.53	105	250	45
30	Sewer, monthly fee	4.1	18.9	32.18	21.3
31	Sewer, 1000 gal	17.7	23.06
32	Water, monthly fee	6.8	60.38	24.38	29.4
33	Water, 100 gal	19	21
34	Sewer and Water, monthly	47.84	79.28

<>Top

		Delta	Dillingham	Fairbanks	Galena
1	Sales Tax (In percent)	0	5	0	3
2	Percent of Food Unavailable	1	0	0	4
3	Family of 2 (20-50 years)	65.56	100.32	58.99	102.04
4	Family of 2 (51 & older)	63.02	96.44	56.71	98.1
5	Family of 4, children 1-5 years	94.45	144.53	84.98	147.01
6	Family of 4, children 6-11 years	111.11	170.02	99.98	172.94
7	Children 1-2 years	16.66	25.5	14.99	25.93
8	Children 3-5 years	18.2	27.85	16.38	28.33
9	Children 6-8 years	24.09	36.86	21.67	37.49
10	Children 9-11 years	27.44	41.99	24.69	42.71
11	Females, 12-19 years	26.71	40.88	24.04	41.58
12	Females, 20-50 years	27.89	42.68	25.1	43.41
13	Females, 51 years and over	26.98	41.29	24.28	42
14	Males, 12-14 years	30.97	47.39	27.87	48.2
15	Males, 15-19 years	31.87	48.78	28.68	49.61
16	Males, 20-50 years	31.69	48.5	28.52	49.33
17	Males, 51 years & older	30.34	46.42	27.3	47.22
	% Change From:
18	Anchorage March 1998	12	71	1	74
19	Anchorage December 1997	13	65	0
20	Anchorage March 1997	9	61	-1
21	Anchorage March 1996	20	74	0
22	Anchorage March 1995	26	73	1	80
23	Electricity, 1000 kwh	102.23	199.88	92.07	257.5
24	Electricity, paid by State		52.08		64.61
25	Heating oil, 55 gal	52.36	87.78	58.85	114.4
26	Gas, 55 gal unleaded auto	78.05	86.9	67.59	137.5
27	Lumber, 2X4X8'	3.85	6.14	4.19
28	Propane, 288 gal	538.56	1058.4	538.27
29	Propane, 100 lb refill	44.13	88.2	37.76	91.67
30	Sewer, monthly fee		34.13	3.15
31	Sewer, 1000 gal			5.2	45
32	Water, monthly fee		27.68	4.26
33	Water, 100 gal			4.73	75
34	Sewer and Water, monthly

<>Top

		Haines	Homer	Juneau	Kenai-Soldotna
1	Sales Tax (In percent)	5.5	5.5	5	5
2	Percent of Food Unavailable	4	8	0	1
3	Family of 2 (20-50 years)	79.14	82.98	62.07	62.48
4	Family of 2 (51 & older)	76.08	79.77	59.67	60.06
5	Family of 4, children 1-5 years	114	119.55	89.42	90.01
6	Family of 4, children 6-11 years	134.12	140.64	105.19	105.89
7	Children 1-2 years	20.11	21.09	15.77	15.88
8	Children 3-5 years	21.97	23.04	17.23	17.35
9	Children 6-8 years	29.07	30.49	22.8	22.95
10	Children 9-11 years	33.12	34.73	25.98	26.15
11	Females, 12-19 years	32.24	33.81	25.29	25.46
12	Females, 20-50 years	33.67	35.3	26.41	26.58
13	Females, 51 years and over	32.57	34.16	25.55	25.72
14	Males, 12-14 years	37.38	39.2	29.32	29.51
15	Males, 15-19 years	38.47	40.35	30.18	30.38
16	Males, 20-50 years	38.26	40.12	30.01	30.2
17	Males, 51 years & older	36.62	38.4	28.72	28.91
	% Change From:
18	Anchorage March 1998	35	42	6	7
19	Anchorage December 1997	28		1	3
20	Anchorage March 1997	11		6	11
21	Anchorage March 1996	15	25	6	8
22	Anchorage March 1995			11	18
23	Electricity, 1000 kwh	180.32	124.69	105.08	119.89
24	Electricity, paid by State	35.56	0.2
25	Heating oil, 55 gal		60.93	70.07
26	Gas, 55 gal unleaded auto	90.75	71.45	74.38	74.75
27	Lumber, 2X4X8'	2.8	2.76	2.62	3.34
28	Propane, 288 gal		394.28	462.52
29	Propane, 100 lb refill		32.92	45.85	39.48
30	Sewer, monthly fee	36.89	14.62	34.13
31	Sewer, 1000 gal		39.62
32	Water, monthly fee	19.89	24.41	19.95
33	Water, 100 gal		3.73
34	Sewer and Water, monthly			57.02	41.29

<>Top

		Ketchikan	Klawock	Kodiak	Mat-Su
1	Sales Tax (In percent)	5.5	5	6	2.5
2	Percent of Food Unavailable	0	2	0	0
3	Family of 2 (20-50 years)	61.23	75.14	75.29	65.8
4	Family of 2 (51 & older)	58.86	72.23	72.37	63.25
5	Family of 4, children 1-5 years	88.21	108.25	108.46	94.79
6	Family of 4, children 6-11 years	103.77	127.34	127.59	111.51
7	Children 1-2 years	15.56	19.1	19.13	16.72
8	Children 3-5 years	17	20.86	20.9	18.27
9	Children 6-8 years	22.5	27.61	27.66	24.17
10	Children 9-11 years	25.63	31.45	31.51	27.54
11	Females, 12-19 years	24.95	30.62	30.68	26.81
12	Females, 20-50 years	26.05	31.97	32.03	27.99
13	Females, 51 years and over	25.2	30.93	30.99	27.08
14	Males, 12-14 years	28.92	35.49	35.56	31.08
15	Males, 15-19 years	29.77	36.53	36.6	31.99
16	Males, 20-50 years	29.6	36.32	36.4	31.81
17	Males, 51 years & older	28.33	34.77	34.84	30.45
	% Change From:
18	Anchorage March 1998	5	28	29	12
19	Anchorage December 1997	5		22	9
20	Anchorage March 1997	6		19	9
21	Anchorage March 1996	3		24	6
22	Anchorage March 1995	8		21	15
23	Electricity, 1000 kwh	93.5	370.65	138	116.09
24	Electricity, paid by State		108.01
25	Heating oil, 55 gal	75.43	64.9	46.75	58.3
26	Gas, 55 gal unleaded auto	76.4	94.05	70.62	67.09
27	Lumber, 2X4X8'	2.49		4.8	2.94
28	Propane, 288 gal	534.35	446.4	849.6	460.8
29	Propane, 100 lb refill	43.97	37.76	69.33	41.48
30	Sewer, monthly fee	29.4	29	32.2	17.62
31	Sewer, 1000 gal
32	Water, monthly fee	23	40.1	25.3	18.02
33	Water, 100 gal
34	Sewer and Water, monthly

<>Top

		Naknek	Nome	Sitka	Tok
1	Sales Tax (In percent)	0	4	5	0
2	Percent of Food Unavailable	3	1	0	5
3	Family of 2 (20-50 years)	102.72	95.7	66.84	86.99
4	Family of 2 (51 & older)	98.75	92	64.26	83.63
5	Family of 4, children 1-5 years	147.98	137.87	96.29	125.32
6	Family of 4, children 6-11 years	174.09	162.19	113.28	147.43
7	Children 1-2 years	26.11	24.32	16.99	22.11
8	Children 3-5 years	28.52	26.57	18.56	24.15
9	Children 6-8 years	37.74	35.16	24.56	31.96
10	Children 9-11 years	42.99	40.05	27.97	36.41
11	Females, 12-19 years	41.85	38.99	27.23	35.45
12	Females, 20-50 years	43.7	40.71	28.44	37.01
13	Females, 51 years and over	42.28	39.39	27.51	35.81
14	Males, 12-14 years	48.52	45.21	31.57	41.09
15	Males, 15-19 years	49.94	46.53	32.5	42.3
16	Males, 20-50 years	49.66	46.27	32.31	42.06
17	Males, 51 years & older	47.53	44.28	30.93	40.25
	% Change From:
18	Anchorage March 1998	76	64	14	49
19	Anchorage December 1997	60
20	Anchorage March 1997		79	16	30
21	Anchorage March 1996		70	18	30
22	Anchorage March 1995			22	39
23	Electricity, 1000 kwh	182.44	188.76	91.35	217.89
24	Electricity, paid by State	49.7	32.62		57.75
25	Heating oil, 55 gal	77.28	89.1	70.88	61.05
26	Gas, 55 gal unleaded auto	104.87	114.95	88.68	79.7
27	Lumber, 2X4X8'	5.12	4.79	3.25	2.7
28	Propane, 288 gal	806.4	1108.8	517.1	417.6
29	Propane, 100 lb refill	90	96.1	49.37	36
30	Sewer, monthly fee		44.72	24
31	Sewer, 1000 gal
32	Water, monthly fee		37.44	12
33	Water, 100 gal		43.75
34	Sewer and Water, monthly

<>Top

		Valdez	Portland
1	Sales Tax (In percent)	0	0
2	Percent of Food Unavailable	5	0
3	Family of 2 (20-50 years)	75.88	46.02
4	Family of 2 (51 & older)	72.95	44.24
5	Family of 4, children 1-5 years	109.32	66.3
6	Family of 4, children 6-11 years	128.61	77.99
7	Children 1-2 years	19.29	11.7
8	Children 3-5 years	21.07	12.78
9	Children 6-8 years	27.88	16.91
10	Children 9-11 years	31.76	19.26
11	Females, 12-19 years	30.92	18.75
12	Females, 20-50 years	32.28	19.58
13	Females, 51 years and over	31.23	18.94
14	Males, 12-14 years	35.85	21.74
15	Males, 15-19 years	36.89	22.37
16	Males, 20-50 years	36.68	22.25
17	Males, 51 years & older	35.11	21.29
	% Change From:
18	Anchorage March 1998	30	-30
19	Anchorage December 1997		-26
20	Anchorage March 1997	24	-25
21	Anchorage March 1996
22	Anchorage March 1995
23	Electricity, 1000 kwh	145.4	63.24
24	Electricity, paid by State
25	Heating oil, 55 gal	59.68	66
26	Gas, 55 gal unleaded auto		56.05
27	Lumber, 2X4X8'	2.65	2.7
28	Propane, 288 gal	383.04	485.97
29	Propane, 100 lb refill		31.07
30	Sewer, monthly fee	7.75
31	Sewer, 1000 gal		6.42
32	Water, monthly fee	8.5
33	Water, 100 gal		14.39
34	Sewer and Water, monthly

Top