TABLE 6.80          2003 FLORIDA PRICE LEVEL INDEX*

SELECTED COUNTY COMPARISONS OF 67 FLORIDA COUNTIES

POPULATION WEIGHTED FLORIDA AVERAGE = 100.00

2003 RANKING

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

CITRUS (54)

92.66

92.19

90.59

92.75

92.15

90.90

94.43

HERNANDO (40)

95.04

93.26

91.71

92.93

92.53

91.74

95.39

HILLSBOROUGH (8)

99.21

100.86

100.48

100.32

99.86

99.53

99.17

MIAMI-DADE (2)

107.23

106.28

106.84

106.42

107.10

109.24

106.59

ORANGE (15)

101.88

99.04

99.21

98.69

97.67

96.71

97.45

PALM BEACH (4)

103.45

102.69

105.62

108.53

106.99

106.95

103.68

PASCO (28)

93.13

95.44

96.36

96.38

95.06

95.51

96.57

PINELLAS (6)

101.91

103.74

103.34

101.41

101.94

101.95

100.49

POLK (33)

95.64

94.98

95.93

95.24

95.44

94.85

95.74

SUMTER (39)

92.49

89.66

88.57

92.58

92.42

91.72

95.41

2003 INDEX

FOOD

HEALTH
CARE

HOUSING

PERSONAL
SERVICES

TRANS-
PORTATION

TOTAL

% OF INCOME**

15.0%

19.0%

23.0%

31.0%

12.0%

100.0%

CITRUS

102.96

87.58

83.91

92.63

96.10

94.43

HERNANDO***

100.33

92.89

86.65

94.30

97.14

95.39

HILLSBOROUGH

99.90

94.44

97.08

100.39

100.82

99.17

MIAMI-DADE

97.60

123.71

119.28

100.35

106.85

106.59

ORANGE

101.31

94.17

91.36

100.56

97.19

97.45

PALM BEACH

98.75

103.93

109.46

105.09

105.22

103.68

PASCO

100.43

94.00

90.36

96.97

96.49

96.57

PINELLAS

99.79

94.19

102.98

103.54

97.92

100.49

POLK

101.18

92.25

85.55

98.39

97.53

95.74

SUMTER

102.16

85.51

86.99

94.34

97.76

95.41

Source: Bureau of Economic & Business Research (BEBR) and FL Department of Education

http://www.bebr.ufl.edu/Publications/FPL2003.pdf

* The Index was established by the FL Legislature for funds distribution to local school districts.

** For the typical consumer dollar, approximately 15 cents was spent on food, 19 cents on health care, 23 cents on housing and so forth.

*** The index means that housing in Hernando County cost almost 14% less than the Florida average and 33% less than in Miami-Dade County.

ITEMS PRICED IN 2003 WITH SIGNIFICANT VARIATIONS ACROSS COUNTIES:

(at least 3 outlets per county)

FOOD: Served coffee, served soft drink, french fries, hamburger

HEALTH CARE: Health Insurance, eye exam, filling, extraction, healthcare cost index

HOUSING: Electricity, phone service, water service, apartment rent, homeowner cost index

PERSONAL: Haircut, dry cleaning, day care, movie rental, bowling, fee for safety deposit box

TRANSPORTATION: Unleaded gasoline, oil change, auto insurance

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