St. Cloud ranks among the top third affordable cities to live in the Midwest for the third quarter of 2015.

President of the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce Teresa Bohnen says the cost of living index is gathered by the Council for Community and Economic Research.

The index compares consumer goods and services without taking taxes into account. The report is based on more than 90,000 prices covering 60 different items. The main components of the index are housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care and other services.

St. Cloud stands as the second most affordable city for utilities with an index of 81.3 percent. Cost of transportation ranked third at 97.6 percent. Housing expenditure stands third with an index of 79.4 percent. However, St. Cloud ranks among the top cities in healthcare and groceries costs with indexes of 116.9 and 112.1 percent respectively, putting St. Cloud on the top of the rankings in those categories.

The cost of living index surveyed 265 urban areas.