cost of living

I live on St. Thomas, not St. Croix, so some things will be a little different. No State Tax, no sales tax. Federal taxes are the same as the states. If you are going to buy a home insurance is the most costly. I pay almost $3500/year. Utilities are relatively high. I understand gas prices on St. Croix are low (for what I'm used to) around $1.40/gallon. Groceries are a little higher than the mainland. The biggest difference is that your lifestyle is different. I spend less money here because I eat at home more, movies cost less, don't drive as much, don't have to pay for parking, entertainment costs less. And housing for me was much less (I moved from San Francisco).

From talking to people on the a board, the cost of lliving on St Croix is about the same as southern California. We were there this fall and found groceries to be more expensive. Being an island with limited space, real estate is more expensive. Gasoline is cheaper because of the refinery on the island. We found two K-Marts on the island and their prices were about the same as on the continent. Hope this helps.

Truth of the matter is the cost of living in St Croix is higher then the mainland for sure. Food is from 30 % higher to 100% depending on what you buy. A 1/2 gallon of Tropicana OJ sells for $4.99. Small jar of peanut butter is also the same. Deli meats are a pretty good deal and the prices of Chicken and beef are not too much higher. The problem I have seen there is the freshness of the meats.....I do not buy grey steak!
Building supplies are about 80% higher and paint is like buying a can of gold. Most people do mail order from the mainland and even with shipping and customs it will be cheaper.
Housing is higher as is homeowners insurance. House insurance with hurricane coverage is 2 th 2.5% of the insured amount per year. A $300,000 insured value will cost $6,000.00 to $7,500 and that is why many people do not insure their property unless they have a mortgage Cars, car insurance and intrest rates are all higher then the mainland.
There is a price to live in Paradise.

Hi,

I am not sure if you were able to access the cost of living and availability information that is contained in our VInow.com moving guide. If you have not then it will give you averages for rent of one bedroom, 2 rooms, 3 rooms and so forth, as well as gas, electricity, water, groceries....

You can find that information at http://www.vinow.com/move/Islandlife/cost.php

Cut and paste that link. Or go to the moving guide from the top naviagation of this page, and choose Island Life, in the right naviagation you will find the options for availability, voting, cost of living, crime and so forth.

Good Luck with your move.

--Islander