Being thirsty in Morgantown will create less of a strain on your wallet, according to the latest edition of theMorgantown MSA Economic Monitorpublished by the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics.

Although the cost of living in Morgantown was about average for an urban area during the second quarter of 2007, items that can quench your thirst were less expensive,said Amy Higginbotham, economist in the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER).

Prices for most drinks included in the survey cost less in Morgantown than they do in the average U.S. city (as shown in Table 1 below). In fact, the cost of a 64-ounce container of Tropicana or Floridas Natural orange juice was 32 cents cheaper than average and $3.04 less expensive than in Oakland, Ca. A 1 -liter bottle of Coca-Cola was also cheaper than average in the second quarter, but prices for beer and wine were close to the national average.

Morgantowns composite cost of living index was 99.3 in the second quarter of 2007, which was 54 percent below the highest cost area of New York (Manhattan).

Although living in Morgantown was cheaper than living in most major metropolitan areas in the United States, it was more expensive to live in than Charleston,Higginbotham said.In fact, Morgantown was 9.5 percent more expensive to live in than in Charleston.

The September edition of theMorgantown MSA Economic Monitor,compiled by the BBER , contains the full analysis of these trends. The monitor is a quarterly publication of the BBER with underwriting support provided in part by Clear Mountain Bank.

Copies of the publication can be found atwww.bber.wvu.eduandwww.clearmountainbank.com. Information about theACCRA Cost of Living Reportis available atwww.coli.org.