Nantucket Data Platform and ReMain Nantucket Introduce Cost of Living Calculator to the Nantucket Community
NANTUCKET, Mass. November 19, 2019 — What does it cost to live on Nantucket? No one has ever really answered that question — until now.
The Nantucket Data Platform (NDP) has launched an online tool that measures the true cost of living on Nantucket, in real dollars. The Cost of Living Calculator includes the costs of food, housing, transportation, healthcare, childcare, other necessities, and taxes. Interactive features allow users to calculate the cost of living for households of different sizes, and to compare these costs to every other county in the US.
Alan Worden, Founder of NDP, says that the firm’s calculator is better than other cost-of-living calculators. “After reviewing existing models, we were frankly really surprised that existing cost of living indicators were quite weak. Other models fall short in several critical categories. For example, they consider owning a car, but don’t factor in other models of transportation; they don’t include childcare, which is a huge cost for many families; and they use the average food cost across the state, when we know that food is more expensive on the island than it is in Hyannis. They also often only give you an index instead of creating a dollar-based calculator. With ReMain Nantuckdet’s support we set out to develop a tool for Nantucket but we ended up creating one which we believe can be a national standard.”
Cecil Barron Jensen, Executive Director of ReMain Nantucket, hired NDP to build the Cost of Living Calculator. “We wanted to know the true cost of living on the island, and the implications it has for Nantucket,” she says. “The Cost of Living Calculator can help all employers identify a living wage and allow prospective residents to accurately anticipate costs of moving to and living on Nantucket. If we cannot pay a living wage, we will suffer from continual turnover of staff, which is disruptive and costly for us all.”
The Cost of Living Calculator is available at http://costofliving.nantucketdataplatform.com.
The Nantucket Data Platform is a community initiative that supports evidence-based decision making among government, nonprofit, and business groups by harnessing the power of data analytics. More information is available at https://nantucketdataplatform.com.
Remain Nantucket and Remain Ventures are funded by Wendy Schmidt and her husband Eric to support the economic, social and environmental vitality of the island of Nantucket. In addition to Remain Nantucket providing grants and sponsorships to support sustainable and cultural initiatives across the island, Remain Nantucket has worked in conjunction with Remain Ventures to revitalize the downtown district year-round through the preservation of historic buildings that are home to a mix of nonprofit and commercial businesses.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 19, 2019
CONTACT: Alan Worden
worden@communitydataplatforms.com