MARSHALL -- How can the cost of a T-bone steak tell Marshall residents and businesses about how much it costs to live in Marshall compared with the rest of the nation or state?

It can if that cost is compared to the national average compiled by an ACCRA Cost of Living Index.

In what could be called a pilot project, Marshall conducted its own cost of living index study based on methods used in ACCRA Cost of Living Index studies. Finding the cost of a T-bone steak -- $7.02 in Marshall compared to the $6.43 national average based on the ACCRA Cost of Living Index -- was one of the tasks of the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce during three days in October.

Chamber employees checked specific prices on a variety of other items, including: lettuce; orange juice; baby food; utilities, excluding water and sewer; and a specific brand of slacks. The study also includes costs related to housing, transportation and health care.

Marshall's Cost of Living Index isn't designed to give a complete rundown of what it costs for everyone to live in Marshall, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tracy Veglahn said. Call it one page of a photo album on what's it's like to live and work in Marshall.

The chamber, along with the Minnesota Department of Economic Security's Regional Analysis, conducted a cost of living index study based on the methods used by the ACCRA Cost of Living Index.

"This is a great project, and it would be good to do a report every year or two," said Michelle Ostrom of the MDES's regional office in St. Cloud.

The study is based on the ACCRA Cost of Living methods, which affect the costs of living for the upper 20 percent income bracket in qualifying towns.

"We frequently get asked, 'how does Marshall's cost of living compare to...' You name the place," Veglahn said.

If you wanted a baked potato with that T-bone steak, it would cost you $1.80 in Marshall, while the national index average cost is $2.58.

Business executives, prospective residents and prospective businesses familiar with ACCRA indexes asked about Marshall's index, but Veglahn was never able to provide them with an one because there wasn't one.

Marshall's project was ambitious because ACCRA doesn't do studies for cities of less than 35,000 population. If Marshall wanted to compare itself with ACCRA Cost of Living Indexes with cities in Minnesota and national index averages, it needed to do its own study.

The results of a fourth-quarter cost of living study for the city of Marshall were released just recently. The study will be given to human resources departments and others from local and non-local companies, Veglahn said.

The ACCRA Index may be familiar to those who work in human resources in companies, company executives and managers and city officials, but the Index has never been applied to Marshall before this study.

"The cut-off for ACCRA is cities with populations of 35,000 or more, or counties with population of 50,000 or more," said Ostrom.

Cities or counties with less population don't receive ACCRA studies unless they take their own initiative.

"My hat goes off to the chamber..." Ostrom said of the chamber's organization of a index study.

Because the ACCRA methods were used, Marshall can now compare its results with ACCRA Index figures for other Minnesota cities and cities nationwide. Ostrom cautioned readers to compare only ACCRA Cost of Living Indexes with others from the same quarter. Also, ACCRA Cost of Living Indexes are conducted with their own specific methods applied to all cities, and that is what was used in Marshall. ACCRA's studies focus on the top 20 percent income level in each of the cities and counties studied.

"Because the ACCRA study chooses the upper 20 percent, we had to choose 20 percent," Ostrom said.

Marshall's Cost of Living Index is compared with Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Cloud and Rochester, three other Minnesota cities which completed a study during the same three days in October as Marshall.

Any price or cost out of line was double-checked to ensure that numbers were not skewed high or low, Ostrom said.

Back to that steak. Add frozen corn as the vegetable and tack on an average price of 87 cents locally, compared to $1.10 nationally.

So, while those living in the upper 20 percent income bracket in Marshall, St. Cloud, Rochester or Minneapolis-St. Paul may buy T-bone steak, they also buy new homes, pay utilities, pay for health care, transportation and buy other goods such as clothes. With the ACCRA method, the prices of specific items are checked. In the case of health care, the costs of specific codes for specific procedures are compiled.

The Cost of Living Index average is 100. A rating below 100 is lower than the national index. A rating above 100 is higher than the national index. Marshall's overall composite index is 104.6.

In Marshall, that house would cost $220,000 to build, compared to the national index of cost of $207,713.

Marshall's housing index is 102.3.

The costs are different when compared to the state city indexes.

"Housing cost is significantly lower than in Minneapolis or St. Paul, but it still costs more to live here than it does in Rochester or St. Paul," Ostrom said.

If you're making that T-bone steak, potato and corn at home, it will cost a Marshall resident more to make it in his or her oven than in Rochester, St. Cloud or Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Utilities was a shock to me," Ostrom said. "It's almost 47 percent higher than the national average."

Utilities doesn't include sewer or water rates, but does include costs for electricity, natural gas and telephone.

In general, Ostrom said, Minnesotans use more energy during the winter, and the ACCRA standards consider climate, seasonal conditions and other factors when index figures are determined.

Comparatively, Marshall isn't too far off the national ACCRA Index or state Index figures for St. Cloud, Rochester or Minneapolis-St. Paul in other areas such as health and transportation.

If that steak gives you acid indigestion, but you are not sure and want to check with a doctor, it will cost you less than in Minneapolis-St. Paul. It would still cost more than in St. Cloud, but only 5 percent more than the national average. Marshall's health care index is 118.8.

Maybe you just spilled on your shirt, and you need it dry cleaned. In Marshall, that would cost you $7.60, compared to the national average of $7.62.

Ostrom and Veglahn cautioned listeners and readers that the Cost of Living Index is one piece of Marshall. Yet, it's a thorough and comprehensive piece that can be used as employers seek to recruit employees throughout the state and nation, they said.

"There had never really been a discussion in any technical terms," Veglahn said of Marshall's cost of living. "This would be great if other communities like Willmar, Montevideo, Worthington would do it," Ostrom said.

A study done in other communities during the same days in the same quarter would then provide all with more information for discussion, comparison and use, they said. It would be a lot like adding the potato and vegetable to the steak -- cities could get more of a full meal to digest.