What $100 is Actually Worth In Your State

We all know that depending on where you live, your cost of living can fluctuate, sometimes wildly.

Ever wonder how far $100 stretches in your state?

Well the Tax Foundation released a map charting out the relative value of $100 in all 50 states using the data published from the Bureau of Economic analysis.

Where does your money stretch the first relative to the other states?

Mississippi wins that out with relative value of $115.21, second is Arkansas with $114.29 and third is South Dakota with $114.16

Where does the value of $100 go the least?

No surprise with California topping the list with the smallest relative value of $100 at $89.05, and second is New Jersey with $87.34 with New York closely behind at third with $86.73.

The differences can be quite large, but it is generally where incomes are higher, tht the price levels are higher.

The Tax Foundation article states:

“Regional price differences are strikingly large; real purchasing power is 36 percent greater in Mississippi than it is in the District of Columbia. In other words: by this measure, if you have $50,000 in after tax income in Mississippi, you would have to have after-tax earnings of $68,000 in the District of Columbia just to afford the same overall standard of living.
It’s generally the case that states with higher nominal incomes also have higher price levels. This is because there is a relationship between the two: in places with higher incomes, the prices of finite resources like land get bid up. But the causation also runs in the opposite direction. Places with high costs of living pay higher salaries for the same jobs. This is what labor economists call a compensating differential; the higher pay is offered in order to make up for the low purchasing power.”

Check out the map below for a complete listing of all 50 states: