Purchasing Power: The Real Value of $100 by Metropolitan Area, 2024
by Garrett Watson, Tax Foundation, Dec 10 2024
If you’ve ordered a rideshare or gotten a haircut in a major US city, you’ve likely noticed that the price of these services is more expensive than in other parts of the country. The difference is due to price level variation throughout the United States.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released data detailing the disparities in spending power across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas of each state for calendar year 2022. Using the data, we can compare how much $100 buys across the country.
The differences can be large, and they have significant implications for the relative impact of economic and tax policies across the United States. One hundred dollars tends to buy the least in large cities in the Northeast, California, and the Pacific Northwest. On the other hand, $100 goes the furthest in rural areas in the Southeast and Midwest. Prices can vary significantly within states too—$100 in Colorado tends to buy $97.75 worth of goods on average, but in the Denver area, $100 can purchase about $93.11 worth of goods and services….
$100 Value |
MSA |
County |
State |
$88.57 |
Urban Honolulu |
Honolulu |
HI |
$92.25 |
Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina |
Maui + Kalawao |
HI |
LINK: Purchasing Power Map: Real Value of $100 by Metro, 2024
LINK: Download Data
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