Purchasing Power varies based on many things with geography being one of them. The basket of groceries that you get for $100 in New York, NY is likely not going to look the same as the $100 basket of groceries purchased in Jackson, TN.
So what drives this? There are several things that contribute to the differences: location, density, audience and economic conditions. For instance in New York, the median salary is $63,998 vs. $43,621 in Jackson, TN. Manhattan has an estimated 1.6 million people in its 23 square miles, which results in approximately 70,000 people per square mile, while Jackson, TN has a total population of roughly 70,000.
Looking across the United States state by state shows the disparities in what $100 is capable of purchasing. The more dense the population, the less purchasing power and vice versa. This effect is most pronounced on the East and West coasts. The picture below shows the purchasing power by state: anything over $100 means more purchasing power while anything below $100 means less purchasing power.
The next time you look to book a vacation or start looking for a new house, there might be regions that provide more bang for your buck.
