The findings, which were published Wednesday in a Tax Foundation report, show that Kentucky gets the sixth-highest “bang for its buck” among states in America.
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Here in Louisiana, a dollar goes quite a bit further than it does in most other states and its relative value is rising, as indicated by a new report from The Tax Foundation that’s based on recently-released data from The Bureau of Economic Analysis on personal income for 2013.
When the cost of living is accounted for, workers in right-to-work states enjoy higher real, spendable income than workers in forced union membership states.
And in Montana, you can stretch that $100 to get $105.93 in goods. A year ago at this time, Scott says a barrel of oil was about $100.
Contrarily, $100 is worth the least in the District of Columbia ($84.96); Hawaii ($86.06); New York ($86.73); New Jersey ($87.34); and California ($89.05). “Real purchasing power is 36 percent greater in Mississippi than it is in the District of Columbia”, according to the Tax Foundation.
States along the Gulf Coast or the Mississippi River are typically cheaper places to live, since it’s easier to ship goods there. Purchasing power is high in the state because finite resources are more easily available and cost less money. “This is what labor economists call a compensating differential; the higher pay is offered in order to make up for the low purchasing power”. Expand that list to the 25 lowest price states, and all but five are right-to-work states.
The relative price differences in each state has substantial implications for public policy, which is often progressive with respect to income, the foundation says.
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Look at Nebraska and California. What can you buy here that would normally cost more elsewhere?
