States Defined by Value of Currency : Variances Striking

Good and interesting stuff especially if one is looking to find new territory to make a living, that is one that is better then the one they now inhabit. Also it would be interesting know, politically, which states are dominated by which party? Knowing this would be a determining factor in the decision making process as the outlook for the future in that state is the very foundation of a persons desire to move there.

It's all about what one can expect for future prospects for prosperity, not making the huge effort to move from one bad situation just to inhabit another one. Why do that?

Two states that can be eliminated from get-go hang at the bottom of the list, California and New York. This needs little discussion as to why they are where they are.

How the Value of $100 Varies Across the Different States
Diana Stancy / @DianaStancy          

The Tax Foundation, a non-partisan research organization, recently unveiled a study indicating the value of $100 in all 50 states.

The value of $100 is worth the most in Mississippi ($115.21), Arkansas ($114.29), South Dakota ($114.16), Alabama ($114.03) and West Virginia ($113.12). Areas including the District of Columbia ($84.96), Hawaii ($86.06), New York ($86.73), New Jersey ($87.34) and California ($89.05) have the lowest value.

Alan Cole and Scott Drenkard, who organized the study, said typically states with the higher nominal incomes maintain higher price levels as a result. “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,” Cole and Drenkard wrote in the report. “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.”

 

 

Consequently, Cole and Drenkard say that adjusting incomes for price level adds perspective concerning regional prosperity.
The ramifications of these statistics relate to public policy and its implementation because policies are often created based off of the dollar’s value.

“Many policies—like minimum wage, public benefits, and tax brackets—are denominated in dollars,” Cole and Drenkard wrote in the report. “But with different price levels in each state, the amounts aren’t equivalent in purchasing power.”
Because of this, those living in more expensive states typically pay more in federal taxes without benefitting from higher standards of living.

The Tax Foundation generated these statistics based off of the the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ recent publication measuring real personal income for states in 2013.