According to a study by the Tax Foundation, $100 will buy you more in Mississippi than in any other state.
The study utilized numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and compared them to what $100 would buy in each state compared to the national average. While Mississippi had the highest buying power at $100, the state’s average fell in line with surrounding states:
“The states where $100 is worth the most are Mississippi ($116.69), Arkansas ($115.61), Alabama ($115.34), West Virginia ($114.94), and Kentucky ($113.77). In contrast, $100 is effectively worth the least in Hawaii ($84.39), the District of Columbia ($85.54), New York ($86.36), California ($87.11), and New Jersey ($88.57). See the table at the bottom of this post for a ranking of all 50 states.
Regional price differences are strikingly large; real purchasing power is 35 percent greater in Mississippi than it is in New York. In other words, by this measure, if you have $50,000 in after-tax income in Mississippi, you would need after-tax earnings of $67,500 in New York just to afford the same overall standard of living.”
The study also showed that by looking at these numbers, it would cause one to re-think the definition of “rich” and “poor” states if you looked at income versus what could be purchased with that income.
Additionally, the value of $100 has increased in Mississippi by $1.48 over the last few years. The 2019 study was taken from numbers from 2017. The 2018 study, with numbers from 2016, showed $100 being valued at $115.74; the 2015 study showed $115.34 in 2014, and the 2014 study showed $115.21 in 2013.
