How Much is $100 Worth in Your State?

You're probably familiar with the complaints of New Yorkers. There are lots of them. But one of the more familiar is that New York City is ridiculously expensive. Or maybe you know people who have had sticker shock in Hawaii. In those states, your dollar isn't going to go as far as it will in a state like South Dakota, where residents get goods at a lower cost.

There's variation from state to state. So, what's the actual value of $100 in your state? The Tax Foundation dug into it to find out how far $100 will take you in each state, based on a load of economic variables. 

The Tax Foundation used 2015 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and then applied that data to a $100 sum. The final numbers are how much $100 in that state will buy you based on the national average price of goods. 

Broadly, the data showed that states with higher incomes wind up with higher-priced goods. That's in part because "the prices of finite resources like land get bid up."

Though, this isn't universally true. "Some states, like North Dakota, have high incomes without high prices. Adjusting incomes for price level can substantially change our perceptions of which states are truly poor or rich," the report detailed. "New Yorkers and North Dakotans earn approximately the same amount in dollars per capita, but after adjusting for regional price parity, North Dakotan incomes can buy more."

Other factors considered by the BEA and The Tax Foundation include state local minimum wages, income tax brackets, and public benefits.

The state where $100 goes the furthest was Mississippi. There $100 will get you $116.01 worth of goods at the national average price level. At the other end sits Hawaii, where $100 will get you just $84.18 worth of goods. 

So what's $100 worth in your state? The full list, including Washington D.C., is below. 

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