This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

[NJCher]

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state



Note: this map is based on 2015 data, which is pretty old but it's the latest data The Tax Foundation has.

Based on 2022 data, there is table telling how much is collected per capita:

https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/2024-state-tax-data/

Over $5700 per capita for NJ, for example.

[Aussie105]

1. I'm not surprised.

Travelled in the States as a tourist quite a while back.

Very noticeable.

My yardstick? The price of a decent steak.

Applied the same yardstick in the rest of our lap of the globe.

Cumberland, Maryland steak was so much bigger, better and cheaper than the one I ordered in London.

[Sneederbunk]

2. But if you live near a state border,

all bets are off.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. No surprise. Most "affordable" are ones where you don't pay for public infrastructure, so property values are lowest.

Even if prices are low, you end up having to compensate for lack of public spending by paying for everything yourself, with zero economy of scale or the ability to negotiate lower prices. AL has some of the lowest property taxes in the country, but property taxes are what support public schools. No problem -- send your kids to a private Bible-based school where they don't mix with "those" people, but the expense is more than a public education for everybody would cost. Oh, and their education won't be up to competitive standards anyway. It's expensive to be ignorant, AND it takes up all your time !