July 10, 2015
If you live in New Jersey, next time you've got a crisp $100 bill in your pocket, subtract $12.66 in your head. That's how much your money's really worth, according to a new study.
The Tax Foundation surveyed data from The Bureau of Economic Analysis that measured the price of goods in each state to find out how much $100 buys you compared to the national average.
In New Jersey, a Benjamin doesn't get you very far compared to the rest of the country. The study pegged the Garden State's adjusted value of $100 at $87.34. That made it one of the worst, with only the District of Columbia, Hawaii and New York with lesser values.
Pennsylvania and Delaware were closer to the national average, with adjusted values of $101.42 and $98.62, respectively.
The study notes that oftentimes incomes are higher in states with higher costs of living as a compensation for low purchasing power. That applies to New Jersey, which had the sixth highest median household income in 2013 according to census data.
The study does not cite data that takes into account how differences in living costs from large urban areas like Philadelphia compare to often cheaper rural areas within the same state.
