(The Center Square) — The New Orleans-Metairie area is the most expensive metropolitan in Louisiana based on purchasing power and Alexandria is the least.
The scale in which the cities are measured on by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data calculates how much $100 was worth nationwide in the most recently studied year, 2022.
The report says $100 in San Francisco is worth $84.80 and that same amount in Pine Bluff, Ark. is worth $123.60.
While those are the two most extremes, Louisiana’s cities sit somewhere in the middle, but more on the Pine Bluff side.
In New Orleans, $100 is worth $106.80 based on the nation average. Baton Rouge is the next most expensive area at $108.10.
Every other metro area in the Pelican State has purchasing power over $110. Lake Charles, Lafayette and Hammond hovers around $111, Shreveport-Bossier is $112.50, and Houma-Thibodeaux is $113.
That leaves Monroe and Alexandria to lap the field. Monroe’s purchasing power is $114.90 and Alexandria is $116, rivaling some of the cheapest cities in the South.
While purchasing power mostly measures the cost of goods and services, another important stat to determine the cost of living in an area is income, specifically price-adjusted income.
This number is calculated by taking nominal income, which is basic total income divided by population, and dividing it yet again by the price level.
For example, San Francisco’s nominal per capita income is $123,152. It’s price-adjusted income is $104,455, according the Bureau.
On the other side of the chart in Pine Bluff, nominal income is $41,764, but the price-adjusted number is $51,624.
When comparing the two, it’s also important to consider that in San Francisco or other big metro areas, the wealth disparity is higher, meaning the average worker’s salary in Pine Bluff is much closer to that price-adjusted average than the latter.
New Orleans’ nominal income is $66,588 and the adjusted number is $71,115.98.
In contrast, Alexandria’s nominal income is $53,765 and the average adjusted income is $62,367.40.
