29Jan / 2024

Cost of a Big Mac at every McDonald’s in the United States

A map, by Pantry & Larder, shows the cost of a Big Mac at each McDonald’s in the United States, as of early 2023. As you might expect, the prices are higher on the east and west coasts. The most expensive Big Mac was in Lee, Massachusetts for $8.09. I assume shipping to Hawaii and Alaska brings prices up in those states.

But what’s going on in Montana and Arizona? Based on Regional Price Parity, Montana tends to cost less compared to the national average, and Arizona is right in the middle. Then again, when you adjust for cost of living, the two states are right next to each towards the bottom for income, so I guess it makes sense.

Tags: Big Mac, cost, McDonald's

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11Dec / 2023

Cost of assisted living where you are

Assisted living can be expensive. For The Washington Post, Bonnie Berkowitz, Lauren Tierney, and Chris Alcantara show the variation in cost by state:

Two-thirds of Americans will need some type of long-term care as they get older, according to federal data, but the price, whether for in-home services, assisted living or a nursing home, can easily cost more per year than the average American makes. Medicare and other health insurers pay little, if any, of the bill.

Tags: assisted living, cost, Washington Post

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01Dec / 2023

Inflation high, cost of living no good

Usually inflation is more of a slow thing that you don’t notice so much until you think back to the time when a burger was only a dollar. Prices increased much faster over the past few years though. For Bloomberg, Reade Pickert and Jennah Haque zoom in on the everyday items that are noticeably more expensive. Basically everything.

I just wrapped up travel in a high cost of living area. The sticker shock on a simple grocery bill was brutal.

Tags: Bloomberg, cost, inflation

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21Jan / 2021

Car cost vs. emissions

Based on estimates from the MIT Trancik Lab, The New York Times plotted average carbon dioxide emissions against average cost per month for electric, hybrid, and gas vehicles. Each dot represents a vehicle type. While electric vehicles cost more upfront, the lower maintenance and electric costs make up the difference in the long run.

The chart above only shows vehicles that retail for $55,000 or less, but you can see more vehicles in the original version.

Tags: cost, driving, electric vehicle, New York Times, Veronica Penney

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22Dec / 2020

Historical cost of light

These days, most of us don’t have to do much to turn on a light when it’s dark out. But what if I told you it used to take a lot more time and money to get that sweet artificial light? For The Pudding, Ilia Blinderman and Jan Diehm equate scrolling down one pixel to one second for an average waged worker. See how much you have to scroll/work to earn one hour of light.

Tags: cost, light, Pudding, work

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30Aug / 2019

Where salaries stretch the farthest

Salaries are higher in big cities, but it also cost to live more in such places. So, Indeed adjusted salaries for cost of living to find where you get the most for your buck:

When we adjust for cost of living, the highest-salary metros look totally different. Among the 185 US metropolitan areas with at least 250,000 people, adjusted salaries are highest in Brownsville-Harlingen, TX, Fort Smith, AR-OK, and Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH. All ten of the highest-salary metros are small and mid-size markets — none has more than a million people. Most are in the center of the country, and the only two in an expensive state — Visalia-Porterville, CA, and Modesto, CA — are in California’s Central Valley, worlds away from the state’s pricey coast.

Of course the caveat is that in some of these locations there’s not as many places or things to spend your stretched dollar on.

Tags: cost, Indeed, salary

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Tag Archives: cost

Cost of a Big Mac at every McDonald’s in the United States

Cost of assisted living where you are

Inflation high, cost of living no good

Car cost vs. emissions

Historical cost of light

Where salaries stretch the farthest

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