There was a time when Alaska had the highest cost of living in the nation. No more.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released a report comparing the purchasing power of metro and non metro areas around the country in 2017 to answer this question: How much will $100 buy in different areas of the country?
Regions where $100 buys the least are the usual suspects — cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. In the South, $100 will go a lot further in purchasing power; same in the middle of the country.
In Anchorage, $100 only has $92.68 worth of buying power, while in Fairbanks, it has $93.55.
Anchorage and Fairbanks’ purchasing power compares with East Los Angeles communities of Riverside and San Bernadino, and San Louis Obispo County.
As for personal income growth, Alaska was not the worst, but didn’t perform well, with only 1 percent income growth between 2016 and 2017. The U.S. growth rate was 2.6 that year.
