Tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Uncover the secrets of America’s most and least expensive cities with the Quarter Pounder Index. This groundbreaking index reveals the true purchasing power of your hard-earned dollar, allowing you to make informed decisions about where to live or invest. Dive deep into the economic disparities across different regions in the United States and learn how the cost of living can impact your financial freedom. Don’t miss out on this invaluable resource- read now!
Discover which cities in America offer the highest and lowest purchasing power with the Quarter Pounder Index. Learn how the cost of living affects the value of a dollar and find out where your money can stretch the furthest. Gain insights into the economic disparities across different regions in the United States.
When is a dollar worth more than a dollar? When youre in a city where the cost of living is low. The purchasing power of the dollar varies widely across U.S. cities, and a cost of living calculator reveals that it costs more than twice as much to live in Manhattan as it does to live in Memphis.
To make the relative cost of living more understandable and relatable, we created the Quarter Pounder Index (QPI), a basic cost of living guide that uses the price of a McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese to gauge cost of living differences between cities. Like the Economists Big Mac Index, which measures the purchasing power of various countries currency, the Quarter Pounder Index compares places based on the cost of a hamburger.
When the most and least expensive cities for a quarter pounder with cheese are graphed, the differences are striking:
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A McDonalds burger costs more than twice as much in Juneau, Alaska as it does in Conway, Arkansas ($4.82 vs $2.24).
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Hawaii and Alaska take 40% of the top ten most expensive places, likely because of the increased shipping costs of these more remote states.
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The median price for a quarter pounder with cheese is $3.52
Ten most and least expensive places to get a quarter pounder with cheese
Table of Contents
Most expensive places in the United States, according to the QPI
RankStateCityPrice of a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese
1AlaskaJuneau$4.82
2Rhode IslandProvidence$4.52
3MassachusettsBoston$4.49
4New YorkNassau County$4.36
5AlaskaAnchorage$4.35
6AlaskaFairbanks$4.28
7New HampshireManchester$4.28
8WashingtonVancouver$4.25
9MainePortland$4.23
10HawaiiHonolulu$4.20
11ArizonaBullhead City$4.19
12MassachusettsFramingham-Natick$4.19
13ColoradoGlenwood Springs$4.14
14OregonPortland$4.09
15CaliforniaSan Diego$4.08
16ConnecticutHartford$4.08
17New YorkDutchess County$4.06
18ConnecticutNew Haven$4.03
19KansasHays$4.03
20KansasDodge City$4.02
Least expensive places in the United States, according to the QPI
RankStateCityPrice of a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese
1ArkansasConway$2.24
2TennesseeNashville-Franklin$2.59
3West VirginiaMartinsburg-Berkeley County$2.63
4IndianaLafayette$2.78
5New MexicoLos Alamos$2.81
6FloridaJacksonville$2.84
7TexasCorpus Christi$2.89
8FloridaGainesville$2.91
9GeorgiaSavannah$2.92
10South CarolinaAnderson$2.92
11IowaIowa City$2.94
12GeorgiaDouglas$2.95
13OhioAkron$2.96
14AlabamaDothan$2.99
15OklahomaEnid$2.99
16LouisianaLafayette$3.00
17North CarolinaGastonia$3.01
18North CarolinaMarion-McDowell County$3.02
19South CarolinaBeaufort$3.02
20TennesseeKnoxville TN$3.02
Methodology: This data came from the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, which includes over 300 cities.
Thanks to Source: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/quarter-pounder-index-most-least-expensive-cities
Quarter Pounder Index
