How Far $1 Really Goes In The Tucson Metro Area

TUCSON, AZ — The Tucson metro pays less for goods and services than the typical American, according to 2017 figures released this month by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. The agency’s regional price index shows how much more or less each metro area pays compared to the national level.

The price parities are expressed as a percentage of the overall national price level. This means a metro area with a score of 120 sees prices that are 20 percent higher than the national average of 100. Similarly, a score of 90 means prices are 10 percent cheaper than the national average.

With a price parity score of 95.1, the Tucson area pays about 5 percent less than typical American for things like groceries, transit, schools and housing, according to the index. That ranks 132 in the country out of 383 metros, just ahead of St. George, Utah and behind New Orleans.
Here’s the breakdown of the local individual pricing scores:

• All items: 95.1
• Goods: 95
• Rent: 86.6
• Services (other): 101.5

An area’s rent is usually a good indicator of its regional price parity, the agency said. That is especially true at the top of the scale. The San Francisco metro area, which pays the second-highest price in the country for goods and services, pays nearly double in rent compared to the typical American. Overall, the most expensive areas are concentrated on the coasts, with California home to six of the 10 most expensive areas in the country.

Here are the top 10:

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA —130.9
2. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA — 128
3. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA — 127.6
4. Urban Honolulu, HI — 124.7
5. Napa, CA — 123.6
6. Santa Rosa, CA — 123.5
7. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA — 122.3
8. Vallejo-Fairfield, CA — 120
9. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT — 119.1
10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, VA-DC — 118.4

On the flip side, less populated metros in the South and Midwest were usually cheaper than larger cities. This includes Beckley, West Virginia, and Danville, Illinois, where residents see their dollar go much further than the national average.

Beckley ranked as the metro with the cheapest prices, with residents paying 24.7 percent less for goods and services than the average American. Prices in Danville, ranked as the second-cheapest, were 21.1 percent less expensive.
Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.