How Far Does $100 Go in Illinois?

How far does $100 go in Illinois compared with the rest of the country?

In the Land of Lincoln, we’re 99 pennies shy of the the national average, according to the Tax Foundation, which describes itself as “the nation’s leading independent tax policy research organization.”

The Tax Foundation recently released a map showing just how far $100 goes in each state compared to the national average using 2013 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In other words, how much worth of goods can $100 buy in your state vs. those same goods around the country?

So, the real value of $100 in Illinois is $99.01.

The states with the biggest value for your dollar? Those would be Mississippi ($115.21), Arkansas ($114.29), South Dakota ($114.16), Alabama ($114.03) and West Virginia ($113.12).

And, unsurprisingly, 100 bucks is worth the least in the District of Columbia ($84.96), Hawaii ($86.06), New York ($86.73), New Jersey ($87.34) and California ($89.05).

“If you have $50,000 in after tax income in Mississippi, you would have to have after-tax earnings of $68,000 in the District of Columbia just to afford the same overall standard of living,” the foundation writes in a report released Thursday.

Of course, the cost of living in Chicago and the suburbs differs vastly from our downstate neighbors. Danville, IL, for example, is the least expensive place to live in Illinois and the nation, according to the financial blog Wall St. 24/7, based on recently released price level data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. (The most expensive city? Honolulu.) And the Chicago metro area, including the city and the collar county suburbs, ranks as having the highest cost of living in Illinois.

» learn more and see the Tax Foundation’s map in detail