What about all the "free money" floating around LA, New York, Chicago? why is their free market not stifled?
Do you think it might have something to do with being 450 miles away from the big cities?
BTW LA, NewYork, and Chicago are all expensive places to live and they are 0 miles from the big cities.
I happen to have the study the State did for the geographic differential, comparing COL in rural, bush, southeast and road system.
In the country wide COL the US average is 100, which is the base line.....
for example:
NYC COL is overall 169.. or 69% higher than the average for the US..
stevens village is at 116 overall.
Now for the Alaska Specific Geo diff....
Anchorage is the base line at 1.00
Mat- su .95
Juneau 1.11
Cordova, valdez 1.05
seward 1.03
kodiak 1.12
aleutian islands 1.49
bristol bay 1.37
bethel 1.53
yukon/kuskokwim 1.16
barrow 1.55
kotzebue/ nome 1.37
Methodology
The study involved two primary research tasks, a Household Consumption Survey (HCS) and a Retail Price
Survey (RPS). The HCS provided data on the relative importance of various components of the household
budget (housing, food, transportation, etc.) and how consumption varies from community to community.
The RPS provided data on how the prices for items in the household budget differ between various
communities and Anchorage. It is the blend of HCS and RPS data – the combination of consumption
differences and price differences – that produces the geographic cost differential.
RETAIL PRICE SURVEY
The RPS included 634 retail outlets in 58 communities throughout Alaska, plus numerous providers of various
services, including health care, transportation, communications, insurance, and others. Each of the items in a
household market basket of approximately 200 goods and services was priced in each community where the
item was available.
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION SURVEY
The HCS included 2,547 surveys with randomly selected households in 74 communities throughout Alaska.
Sample “blocks” were defined for purposes of sample distribution and to ensure sufficient sample sizes in
various regions and among communities with common demographic and geographic characteristics.