upworthy

Eric Pfeiffer

Education

This surprising map reveals the real value of $100 in each state

Your purchasing power can swing by nearly 25 percent from state to state.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise due to inflation, tariffs and other economic factors, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

Each year, the Tax Foundation addresses many of these shortcomings using the most recent Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. In recent years, they've further updated their data so that you can break down the value of your money across every single metro area in the United States. It's an incredibly valuable tool with so many people considering, or having already migrated from states like California to Florida, Texas and other states with friendly state taxes rates and more affordable housing options.

The map quantifies and presents the cost of living by geography in a brilliantly simple way. For instance, if you're looking for a beach lifestyle but don't want to pay California prices, try Florida, which is about as close to "average" — in terms of purchasing power, anyway — as any state in the Union. If you happen to earn, or luck, your way into Silicon Valley tax brackets, head to Hawaii, D.C., or New York. You'll burn through your money in no time. And in some of those places like Hawaii, there are quality of life measurements that often exceed raw purchasing power.


So, where does your dollar go the furthest in 2025? The financial planning site GoBanking.com compiled its own list of cash purchasing power across each state and found that in California, you get the least bang for your buck, only $87.42 in real purchasing power for every $100 of cash. The average person in California makes $96,344, one of the higher income levels in the country. However, just living in California on average costs residents a staggering $86,408, leaving the average person with little flexibility for long-term financial planning projects like retirement, saving for a new home or even buying a new car.

At the other end of the spectrum is Arkansas, the state where your dollar goes the furthest. In fact, that $100 bill burning a hole in your proverbial wallet is in fact worth more than its technical value, with a real value of $113.49. On top of that, the cost of living is only $37,067, less than half of that in California. Further, the average cost of a new home in Arkansas is $208,743, less than one-third of a new home in California. Not coincidentally, in 2023, Arkansas was the top destination for people moving to another state within the United States, followed by Texas.

value of $100 in each state, money, economy, inflation, tariffs, Arkansas, California, Florida, TexasA woman holds six $100 billsImage via Canva

How about Florida, which has received outsized attention in recent years for its overt efforts to draw residents from California and other states with higher costs of living? According to the most recent data, Florida is in fact much closer to California than Arkansas, coming in only in 40th place on the GoBanking rankings, with $100 in cash only being worth $96.55. However, the annual cost of living is still only slightly more than half of that in California, $53,505. And if you're looking to buy some real estate, the average home is valued at $404,924. That's still well outside the purchasing power of many Americans but with built-in advantages such as warm weather and the top-ranked state education system in America, it's obvious why so many people, especially those with families, are choosing Florida over California in recent years.

According to U.S. News and World Report's data analysis, California only has the nation's 23rd best education system and is ranked a paltry 37th overall in their state rankings. It's quite a contrast for a state that bills itself on the promise on opportunity, natural wonder and positive lifestyle options. And with 2024's wildfires, the constant threat of earthquakes and other factors, California clearly has challenges beyond economics if it wants to remain one of the more attractive states in the nation.

Of course, those numbers are always in flux. And political leaders in California have promised concrete reforms in order to address the state's high cost of living compared with the value of the its social and emergency services. If you want proof of how quickly things can change, look at a similar analysis of the value of $100 in each state from 2015:


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

However, those negative statistical trends aside, California continues to have an incredible pull on our collective imagination. 423,194 Americans left their state for California according to the most recent data in 2023, placing it in third behind our previously mentioned top two states, Arkansas and Texas.

So, it's clear there are a number of factors that determine the best place of live in America. When it comes to raw purchasing power, you cannot beat Arkansas. But there's so much else to consider: public resources like education and healthcare, job opportunities (you probably won't make nearly as much in Arkansas as you might in California) and other factors such as proximity to family, friends and personal interests.

There's no doubt America is rapidly changing and that includes what people value the most when they decide where to live. In uncertain economic times, the face of America will likely change radically in the coming years, with the political, economic and social landscape shifting in meaningful ways.

Credit: Wikicommons and Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery

The Pasterze Glacier in a 1900 postcard and in March 2025

125 years ago, the Pasterze glacier in the Austria's Eastern Alps was postcard perfect: Snowy peaks. Windswept valleys. Ruddy-cheeked mountain children in lederhosen playing "Edelweiss" on the flugelhorn.

But a lot has changed since 1900. Much of it has changed for the better. We've eradicated smallpox, Hitler is dead, and the song "Billie Jean" exists now. On the downside, the Earth has gotten hotter. A lot hotter. From June 2023 to May 2024 each month was the hottest ever recorded in the planet's history. July 2023 was the planet's hottest month — ever. Unsurprisingly, man-made climate change has wreaked havoc on the planet's glaciers — including the Pasterze, which is Austria's largest. Just how much havoc are we talking about? Well, this is how the Pasterze Glacier looked in a 1900 postcard:

Pasterze, Pasterze Glacier, climate change, weather, glacierThe Pasterze Glacier in a 1900 postcardImage via Wikicommons


And this is how it looks now in March 2025:

Pasterze Glacier, Pasterze, Austria, climate change, alps, Eastern AlpsWhat's left of the Pasterze GlacierEuropean Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery

First measured in 1851, the glacier lost half of its mass between that year and 2008. A marker placed in 1985 shows where the edge of the glacier reached just 40 years ago. You can still see the ice sheet, but just barely, way off in the distance. In between is ... a big, muddy lake. The view from the glacial foot marker from 1995 — 10 years later — isn't much more encouraging. Even in just one year, 2015, the glacier lost an astounding amount of mass — 177 feet, by some estimates.

Overall, it is estimated that the glacier has retracted by 980 feet since the park first opened in 1963.

Ice continues to melt daily, and while the dripping makes for a good photo, it's unfortunate news for planet Earth. Glacial melting is one of the three primary causes of sea-level rise. Pasterze is still technically the largest glacier in Austria and the Eastern Alps at approximately 6.2 miles. And even in its reduced form, Pasterze remains a significant tourist destination.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com


According to a European Environment Agency report, the average temperature in the Alps has increased 2 degrees Celsius in the last 100 years — double the global average. It's not unreasonable to assume that that's why this mountain hut has been abandoned by the flugelhorn-playing children who once probably lived in it.

Is there anything we can do to stop the Pasterze Glacier from disappearing?

There are efforts underway to save Pasterze and other significant glaciers. However, Gerhard Lieb, the co-leader of the Austrian Alpine Club described the glacier's retreat as "unstoppable" with predictions that it and Austraia's other major glaciers will be gone in as little as 45 years. It would take decades of meaningful counter climate change initiatives, with even the existing ones being too slow for meaningful action, "and the time is up,” Lieb said. “That means nothing can be done anymore.”

This article originally appeared 10 years ago. It has been updated with new information.

The intimate moment has become a viral sensation online.

For people with alopecia, hair is a complicated business. Alopecia is an autoimmune condition that causes hair to fall out. Sometimes it's unnoticeable, but sometimes it falls out in patches, and when those patches connect, it can become quite noticeable. At that point, some people with alopecia choose to shave their heads and embrace baldness, wear wigs, or both.

A video that first went viral after being shared by Rex Chapman on Twitter shows a woman having her head shaved by a man with the caption, "His girlfriend was struggling with her hair loss from alopecia. Get out the tissues. Humanity."


@eva_barilaro

After months growing my #hair for the first time in 10 years I had to ask my #boyfriend to #shave my #head again... first time was my granddad.

It's clear from the get go that the woman is feeling emotional, occasionally wiping her eyes as he repeatedly runs the razor over her head. And it's clear that he cares for her—you can see it in the way he tenderly holds her neck as he shaves.

Eva Barilaro, who posted the video to her TikTok account, wrote: “After months growing my hair for the first time in ten years, I had to ask my boyfriend to shave my head again.” But then, just as he's finishing the final touches, he turns the razor around, and oof. Seriously, you might want to grab a tissue.

Alopecia is a fairly common condition, with an estimated 100 people living with it across the world and around 7 million in the U.S. alone. And yet it remains a deeply stigmatizing thing for people affected it by it, who often have to describe their condition to strangers and navigating personal and professional challenges at work, in their dating lives, or just navigating through public spaces. Even worse, there's no cure for alopecia and the treatments can be maddening, sometimes resulting in complete improvements while others suffer near total hair loss permanently.

The video has been viewed by more than 10 million people across social media and drew heartfelt accolades from celebrities and normal people alike, including Ben Stiller:

Sweet, selfless solidarity. This is what real love looks like. People on Twitter chimed in with their own alopecia experiences and stories about going through chemo for cancer and losing their hair.



Many can relate to the emotional experience of shaving their hair off and the realization that they could be beautiful bald. The woman in this video rocks the shaved head. The guy...well, a little hard to tell until he finishes the job, but his act of kindness and compassion is definitely beautiful.


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