More Videos- Market 360: The Week's Best & Worst
- Market Fireworks Before Independence Day?
- Jobs Numbers: Breakdown by Sector
- Global Scorecard: Emerging Markets Lead
- Historical Averages for July, Q3 and the Second Half
- Quarter End Results: Winners & Losers
- Is the NASDAQ Getting Ahead of Itself?
- Quarter End Preview: Winners & Losers
- Winners & Losers Since March 9th Low
- Market 360: The Week's Best & Worst
RSS FEED
|
CNBC'S MOST SHARED
- 'We're in the Middle of a Crash': Black Swan
- The Rising Mountain of Debt May Be the Next Crisis
- SEC May Reinstate Rules for Short-Selling Stocks
- Latvian Banker Taking Souls as Collateral
- The Worst Expected 2010 State Budget Gaps
- Malaysia PM Speaks to CNBC
- Cuddle Parties Heat Up
- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Will Resign
- NY City Apartment Sales Down More Than 50%
Text Size 
Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama wants to raise taxes on Americans making over $250,000 per year. That may seem like a lot of money, but it depends a lot on where you live.
Someone with an income of $250,000 in Paducah, Ky., for instance, would need to make $586,000 in New York City to maintain the same lifesytlye. So, maybe Uncle Sam needs to work in a cost-of-living component to the tax code.
Using a cost of living calculator from Bankrate.com, we compared what $250,000 translates to in various parts of the country. Here's is a sample of what we found:
 |
In contrast, a person making $250,000 in New York would only need $106,000 to live in Paducah. The biggest driver of the cost differences is housing. A comparable home in New York would cost $1.1 million vs. $0.2 million in Paducah. Rent for a comparable apartment, would be $3,425 vs. $550 per month.
Other costs are also significantly higher, but are much smaller in absolute terms - a doctor visit is nearly double, a hair cut is 50 percent higher and even bowling is three times more costly in NYC.
You would expect consumer goods players like Proctor and Gamble [PG
Loading...
()
] and Coca-Cola [KO
Loading...
()
] and retailers like Wal-Mart [WMT
Loading...
()
] and Home Depot [HD
Loading...
()
] to take these factors into account in their pricing models. So should the government think about cost of living when discussing income taxes? People in higher cost areas like New York and California might vote yes.
Comments? Send them to
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes