This state offers the most bang for your buck

$100 equals $100…true or false?

Not so if you're spending it in different states, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The non-profit organization adjusted the value of $100 in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., to account for the varying price of goods in different areas. Because of higher price tags for the same goods, this $100 buys fewer goods in expensive states than in states where items cost less.

"Regional price differences are strikingly large and have serious policy implications. The same amount of dollars are worth almost 40 percent more in Mississippi than in D.C., and the differences become even larger if metro area prices are considered instead of statewide averages," the foundation noted.

The data's tax-policy consequences are especially important since taxes are based on nominal income, rather than adjusted purchasing power, it added. This means that a state's residents could be footing higher tax bills despite having lower purchasing power, essentially suffering a one-two punch.

Click ahead to see the five priciest and five least expensive spots to live.

—By CNBC's Katie Little.

In the country's biggest bargain state, $100 is really worth $115.74. But it's not all roses in Mississippi. The state currently has the highest unemployment rate at 8 percent.

Next up is Mississippi's neighbor Arkansas, where $100 buys $114.16 worth of items. Many states in the Southeast ranked among the spots where people get the biggest bang for their buck.

The Show-Me state clocked in at the third-best value. One Benjamin has $113.51 worth of buying power here.

Continuing the Deep South trend, Alabama is another relative steal. Here, $100 is the equivalent of $113.51 in real purchasing power.

Home to both Mount Rushmore and low prices, South Dakota offers the fifth-best value in the U.S. Here, $100 can buy $113.38 of goods.

And there's more good news. Unemployment is extremely low—to the tune of 3.7 percent, tying for the fourth-best state unemployment rate.

Home to the country's priciest Zip code and tech-wealth mecca Silicon Valley, perhaps it's no surprise that California ranks among the states offering the least value for the money. A $100 bill is really worth $88.57 here.

Many states in the Northeast, including New Jersey, rank among the priciest states in the U.S. The real value of $100 here is $87.64.

Neck and neck with its neighbor to the South, the Empire State is the third-worst value for your buck. A $100 note is worth merely $86.66.

What's the price of paradise? Try $85.32. That's all you'll be getting in real terms for each $100 spent in Hawaii. On the positive side, unemployment in this tourist spot is low at 4.4 percent—tied for the sixth lowest in the nation.

Life in the Beltway is expensive. A $100 bill here is worth just $84.60.