Josh Hendrickson on Mississippi’s Cost of Living

Clarion-Ledger – ICLE Academic Affiliate Joshua R. Hendrickson was quoted by the Clarion-Ledger in a story about a recent survey finding that the Mississippi cities of Jackson and Hattiesburg are among the places where the cost of living has risen the most in the past year. You can read full piece here.

However, University of Mississippi’s Chair of the Department of Economics Joshua Hendrickson said there must be more than meets the eye.

“These cost-of-living changes are largely driven by inflation. The variation by location is typically determined by local conditions,” Hendrickson said. “However, with regard to Jackson, there does not appear to be a particular component that is driving the cost-of-living higher.”

… “What is likely going on here is that places like Jackson and Hattiesburg have a lower cost-of-living than the average city in the U.S.,” Hendrickson said. “When there is significant inflation, many prices of goods and services rise uniformly across geographic locations. These result in higher percentage increases in lower cost-of-living areas. This seems to be the case here since 13 of the 15 cities listed began below the national average.”

Hendrickson pointed to several statistics in regard to Jackson, Hattiesburg and Mississippi in general.