By Bill King, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- This may be tough to swallow, but a study by economists at Columbia University shows that groceries in New York City are actually cheaper than in other parts of the country. The two economists compared identical products sold in cities big and small, both at high-end grocery stores and discount retailers.
In nearly every case, New York products were cheaper than in places such as Memphis, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.
But do New Yorkers agree?"Hell no," 47-year-old mother of two Tina Smith told the Wall Street Journal. "There's inflation in New York."
One reason for the discrepancies, according to study authors Prof. David E. Weinstein and doctoral student Jessie Handbury, is that New York City offers a vast variety of choices, which they say throws off the average prices.
You can get bread in any grocery store, Weinstein told the newspaper, but "if you go into Fairway in New York, you can buy a Balthazar baguette" - and pay for it too.
Since cities like the Big Apple sell more varieties of products, the average price of those products appears higher. But using barcode data to compare the same products in smaller cities, the authors found metropolitan areas had cheaper prices. They say expensive foods in New York's high-end stores cost less than the same products in smaller cities, presumably because they are harder to find in those areas. Likewise, inexpensive foods at New York's low-end stores also cost less than their small-city equivalents.
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