The website SmartAsset.com recently published a study of 235 urban areas nationwide, trying to find those that had the least economic inflation.
The Danville, IL area finished in the top 50 in that study, 38th nationwide of 235, and second best among the seven areas of the state surveyed.
They took into account data from 2007 and 2017 to calculate the average cost of living and personal income of residents of the areas chosen.
Overall, they found that the Danville area saw a 16.3% positive change in purchasing power, with just a 1.0-2% increase in the average cost of living. Average change in personal income was also a positive percentage, 2.56%. Only the Champaign/Urbana area tested better in the state, and Danville was followed on the list by Springfield, Peoria, Rockford, Joliet-Will County and Chicago in last.
Their website said they determined the cost of living for each location by looking at the price for a basket of goods. The goods included basics like milk, shampoo and rent for both 2007 and 2017. They calculated the average per capita personal income for each city for both years.
To figure out how far money would go in each city, they calculated purchasing power by dividing the average per capita income by the cost of living in each city for both 2007 and 2017. They say that change in purchasing power from 2007 to 2017 shows the metro areas in the country that have seen the least inflation over the past decade.
