Therefore, rising food costs are indicated by positive values. The remaining columns are each community's cost relative to Anchorage at that date. Note that the dollar value of the U.S. Average is not included in this survey since the methodology is not equivalent. Figure 1 shows the weekly cost of food plotted against community size. The peculiar distribution of costs are somewhat linearized when reexpressed on logarithmic coordinates as shown in Figure 2.
Logarithmic coordinates are useful for comparing widely ranging numbers.
Logarithmic coordinates on a single axis alone does not linearize the plot, although the major improvement in the readability is due to compression of the horizontal axis. The smaller communities are not homogenous, it appears that small communities in the proximity of Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau enjoy relatively low food costs. Weekly food costs plotted as a function of community size Figure 2.