Table 1 lists alphabetically the 134 SMSAs in the Right to Work states and their related data, and Table 2 lists the 188 SMSAs located in forced-unionism states. A combined cost index of 98, for example, means 2 percent less expensive than the metro area average, while an index of 120 means 20 percent more expensive. Thus, on average it costs 15 percent more to live in a SMSA in a forced-unionism state than it does in a Right to Work state. Put another way, each dollar that a family has to spend in a Right to Work state goes considerably further. The significance of the cost of living in determining living standards cannot be overemphasized.
Metro areas attract people because of expanding job opportunities, sure.
Families in Right to Work states are economically better off than in forced-unionism states. In states without Right to Work laws, high taxes and high costs of living erode the purchasing power of incomes so much that families in states with Right to Work laws are, on average, better off. Stated another way, low taxes and more moderate living costs can easily offset lower hourly rates of pay, as the evidence in this study reveals. Another factor favoring the economic status of families in Right to Work states over those in forced-unionism states is federal taxes which are ignored by Savageau and D'Agostino. If federal taxes were included, families in Right to Work states would be even better off than the Savageau and D'Agostino data show.