Argentina leads the ranking of provinces with the highest salaries, but Patagonia completely dominates the list of the most expensive regions to live in. According to the latest 'Changuito Federal' report, prepared by the consultancy Analytica, Neuquén, Santa Cruz, Chubut, and Tierra del Fuego top the list of provinces that pay the best wages. However, when it comes to purchasing power, which is the ratio of what is earned versus what is spent, the picture is different. The province of Vaca Muerta has a 3:1 ratio in favor of income, followed by Santa Cruz (2.9), Chubut (2.4), and Tierra del Fuego (2.2). The conclusion drawn by the analysts is that a Patagonian family needs to allocate, on average, 15.7% of registered private salaries to cover the basic food basket. Meanwhile, in the NOA/NEA region, 29.7% of their income must be dedicated to acquiring the same products as in the south. In January, the gap between the most expensive and cheapest province in the country exceeded 113,000 pesos. The breakdown by products shows that sunflower oil rose by 3% to 5% in most provinces. Burgers led the increases with jumps of up to 7%, followed by sausages with increases of 4%. In contrast, a dozen eggs did not suffer price variations in almost the entire country, with the exception of the City of Buenos Aires, where the value fell by 1.3%. In the salary ranking, on the other side, the Northeast (NEA) and Northwest (NOA) remain the zones with the lowest nominal prices, but in a context of submerged wages: Chaco, Corrientes, Tucumán, Misiones, and Santiago del Estero are the provinces with the lowest averages (between 900,000 and a little over one million pesos). The outstanding feature is that the jurisdiction that pays the worst wages, Santiago del Estero, is not therefore the cheapest: Misiones recorded the most 'changuito' at 798,252, followed by La Rioja (807,716) and Chaco (808,958). Behind the four better-paying Patagonian neighbors, Río Negro also stands out, but for surpassing important central provinces. In contrast, other traditionally rich provinces like Córdoba and Mendoza fell in the ranking, occupying 12th and 17th place respectively, with salaries lower than the leading group headed by Neuquén. The majority of salaries in the Patagonian region grew above last year's inflation, with records from Neuquén and Río Negro allowing for a real recovery of purchasing power that exceeds the rest of the country.
