Hank Vaughn
Audio By Carbonatix
You might feel like eating out is about the least affordable thing you can do right now, but according to a recent study, Dallasites are actually 1-percenters. Who knew? Literally … who knew?
The international food magazine Chef’s Pencil studied data from Numbeo, which tracks cost-of-living and wage data worldwide. “While not as rigorous as official government statistics, it’s a valuable tool for spotting global trends,” the report reads.
For this part of the report — which also includes a look at coffee and beer — restaurant prices are compared to local wages. The report focuses on mid-range restaurants, so not The Charles nor McDonald’s. The base of the data is a three-course meal for one compared to the average monthly wages.
The 1% Club?
The findings led the authors of this report to dub Dallas as part of the “1% Club,” where locals spend 1% or less of their monthly take-home pay on mid-range meals. Most of the cities at the top of this list are in the U.S. and East Asia.
Dallas ranked first with just 0.7% of the average monthly take-home pay — which Numbeo pegged at $4,686 — going towards a mid-range three-course meal that cost $35 per person.
Don’t tell Chili’s that Dallasites can actually afford more than the $11 Three for Me promo.
One flaw in this study is that the raw data doesn’t account for tipping, which is higher in the U.S. than in other parts of the world. A three-course meal would most certainly be at a full-service restaurant, so add 15%-20% to the total.
“This adjustment lowers Dallas’s affordability ratio slightly, though it still remains among the highest in the world—illustrating how service charges can significantly affect the real cost of dining out in the U.S.,” reads the report.
But would our average monthly wages then be lower if we weren’t tipping?
It’s important to note that this is for just one mid-range three-course meal a month.
Muscat, Though
Adjusting for tips puts Muscat, Oman, at the top of the list, where a meal accounts for about .08% of the average take-home salary.
It’s a bit harder to believe that Bern, Switzerland, comes in at No. 3. While the report notes that a meal for one person costs about $60, this is offset by the high local wages.
Other U.S. cities in the top 10 of affordability for locals dining out include Denver at No. 4 with a 0.8% meal-to-salary ratio for a $43 mid-range meal. Houston just broke the top 10 with a 0.9% meal-to-salary ratio and $40 for a mid-range meal.
A Coffee Habit
Chef’s Pencil also indexed coffee prices, which are on the rise worldwide due to extreme weather.
Coffee is more affordable in high-income countries; Swiss cities Geneva, Bern and Zurich all lead the list. Italy follows and, in North America, you’ll need to make San Francisco money for that cappuccino to feel like a good deal, where the average monthly salary is $7,142, putting the daily coffee cost to a percentage of monthly wage at 2.5%. Seattle and Boston rank at 2.6%.
Dallas comes in at No. 40 for a cappuccino that averages $5.60, which, if you buy one a day, is 3.6% of an average monthly salary of $4,686.
More Watery Beer
Beer was the final index that the chefs put their pencil to for this report. China leads the index here, which the report attributes to the “lighter, more watery,” and lower alcohol content style there, compared to European and American beers.
Denver is a big beer city, and fortunately, the $5,365 average monthly salary there allows some to “afford” the habit. The Mile High City is No. 14 on the list with a 1.3% affordability index for a beer, which averages $7. Dallas is No. 31 with a 1.5% beer affordability index. Hum.
So drinking beer daily is more affordable than coffee. But having a three-course meal (once a month) is the most affordable.
