Is USA an affordable place to live?

I'm from New Zealand but have a dual citizen ship for USA. I'm in Pennsylvania at the moment and I've noticed that everything is So cheap here! Is it just Pennsylvania that is a very affordable state r is all of America like this?!

For example. A victorias secret body mist in New Zealand is $20 (17USD) but in Penn they are only $9. I think that is unbelievably cheap so I bought 6!

and just food etc. And iphones are a lot cheaper over here.

is new zealand just expensize or is Pennsylvania the place to be?!

The USA is usually less expensive than other developed countries. It is due to a number of factors.

1. The USA is the world's # 1 economy and represents about 1/3 of the Global Domestic Product (with about 5% of the global population). The economics of scale plus an extremely efficient transportation system result in lower costs for everything.

2. The USA produces most of its own energy and could be completely self-sufficient except for political factors (some legitimate, some not). Lower energy costs = lower overall costs.

3. The USA has a unified market economy, which results in intense competition = lower costs for the consumer.

4. Finally, the greatest single difference is taxes. I'm not familiar with NZ, but sales tax in the USA is about 8% for merchandise verses as much as 30% in western Europe. Tax on fuel in western Europe is even higher, which is most of the reason a gallon of gasoline costs $3.50 in the US and almost $10 in the UK (which is an oil producing country). The "free" healthcare and other permanent welfare benefits in Europe have to be paid for somehow.

Do remember NZ is an island (actually two islands) and a more equivalent cost comparison would be with Hawaii and not Pennsylvania.

The US is a huge country. You can't say that everything everywhere is the same. New York City is practically the most expensive place on earth. Yet if you go to the countryside or smaller cities, things are a lot less expensive. Every state is different.

A lot of things in America ARE cheaper than in other countries. That's a fact many Americans don't realize.
If you travel a lot, you'll realize America has the cheapest prices for things. Especially since the dollar value is weaker.

Practically anywhere outside of the US is always expensive. New Zealand especially. I'd imagine that it's pretty far from everything and relies a lot on imports on a lot of things, so yeah things will be expensive. The closest place is Australia and Asian countries.

Going on the VS web site for the USA, many of their body mists are $8/ and you could of hit a sale.

You go to Alaska or Hawaii and prices are going to be higher.

Most states in the continent USA will be about the same. Prices are usually higher in the big major cities.