Purchasing power ranking: Olpe district beats Düsseldorf
The highest purchasing power in North Rhine-Westphalia is not in Düsseldorf, Münster or Cologne, but in the Olpe district. The city of Gelsenkirchen is in last place nationwide. This is the result of a ranking by the German Economic Institute (IW). The per capita income in the 400 German districts, counties and cities was adjusted for the respective regional cost of living.
In the Olpe district, the disposable income - or real income - is therefore 28,442 euros. This is followed by the Rheinisch-Bergisch district (27,621 euros), the Hochsauerland district (27,578 euros) and the Gütersloh district (27,472 euros). Herne (EUR 20,054), Duisburg (EUR 19,604) and Gelsenkirchen (EUR 18,886) are at the bottom of the NRW comparison. In these three cities, the low incomes cannot be offset by the low cost of living.
The highest disposable income in Germany is found in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria (EUR 32831), with the district of Olpe in ninth place and Gelsenkirchen in last place. It is striking that, according to the IW calculations, the highest purchasing power lives away from the expensive and large cities. Düsseldorf (EUR 25,676) is only ranked 103rd in Germany, while other large cities such as Cologne, Bonn and Münster are also pushed far down the rankings due to the high cost of living. None of the ten cities with the highest price levels are in North Rhine-Westphalia, with Cologne in 14th place and Düsseldorf in 16th.
The calculations are based on a regional price index developed by the IW and the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) as of 2022 and income data from the Federal Statistical Office as of 2021. The ranking does not take into account differences in expenditure structure, for example that city dwellers may have lower commuting costs than people from cheaper rural districts.
Consumers in the Olpe district have a higher purchasing power due to their higher disposable income, which stands at 28,442 euros per capita. Conversely, despite lower prices, the low income in cities like Duisburg (EUR 19,604) and Gelsenkirchen (EUR 18,886) limits the purchasing power of their consumers.
Source: www.dpa.com
