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By Anabelle Doliner
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An Alaska-based TikToker left viewers stunned after revealing the exorbitant prices of everyday goods in the state's rural areas. Emily, known on the app as @emilyinalaska_, shared the video late last month, and it has since accumulated 2.3 million views, over 258,000 likes, and 6,500 comments.
Because it is so remote, Alaska can be an expensive state to live in. According to the website PayScale, the overall cost of living in Anchorage, Alaska is 28 percent higher than the national average. For groceries specifically, Payscale said the cost is 26 percent higher than the average.
That disparity grows even wider as one moves away from the cities and into rural areas. In Salcha, a village located a few hundred miles outside of Anchorage, the cost of living is a whopping 33 percent higher than the national average.
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In her video, found here, Emily begins by heading to the dairy aisle. There, she pans over several blocks of Tillamook cheddar. Beneath each variety, a yellow price tag displayed the cost: $24.99 or $26.29, depending on the type.
Next up, Emily heads to a refrigerated display of two-percent milk. The price per carton is also high, at $18.29.
A bottle of Coffee Mate coffee creamer is listed in the $12 to $14 range, while a one-pound package of sliced ham is priced at $10.29. A jar of Tostitos salsa costs $7.99, while bags of Starbucks coffee hover around $15.
All of the items shown by Emily are roughly standard-sized.
"Goods are priced higher since they have to travel farther by plane or barge to get to rural areas," explains the TikToker in her clip.
Viewers flocked to the comments section to express their surprise at the clip. "I'll never complain about grocery prices in NYC ever again," wrote @vivkirutwind.
"$25 for cheese," noted @darkwingswildlife. "I think I'd just buy a cow."
Fellow residents of Alaska also chimed in to back Emily's video. "Thank you for posting!!" commented @ibdrennen. "Your prices match ours in Bethel AK .... People don't realize how expensive grocery shopping is here in rural AK!"
Others made a point of reminding viewers that the video was filmed in a rural area, meaning that "prices are NOT this high in the main cities like Anchorage and Fairbanks."
To that point, Emily later posted a follow-up clip, filmed in Anchorage, where groceries are "much more reasonably priced." There, for example, the Tillamook cheddar that cost $25 in a rural grocery store cost only $11.99—and was further discounted to $9.99.
Newsweek has reached out to Emily for additional information but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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