Residents of the Spokane-Spokane Valley area can make their money last longer than residents of many other major metropolitan areas, according to data from a New York company’s cost-of-living and inflation analysis.

In an evaluation of more than 220 metropolitan areas around the country, Spokane ranked 57th when factoring purchasing power, cost-of-living change, personal income, and inflation.

SmartAsset, which conducted the study, is a four-year-old, financial technology company that specializes in providing free financial data to individuals and businesses on its website at www.smartasset.com. A.J. Smith, managing editor and vice president of content strategy for the company, says the company has more than 130 financial partners from which it can glean information.

“This is the first year we’ve ever done a study like this,” Smith says. “We wanted to put together something comprehensive that asks, ‘Where does my money go the furthest?’ ”

The Spokane-Spokane Valley area was second among eight metropolitan areas ranked in Washington state, behind Yakima and just ahead of the Richland-Kennewick area. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area ranked last.

To determine the effect of inflation on communities, SmartAsset divided average per capita income by cost of living to factor change in purchasing power. The company concluded the average Spokane resident had 22 percent more purchasing power in 2014 than in 2004. The cost of living here rose by just three-quarters of a percent while personal income rose 2.8 percent in 2014 compared with 2004, SmartAsset says. 

The company assigned Spokane with an inflation index figure of 55.04, compared with Yakima at 61.64, the Richland-Kennewick area at 51.58, and the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area at 23.08.

In the index, a higher numbers suggests that inflation didn’t impact a community substantially.

Spokane-Spokane Valley area resident saw an increase in purchasing power of 22 percent in the last decade, and the cost of living grew by 0.76 of a percent, while personal income rose 2.8 percent.

By comparison, Yakima residents saw an increase in purchasing power of nearly 28 percent in the last decade, and that city’s cost of living grew by a full percentage point, while average personal income grew by 3.5 percent. 

Meanwhile, residents in the Seattle,-Bellevue-Tacoma area saw purchasing power fall nearly 4 percent, the cost of living increase nearly 3 percent, with personal income rising 2.5 percent, the study says.

 “We graded on a curve for the inflation index,” Smith says. “The Burlington, Iowa, metro area ranked No. 1 on the list at 100 because residents there saw a substantial rise in personal income and nearly no cost-of-living increase at just .02 percent.”

Midland, Texas, and Lafayette, La., ranked second and third nationally. 

SmartAsset says it used nearly 60 categories, such as rent, cable, food and entertainment costs, to calculate cost of living.