Right but the higher wages in California, amongst McDonald's crew members, offsets that and a crew member would have more purchasing power. An employee in California making $14,86 an hour, minus the 2.2% effective tax rate would make $14.33 per hour vs $11.11 in Texas. A $5.11 Big Mac would be 36% of that person's take home hourly wage. A $4.39 Big Mac in Texas would be 39% of that person's take home wage. Even though your dollar goes farther in Texas, you still have more purchasing power in California in this example of McDonald's workers. It also shows that McDonald's can raise wages without raising prices equal to the pay increase. The conclusion is higher wages are better.