It's no secret that the cost of prescription drugs can vary from city to city. But what about the cost of prescription drugs in Atlanta, Georgia? How does it compare to other cities? The GoodRx research team has been tracking drug prices in cities across the U. S. for the past four years.
The map below shows the price of prescription drugs relative to the national average in 30 U. cities. We can observe some general trends, but there are some cases where drug prices differ between neighboring states or cities. San Francisco and Los Angeles have been two of the most expensive cities for prescription drugs, but a strange phenomenon, possibly driven by inflation, has caused San Francisco to drop off the list of the top five.
Southern cities like New Orleans, Little Rock, and Lexington now make up a majority of the top five. All three are medium-sized cities with higher-than-average rates of multiple chronic diseases, which may explain why they are paying higher prices for their prescriptions. Milwaukee also made the list of the five most expensive cities this time around, with residents paying almost 11% more than the national average at the pharmacy. In sharp contrast to the list of the most expensive cities, there has been little movement to the least expensive cities. Denver, Colorado has been the least expensive city for prescription drugs since GoodRx Research began this analysis 4 years ago.
In Denver, residents pay 39% less for their prescription drugs than the national average. Unsurprisingly, Los Angeles has high drug prices due to its high cost of living. Unfortunately for Californians, drug costs are higher than the national average across the state. The relationship between cost of living and cash prices of prescription drugs also seems to hold up in a few more cases. In cities like Kansas City, Missouri and Greenville, North Carolina where cost of living is relatively low, drug costs are still relatively low compared to the national average. However, cost of living doesn't fully explain the differences we see in drug costs across the country.
In Atlanta, cost of living is relatively high but prices are more than 18% lower than the national average. And while cost of living in Denver has increased in recent years, its drug prices are still the lowest compared to the national average. When it comes to Midwest cities, drug costs vary between nearby cities. In Indianapolis, Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul prices are below national average whereas Cleveland and Milwaukee have higher than average drug costs.
Detroit is 16% below national average but just to north in Flint Michigan they're 6% higher. It's likely that many of us have felt the pain of inflation when filling up at gas stations or grocery stores. Energy plays an integral role in prescription drug supply chain - from powering production plants to shipping products across country - and when energy costs increase so drastically it's likely to be reflected in what you pay at your pharmacy. There is also a sales profit margin that a pharmacy puts on a prescription that can vary from city to city. Some pharmacies will request a higher margin to support their business and those pharmacies may be unevenly distributed across states. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a Consumer Price Index report which details how commodity prices have changed over time both nationally and locally. It's important to note that while prescription drugs are expected to cost roughly same across country this is not always true. So while some people may be surprised by common generic drugs others may pay substantially less simply because of where they live.
It's important to be aware of how much you're paying for your prescriptions and if you're able to shop around for better deals. When it comes to Atlanta residents can rest assured knowing that their prescription drug costs are more than 18% lower than the national average - making it one of most affordable cities for prescriptions.
