I live in a—4th tier is selling it short, but 3rd tier seems generous, call it 3.5th tier—city, and am always shocked at how much cheaper good restaurant food,

I live in a—4th tier is selling it short, but 3rd tier seems generous, call it 3.5th tier—city, and am always shocked at how much cheaper good restaurant food, baked goods, et c. are in "real" cities compared to here. Anything non-shit is basically 20-50% more expensive here than in HCOL cities. Makes no sense, these places should have like 1/5 the rent costs and lower labor costs than the major coastal cities, yet, prices are sky-high and quality's often not even that good. Groceries are about the same price. More expensive for some things, cheaper for others. Health care's more expensive here, with lower quality, because it's a flyover red state. HCOL only seems to apply to housing. Everything else is about the same or cheaper in "HCOL" cities. May not hold for other smaller/poorer cities, but very much does for ours.