A cheap product is not necessarily affordable. Price level describes what an item costs. Purchasing power also depends on the money available to buy it. A dollar price ranking cannot answer both questions on its own.
A worked example
Hypothetical country A has a $4 meal and a $2 hourly wage: the meal takes two hours of work. Hypothetical country B has an $8 meal and a $16 hourly wage: it takes half an hour. A has the lower sticker price, while B has the lower work-time cost under these assumptions.
Use the same currency on both sides
Hours required equals local product price divided by local hourly pay. The price and wage must use the same currency. If monthly income is used, divide it by the stated working hours before calculating the ratio. Keep gross and net figures separate.
Know whose wage is being measured
A minimum wage, a regional rate, a national average and a household’s disposable income describe different people. Rates can vary by effective date, age, working arrangement and location. A proxy for a country without a national rate should not be labeled as a universally applicable wage.
Recurring and one-off purchases
A monthly subscription and a device bought every few years have different effects on a budget. Comparing one unit of each may be useful for a product index, but it does not represent normal monthly spending without purchase-frequency assumptions.
How to read this site
Burger Parity’s main score compares a reference product basket. Its separate wage estimates use the stored assumptions and withhold calculations for insufficient confidence or currency mismatches. Neither measure is a verified current income survey.
Read the methodology and source policy before citing an affordability conclusion.