From our Late to the Spending Party desk

The hardworking staff has been occupied with one thing and another lately, so we missed this piece in the New York Times Sunday Review section.

What People Buy Where

CONSPICUOUS consumption is everywhere, but it’s not the same everywhere. People living in certain cities spend far more than the national average on particular goods and services that they believe will enhance their social standing.

In New York City, favored items include luxury watches and shoes. In Boston, the status signal of choice is tuition to a private school. Clothes are the go-to goods in Dallas. Wearing high-end makeup says you’ve arrived in Phoenix. In San Francisco, one telling sign is women’s sport coats and tailored jackets. And in Washington, D.C., encyclopedias and reference books are top status markers. Go figure.

More fun facts to know and tell about Boston:

• Bostonians spend more on college and private-school tuition, give more money to political and charitable institutions and consume more coffee and books.

• [People] in Boston and Baltimore have us all beat with their fondness for looking natural: They spend 25 percent less than the national average on superficiality.

• Bostonians get the prize for most informed, forking over 40 percent more than the national average for newspapers and magazines.

Helpful graphic:

Bottom line: Bostonians don’t care how they look, as long as they look smart.

That smarts, eh?

Especially the alimony part.