As of mid-2024, Montevideo ranked as the second Latin American and Caribbean metropolis with the highest cost of living index. The Uruguayan capital obtained an index score of ****, only second to Port of Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago, with **** points. Monterrey and Panama City were the third and fourth most expensive cities to live in Latin America and the Caribbean that year, with scores surpassing ** points each.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the most expensive city for business travel in the Americas (excluding the United States) was Toronto, with daily costs amounting to nearly *** U.S. dollars. San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital, followed in the ranking, with daily costs for hotels, food, and transportation reaching an average of around *** U.S. dollars.

Puerto Rico's capital ranked in the third quarter of 2024 as the most expensive destination among major business travel cities in Latin America. In those months, a business trip to San Juan could cost on average around 365 U.S. dollars per day, including hotel, basic meals, and transportation from the airport to the city center. Regarding accommodation, Panama was the most expensive city in that period, while San Juan registered the highest price of taxi transportation and food.

The average asking rent for a square meter of industrial real estate varied among Latin American cities. Mexico City, was the most expensive city in the second half of 2024, with a monthly asking rate of ***** U.S. dollars per square meter. Additionally, Mexico City was one of the LATAM markets with the lowest vacancy rate.

According to the study, the Brazilian cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were found to have the most expensive public transport in Latin America, where the monthly cost for the service per month represented approximately 9.5 percent of a person's monthly average income. The Chilean capital of Santiago ranked third, where public transport spending amounted to over six percent of the average income.

In 2023, Americas Best Value Inn was ranked the best budget hotel brand in North America with a customer satisfaction index score of 637 points. Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham ranked second with a score of 637. Other high-ranking brands on the list included Surestay Hotel by Best Western and Howard Johnson by Wyndham.

Highest-rated luxury hotel brands

The Ritz-Carlton hotel brand ranked 12 points lower than the satisfaction score of North America’s highest-rated luxury hotel brand in 2023: Waldorf Astoria. During that year, Waldorf Astoria received a satisfaction score of 788. The average customer satisfaction score for luxury hotel brands was more than 200 points higher than the average economy score.

Most expensive cities for business travel

Daily hotel costs can differ substantially, depending on the city one is visiting. In 2022, the most expensive cities for business travel in the United States were New York, San Francisco and Boston, respectively. Beyond the U.S., the most expensive cities for business travel worldwide included New York, Boston, and Lagos that same year.

West Virginia and Kansas had the lowest cost of living across all U.S. states, with composite costs being half of those found in Hawaii. This was according to a composite index that compares prices for various goods and services on a state-by-state basis. In West Virginia, the cost of living index amounted to **** — well below the national benchmark of 100. Virginia— which had an index value of ***** — was only slightly above that benchmark. Expensive places to live included Hawaii, Massachusetts, and California. Housing costs in the U.S. Housing is usually the highest expense in a household’s budget. In 2023, the average house sold for approximately ******* U.S. dollars, but house prices in the Northeast and West regions were significantly higher. Conversely, the South had some of the least expensive housing. In West Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the median price of the typical single-family home was less than ******* U.S. dollars. That makes living expenses in these states significantly lower than in states such as Hawaii and California, where housing is much pricier. What other expenses affect the cost of living? Utility costs such as electricity, natural gas, water, and internet also influence the cost of living. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut, the average monthly utility cost exceeded *** U.S. dollars. That was because of the significantly higher prices for electricity and natural gas in these states.

This statistic shows the most expensive buildings in North America as of 2020. At a cost of some *** million U.S. dollars, the One World Trade Center was the most expensive building throughout North America. It is located in the Financial District of New York City with a facade composed primarily of glass.

Cost of living can vary wildly depending on the city that people live in. Some are hugely expensive while others are comparatively cheaper. This variety can also be seen in the average overnight price of hotels. In September 2023, New York held the highest hotel rate in North America when compared to other selected cities. The average overnight price for a hotel room in New York was 504 U.S. dollars.

Of the most populous cities in the U.S., San Jose, California had the highest annual income requirement at ******* U.S. dollars annually for homeowners to have an affordable and comfortable life in 2024. This can be compared to Houston, Texas, where homeowners needed an annual income of ****** U.S. dollars in 2024.

Brazil and Argentina are some of the Latin American countries with the highest average square meter price of an apartment as of November 2020. In Brazil, a 120 square meter apartment located in the center of a major city sold at around 4,833 per square meter. Rio de Janeiro is one of the Latin American cities where buying an apartment is most expensive.

The price of tap water in the United States varied greatly from city to city in 2021. One of the most expensive cities for tap water in the U.S. is San Francisco, where one cubic meter costs an average of **** U.S. dollars per cubic meter. In comparison, citizens in the Arizona state capital of Phoenix paid, on average, **** U.S. dollars per cubic meter. This is roughly ** percent lower than the U.S. average. Rising water bills in the U.S. Over the past decade, water bills in the U.S. have increased considerably in a number of major cities. In Austin, Texas, water bills rose by *** U.S. dollars between 2010 and 2018, an increase of *** percent. The sharp rising costs has left many in the United States with unaffordable water bills, especially in low income areas in cities such as New Orleans, Cleveland, and Santa Fe. U.S. water crisis One of the reasons for the rising water bills in the U.S. is the aging and deteriorating water infrastructure. In addition to rising bills, outdated treatment plants with leaking pipes have resulted in harmful toxins and chemicals contaminating drinking water. A number of highly populated cities in the U.S. have been found to have high concentrations of PFAs in tap water, exposing millions of people to potentially unsafe drinking water.

In 2024, New York, NY, was the most expensive rental market for one-bedroom apartments in the United States. The median monthly rental rate of an apartment in New York was ***** U.S. dollars, while in San Francisco, CA which ranked second highest, renters paid on average ***** U.S. dollars.

According to a recent study, Colombia had the lowest monthly cost of living in Latin America with 546 U.S. dollars needed for basic living. In contrast, four countries had a cost of living above one thousand dollars, Costa Rica, Chile, Panama and Uruguay. In 2022, the highest minimum wage in the region was recorded by Ecuador with 425 dollars per month.

Can Latin Americans survive on a minimum wage? Even if most countries in Latin America have instated laws to guarantee citizens a basic income, these minimum standards are often not enough to meet household needs. For instance, it was estimated that almost 22 million people in Mexico lacked basic housing services. Salary levels also vary greatly among Latin American economies. In 2022, the average net monthly salary in Brazil was lower than Ecuador's minimum wage.

What can a minimum wage afford in Latin America? Latin American real wages have generally risen in the past decade. However, consumers in this region still struggle to afford non-basic goods, such as tech products. Recent estimates reveal that, in order to buy an iPhone, Brazilian residents would have to work more than two months to be able to pay for it. A gaming console, on the other hand, could easily cost a Latin American worker several minimum wages.

Among the leading office markets in Latin America, Sao Paulo had the highest absorption rate amounting to almost 65,000 square meters in the second half of 2022. Not all cities had a positive office absorption rate. In Panama City, the absorption rate in the second half of the year was negative, meaning that more space was vacated than newly occupied.

The average asking rent for office real estate decreased across all major markets in Latin America between the first half of 2019 and the second half of 2022. Buenos Aires had the most expensive office space at **** U.S. dollars per square meter per month. Mexico City followed closely with monthly rent of ***** U.S. dollars per square meter.

Nassau was the city with the highest grocery prices in Latin America and the Caribbean, as of mid-2020. The capital city of Bahamas scored ***** in the grocery price index ranking that year, followed by the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan, with an index score of *****. According to the calculation system used for the ranking, this means that people living in these two cities paid for groceries ***** percent and ***** percent less than the inhabitants of New York City, the city used as base for the index.

Hawaii is the state with the highest household electricity price in the United States. In September 2024, the average retail price of electricity for Hawaiian residences amounted to 41.27 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. California followed in second, with 30.221 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. Meanwhile, Utah registered the lowest price in the period, at around 11.4 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. Why is electricity so expensive in Hawaii? Fossil fuels, and specifically oil, account for approximately 80 percent of Hawaii’s electricity mix, so the electricity price in this state can be roughly brought down to the price of oil in the country. Oil was by far the most expensive fossil fuel used for electricity generation in the country. As Hawaii depends on oil imports, the cost of transportation and infrastructure must be added to the oil price. Electricity prices worldwide The U.S. retail price for electricity increased almost every year since 1990. In 2023, it stood at 12.7 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour, almost double the charge put on electricity back in 1990. However, household electricity prices are around 25 U.S. dollar cents per kilowatt-hour lower in the U.S. when compared to European countries reliant on energy imports, such as Germany and Italy.

The graph depicts the average price of a hotel room in 2010 and 2011* around the world. In Europe, the average cost for a hotel room was 167.76 U.S. dollars.The Hotel Price Index (HPI) is based on bookings made on hotels.com. The prices shown are those actually paid by the customer. The sample set are about 110,000 properties in more than 18,000 global locations.

Average hotel room prices - additional information

In both 2010 and 2011, the Caribbean was the most expensive region in the world to for hotel stays, with an average hotel room price of 207.11 U.S. dollars in 2011. The Caribbean, located to the south east of North America and the Gulf of Mexico, includes many popular vacation destinations such as the Bahamas, Cuba, Barbados and the Dominican Republic. The region is well-known for its natural beauty and luxury resorts. In 2013, Soufriere, St. Lucia, was one of the most expensive destinations for U.S. travelers in terms of hotel costs, second only to Bora Bora in French Polynesia, where the average daily rate for a hotel was 770 U.S. dollars. Despite the cost, Caribbean cruises were the most popular vacations in the U.S. according to travel company Travel Leaders Group.

A close neighbour of the Caribbean, North America saw the lowest average hotel price in 2010 and 2011. While low in comparison to other regions, the average daily rate of hotels in the U.S. has risen year-on-year since the global recession of 2009 and, in 2013, the U.S. hotel industry generated 163 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. The United States also has some expensive destinations of its own: the most expensive U.S. city for hotel rates in 2013 was Honolulu, Hawaii, with an average daily rate of 230 U.S. dollars. New York ranked second at 211 U.S. dollars a night.

As well as being the region with the second highest average hotel price, hotels in Europe also charge the most for room service. Six out of ten of the most expensive cities in the world for hotel room service were located in Europe in 2014. Helsinki in Finland was the most expensive at just under 90 U.S. dollars.

Of the selected cities shown, many of the lowest drinking water prices are in Asia. Mumbai, India had the lowest average tap water price in 2021, at just **** U.S. dollars per 100 cubic meters. The capital city of the Indian state of Karnataka, Bangalore had the second lowest water price, where 100 cubic meters of drinking water cost **** U.S. dollars. The city of Miami in the US American state of Florida has one of the lowest tap water prices outside Asia at ***** U.S. dollars per 100 cubic meters. Most expensive water prices The price of water varies around the world, with some of the highest found in Europe. For example, in Oslo, Norway, citizens pay an average of *** U.S. dollars per 100 cubic meters. In the United States, cities with high levels of water stress – such as Los Angeles and San Diego – also pay high prices for tap water. The cost of water in many U.S. cities has been increasing in recent years, with water bills in San Diego having increased by *** U.S. dollars between 2010 and 2018. Water consumption Globally, per capita water withdrawals are highest in the U.S., with the average American withdrawing ***** cubic meters of water a year. This is roughly twice the per capita withdrawals in Japan, and four times more than in Germany.