As of September 2024, Mumbai had the highest cost of living among other cities in the country, with an index value of 26.5. Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi and part of the National Capital Region (NCR) followed it with an index value of 25.1.  What is cost of living? The cost of living varies depending on geographical regions and factors that affect the cost of living in an area include housing, food, utilities, clothing, childcare, and fuel among others. The cost of living is calculated based on different measures such as the consumer price index (CPI), living cost indexes, and wage price index. CPI refers to the change in the value of consumer goods and services. The wage price index, on the other hand, measures the change in labor services prices due to market pressures. Lastly, the living cost indexes calculate the impact of changing costs on different households. The relationship between wages and costs determines affordability and shifts in the cost of living. Mumbai tops the list Mumbai usually tops the list of most expensive cities in India. As the financial and entertainment hub of the country, Mumbai offers wide opportunities and attracts talent from all over the country. It is the second-largest city in India and has one of the most expensive real estates in the world.

In the second half of 2023, Hyderabad showed the highest growth of 11 percent in residential unit price. There was a general increase in prices per square feet in the residential market in all eight major metropolitan regions. The residential real estate market has slowly recovered from coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as well as a high number of unsold inventories in many cities, especially in the premium and luxury segments, are perceived to be the main drivers for decreasing prices. India’s residential market While the majority of India’s population is still living in rural areas, urbanization is increasing. This results in a high demand for affordable housing in big cities for workers moving from rural parts of the country. Despite a new momentum in governmental efforts for affordable housing in recent years, there is still a gap between the low, middle, and high income groups in terms of demand and supply of housing units. The future outlook Over the last ten years, housing in the biggest Indian cities has become more affordable. Affordability sets income in relation to housing prices. Nevertheless, it is seen that the residential real estate market would continue to grow significantly in the coming years.

Contains data from the World Bank's data portal. There is also a consolidated country dataset on HDX.

Cities can be tremendously efficient. It is easier to provide water and sanitation to people living closer together, while access to health, education, and other social and cultural services is also much more readily available. However, as cities grow, the cost of meeting basic needs increases, as does the strain on the environment and natural resources. Data on urbanization, traffic and congestion, and air pollution are from the United Nations Population Division, World Health Organization, International Road Federation, World Resources Institute, and other sources.

At 8.07 U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the July 2024 Big Mac index. Concurrently, the cost of a Big Mac was 5.69 dollars in the U.S., and 6.06 U.S. dollars in the Euro area. What is the Big Mac index? The Big Mac index, published by The Economist, is a novel way of measuring whether the market exchange rates for different countries’ currencies are overvalued or undervalued. It does this by measuring each currency against a common standard – the Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald’s restaurants all over the world. Twice a year the Economist converts the average national price of a Big Mac into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at that point in time. As a Big Mac is a completely standardized product across the world, the argument goes that it should have the same relative cost in every country. Differences in the cost of a Big Mac expressed as U.S. dollars therefore reflect differences in the purchasing power of each currency. Is the Big Mac index a good measure of purchasing power parity? Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the idea that items should cost the same in different countries, based on the exchange rate at that time. This relationship does not hold in practice. Factors like tax rates, wage regulations, whether components need to be imported, and the level of market competition all contribute to price variations between countries. The Big Mac index does measure this basic point – that one U.S. dollar can buy more in some countries than others. There are more accurate ways to measure differences in PPP though, which convert a larger range of products into their dollar price. Adjusting for PPP can have a massive effect on how we understand a country’s economy. The country with the largest GDP adjusted for PPP is China, but when looking at the unadjusted GDP of different countries, the U.S. has the largest economy.

The average salary for male employees in urban area was the highest during the months of April to June 2020 at about 21 thousand Indian rupees. The average salary drawn by female workers was the highest in the months of April to June 2020, however, lesser compared to their male counterparts. Unsurprisingly, the urban earnings in terms of wages and salaries are always higher than rural employees. Urban versus rural employment The gender gap in salaries was more prominent in rural areas, where, the male workers earned nearly an average of 1.5 times more. However, urban employees just earn a few thousands more than their rural counterpart, while, the cost of living in cities is twice as expensive as villages. Moreover, a majority of the Indian households belonged to the middle-income bracket and this is expected to increase in the future. Wage disparity Wage inequalities are present in almost every sector and widens with higher skill levels. With the evident gender disparity in the country, women with lower educational qualifications, such as a high school diplomas continue working despite the pay gap. This is among women who primarily come from the lower economic sector. Moreover, the social mobility index for fair wage distribution was 17.8 as of 2020, indicating a need for improvement.

According to a survey conducted in 2015 across India, over 60 percent of the surveyed households had an average monthly income up to 10,000 Indian rupees. This percentage varied among the rural and urban areas, where over 75 percent of the rural households and 45 percent of the urban households earned up to 10,000 Indian rupees monthly. India had a high rate of rural to urban migration, as Indian cities provided better standards of living and employment opportunities.

Multiple income generators

For most of the population, income is earned in form of wages or salary, rent from residential or commercial property, interest from financial investments, and profits from family businesses. Most Indian households have multiple earning members to support consumption expenses on a day to day basis. During the surveyed year, around 48 percent of the households had a single earner, mostly the head of the family, followed by about 30 percent of households with two earning members.

Employment scenario

There are a lot of uncertainties in the job market in India. Non-availability of jobs matching education and skills was one of the main reasons for unemployment among Indian graduates. Underemployment was also a problem, and it was higher in urban areas than rural ones. Even though a majority of the population was self-employed, most jobs taken by workers had no written job contracts in both the salaried and casual employment sectors.