In 2024, Singapore's cost of living index was at 81.9, compared to that of New York City as a base of 100. This meant that Singapore was about 20 percent more affordable than New York City. With a local purchasing power index of 103, residents with an average salary in Singapore are able to afford more goods and services compared to the base city of New York City. In that year, Singapore had the highest cost of living index in Asia.

123,4 (Index, higher means higher cost of living) in 2024Q3.

Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva were ranked as the most expensive cities worldwide with indices of ************************ Almost half of the 11 most expensive cities were in Switzerland.

170,2 (Index, higher means higher cost of living) in 2024Q3.

103,8 (Index, higher means higher cost of living) in 2024Q3.

In 2024, the CPI in U.S. cities averaged at 313.7. However, the CPI for the New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area amounted to about 334.21. Prices in New York City were significantly higher than the U.S. average. Nonetheless, the San Diego-Carlsbad area ranked first with a CPI of 373.32.The monthly inflation rate for the United States can be found here.

97,5 (Index, higher means higher cost of living) in 2024Q3.

Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut were the states with the highest average monthly utility costs in the United States in 2023. Residents paid about ****** U.S. dollars for their electricity bills in Hawaii, while the average monthly bill for natural gas came to *** U.S. dollars. This was significantly higher than in any other state. Bigger homes have higher utility costs Despite regional variations, single-family homes in the United States have grown bigger in size since 1975. This trend also means that, unless homeowners invest in energy savings measures, they will have to pay more for their utility costs. Which are the most affordable states to live in? According to the cost of living index, the three most affordable states to live in are Mississippi, Kansas, and Oklahoma. At the other end of the scale are Hawaii, District of Columbia, and New York. The index is based on housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services. To buy a median priced home in Kansas City, a prospective home buyer will have to earn an annual salary of about ****** U.S. dollars.

108,3 (Index, higher means higher cost of living) in 2024Q3.

The observation for 2020 is missing because the U.S. Census Bureau released experimental estimates (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/experimental-data.html) instead of the standard 1-year data products for the 2020 American Community Survey (ACS). There was no 2020 experimental data provided for the American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year variable S1901_C01_013E.

Mean household income, American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year variable S1901_C01_013E, is adjusted by CPI (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL) where the price index is re-based to 1999 dollars. Then the series is adjusted for cost of living using regional price parities (RPP) from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis' Real Personal Income for States and Metropolitan Areas (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release?rid=403&soid=18). Finally to approximate the wage, the series is divided by (52 * 40), which assumes there are 52 weeks in a year and 40 work hours in a week. Note that household income can include additional sources of income beyond wages. See page 83 in the ACS's Subject Definitions (https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/tech_docs/subject_definitions/2019_ACSSubjectDefinitions.pdf) for more information.

ACS 1-year estimates are not available for all geographic areas. If a county is not included in the 1-year estimates for a given year, the series will not revise or there will be a missing observation. See the Areas Published (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/geography-acs/areas-published.html) for more details about the geographies included in the ACS 1-year estimates.

The RPP used to calculate this series is NYNMPRPPALL (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NYNMPRPPALL). If the RPP for the region is zero or missing for a given year, the series will not revise or there will be a missing observation.

At **** U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the January 2025 Big Mac index. Concurrently, the cost of a Big Mac was **** dollars in the U.S., and **** 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.

In 2023, the U.S. Consumer Price Index was 309.42, and is projected to increase to 352.27 by 2029. The base period was 1982-84. The monthly CPI for all urban consumers in the U.S. can be accessed here. After a time of high inflation, the U.S. inflation rateis projected fall to two percent by 2027. United States Consumer Price Index ForecastIt is projected that the CPI will continue to rise year over year, reaching 325.6 in 2027. The Consumer Price Index of all urban consumers in previous years was lower, and has risen every year since 1992, except in 2009, when the CPI went from 215.30 in 2008 to 214.54 in 2009. The monthly unadjusted Consumer Price Index was 296.17 for the month of August in 2022. The U.S. CPI measures changes in the price of consumer goods and services purchased by households and is thought to reflect inflation in the U.S. as well as the health of the economy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the CPI and defines it as, "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services." The BLS records the price of thousands of goods and services month by month. They consider goods and services within eight main categories: food and beverage, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, and other goods and services. They aggregate the data collected in order to compare how much it would cost a consumer to buy the same market basket of goods and services within one month or one year compared with the previous month or year. Given that the CPI is used to calculate U.S. inflation, the CPI influences the annual adjustments of many financial institutions in the United States, both private and public. Wages, social security payments, and pensions are all affected by the CPI.