Damascus in Syria was ranked as the least expensive city worldwide in 2023, with an index score of ** out of 100. The country has been marred by civil war over the last decade, hitting the country's economy hard. Other cities in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Tehran, Tripoli, and Tunis, are also present on the list. On the other hand, Singapore and Zurich were ranked the most expensive cities in the world.

In the last quarter of 2024, three of the ten most expensive cities in the United States for business travel when it comes to food costs were located in California. However, the ranking was topped by Honolulu, which average daily food cost amounted to 118 U.S. dollars at that time.

New York was the most expensive U.S. city for business travelers in the last quarter of 2024, with the daily cost of accommodation, food, and car hire totaling 660 U.S. dollars. In the second place was Boston, where business tourists spent around 480 U.S. dollars each day on average.

Cities in the United States dominate the list of cities with the highest rents worldwide. New York was ranked as the most expensive city to rent in, ahead of San Francisco, with an index score of 100. Boston followed in third.

About This Data

This is a list of over 2,000 vacation rental properties in Palm Springs, CA provided by Datafiniti's Property Database.

The dataset includes property name, # beds, # bathrooms, price, and more. Each property will have an entry for each price found for it and so a single property may have multiple entries.

Note that this is a sample of a large dataset. The full dataset is available through Datafiniti.

What You Can Do With This Data

A similar dataset was used to determine the most and least expensive cities for short-term vacation rentals in the US. E.g.:

• What are the least and most expensive one-bed rentals?
• What are the least and most expensive two-bed rentals?
• What are the least and most expensive three-bed rentals?
• What is the median price for short-term rental properties?
• What is the variation in rental prices?

Data Schema

A full schema for the data is available in our support documentation.

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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.

New York was the world's most expensive city for business tourism in the 4th quarter of 2024, reaching an average daily cost of around 660 U.S. dollars. Among the top ten of that period, three cities were located in the United States.

Of the most populous cities in the U.S., San Jose, California had the highest annual income requirement at 288,953 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 87,991 U.S. dollars in 2024.

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.

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 54.1, only second to Port of Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago, with 56.4 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 45 points each.

As of October 2024, the city with the most expensive hotel rate in the United States was Boston. Visitors to the East Coast city could expect to pay 320 U.S. dollars for a doube room during that period. Meanwhile, New York ranked third with an average rate of 284 U.S. dollars.

A dataset listing the 20 richest cities in Colorado for 2024, including information on rank, city, county, population, average income, and median income.

Cities in the United States dominate the list of cities with the highest rents worldwide. New York was ranked as the most expensive city to rent in, ahead of Singapore, with an index score of ***. Hamilton in Canada followed in third.

A dataset listing the 20 richest cities in Wyoming for 2024, including information on rank, city, county, population, average income, and median income.

According to the European Backpacker Price Index for 2025, Zurich in Switzerland was the most expensive destination for budget travelers. The average daily cost in that city – based on prices for a cheap hostel, budget meals, public transport, and a limited budget for entertainment – amounted to almost 164 U.S. dollars as of January 2025. In comparison, the same trip to Budapest, one of the most affordable cities for backpacking in Europe, would have cost less than 50 U.S. dollars per day.

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 4,280 U.S. dollars, while in San Francisco, CA which ranked second highest, renters paid on average 3,160 U.S. dollars.

As of March 2024, the cost of living in Bogota was the highest among major Colombian cities. In total, the average cost per month amounted to 883 U.S. dollars. Cartagena followed in the ranking, with a monthly cost of living of 877 U.S. dollars at that time.

Zurich in Switzerland was the most expensive business travel destination in Europe based on the average daily cost for food in 2020. That year, Zurich's total average meal price, including spending on breakfast, lunch, and dinner, amounted to roughly 265 U.S. dollars. Another Swiss city, Basel, ranked second on the list in 2020, with daily food costs of around 225 U.S. dollars.

According to the source, the city of New York was the most expensive city for business travel in the United States in terms of car rental costs at the end of 2024. In that year, the average daily rate of car rentals in the Big Apple amounted to nearly 74 U.S. dollars.

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 6.07 U.S. dollars per cubic meter. In comparison, citizens in the Arizona state capital of Phoenix paid, on average, 0.96 U.S. dollars per cubic meter. This is roughly 63 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 869 U.S. dollars between 2010 and 2018, an increase of 154 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.