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.

The graph shows the world's most expensive cities to live, compared to New York City. Zurich is with a value of 170 the most expensive city to live.

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.

A dataset comparing monthly living costs across major cities in China, including rent, food, transport, and more for ESL teachers.

The average for 2021 based on 165 countries was 79.81 index points. The highest value was in Bermuda: 212.7 index points and the lowest value was in Syria: 33.25 index points. The indicator is available from 2017 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Mean Real Household Wages Adjusted by Cost of Living for St. Louis city, MO (MWACL29510) from 2009 to 2023 about St. Louis City, MO; St. Louis; adjusted; MO; average; wages; real; and USA.

This is a comparison of the cost of living in various cities, as gathered by popular site numbeo. All data belongs to them and has been shared with permission

Currency is Euro

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.

This table contains data on the percent of households paying more than 30% (or 50%) of monthly household income towards housing costs for California, its regions, counties, cities/towns, and census tracts. Data is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Consolidated Planning Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) and the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS). The table is part of a series of indicators in the [Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project of the Office of Health Equity] Affordable, quality housing is central to health, conferring protection from the environment and supporting family life. Housing costs—typically the largest, single expense in a family's budget—also impact decisions that affect health. As housing consumes larger proportions of household income, families have less income for nutrition, health care, transportation, education, etc. Severe cost burdens may induce poverty—which is associated with developmental and behavioral problems in children and accelerated cognitive and physical decline in adults. Low-income families and minority communities are disproportionately affected by the lack of affordable, quality housing. More information about the data table and a data dictionary can be found in the Attachments.

Germany - Housing cost overburden rate: Cities was 13.10% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Germany - Housing cost overburden rate: Cities - last updated from the EUROSTAT on June of 2025. Historically, Germany - Housing cost overburden rate: Cities reached a record high of 19.80% in December of 2012 and a record low of 11.40% in December of 2020.

This dataset contains information about the cost of living in almost 5000 cities across the world. The data were gathered by scraping Numbeo's website (https://www.numbeo.com).

Data dictionary

Column	Description
city	Name of the city
country	Name of the country
x1	Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant (USD)
x2	Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course (USD)
x3	McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) (USD)
x4	Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught, in restaurants) (USD)
x5	Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle, in restaurants) (USD)
x6	Cappuccino (regular, in restaurants) (USD)
x7	Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle, in restaurants) (USD)
x8	Water (0.33 liter bottle, in restaurants) (USD)
x9	Milk (regular), (1 liter) (USD)
x10	Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) (USD)
x11	Rice (white), (1kg) (USD)
x12	Eggs (regular) (12) (USD)
x13	Local Cheese (1kg) (USD)
x14	Chicken Fillets (1kg) (USD)
x15	Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) (USD)
x16	Apples (1kg) (USD)
x17	Banana (1kg) (USD)
x18	Oranges (1kg) (USD)
x19	Tomato (1kg) (USD)
x20	Potato (1kg) (USD)
x21	Onion (1kg) (USD)
x22	Lettuce (1 head) (USD)
x23	Water (1.5 liter bottle, at the market) (USD)
x24	Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range, at the market) (USD)
x25	Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle, at the market) (USD)
x26	Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle, at the market) (USD)
x27	Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) (USD)
x28	One-way Ticket (Local Transport) (USD)
x29	Monthly Pass (Regular Price) (USD)
x30	Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) (USD)
x31	Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) (USD)
x32	Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) (USD)
x33	Gasoline (1 liter) (USD)
x34	Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) (USD)
x35	Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) (USD)
x36	Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment (USD)
x37	1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) (USD)
x38	Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) (USD)
x39	Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult (USD)
x40	Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) (USD)
x41	Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat (USD)
x42	Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child (USD)
x43	International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child (USD)
x44	1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) (USD)
x45	1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) (USD)
x46	1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) (USD)
x47	1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes (USD)
x48	Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre (USD)
x49	Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre (USD)
x50	Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre (USD)
x51	Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre (USD)
x52	Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre (USD)
x53	Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre (USD)
x54	Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) (USD)
x55	Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate
data_quality	0 if Numbeo considers that more contributors are needed to increase data quality, else 1

As of September 2024, Mumbai had the highest cost of living among other cities in the country, with an index value of ****. Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi and part of the National Capital Region (NCR) followed it with an index value of ****.  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.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Mean Real Household Wages Adjusted by Cost of Living for Salt Lake County, UT (MWACL49035) from 2009 to 2023 about Salt Lake County, UT; Salt Lake City; UT; adjusted; average; wages; real; and USA.

Kazakhstan Cost of Living: Average per Capita: City: Almaty data was reported at 32,029.000 KZT in Oct 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 32,475.000 KZT for Sep 2018. Kazakhstan Cost of Living: Average per Capita: City: Almaty data is updated monthly, averaging 15,920.000 KZT from Oct 2000 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 217 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 32,640.000 KZT in Aug 2018 and a record low of 4,577.000 KZT in Oct 2000. Kazakhstan Cost of Living: Average per Capita: City: Almaty data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kazakhstan – Table KZ.H012: Cost of Living: Average per Capita.

Kazakhstan Cost of Living: Average per Capita: City: Shymkent data was reported at 26,400.000 KZT in Oct 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 26,207.000 KZT for Sep 2018. Kazakhstan Cost of Living: Average per Capita: City: Shymkent data is updated monthly, averaging 26,195.000 KZT from Jun 2018 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 26,400.000 KZT in Oct 2018 and a record low of 24,740.000 KZT in Jul 2018. Kazakhstan Cost of Living: Average per Capita: City: Shymkent data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kazakhstan – Table KZ.H012: Cost of Living: Average per Capita.

Cost of living data based on food, housing, utilities, transportation, healthcare, and consumer discretionary spending in the United States.

Poland - Housing cost overburden rate: Cities was 5.70% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Poland - Housing cost overburden rate: Cities - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2025. Historically, Poland - Housing cost overburden rate: Cities reached a record high of 12.40% in December of 2012 and a record low of 5.40% in December of 2020.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Mean Real Household Wages Adjusted by Cost of Living for Richmond city, VA (MWACL51760) from 2009 to 2023 about Richmond City, VA; Richmond; adjusted; average; VA; wages; real; and USA.

A table comparing the cost of living in various European Union countries, including expenses for rent, utilities, food, and transportation in major cities

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR List Rents (EC9)

FULL MEASURE NAME List Rents

LAST UPDATED October 2016

DESCRIPTION List rent refers to the advertised rents for available rental housing and serves as a measure of housing costs for new households moving into a neighborhood, city, county or region.

DATA SOURCE real Answers (1994 – 2015) no link

Zillow Metro Median Listing Price All Homes (2010-2016) http://www.zillow.com/research/data/

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) List rents data reflects median rent prices advertised for available apartments rather than median rent payments; more information is available in the indicator definition above. Regional and local geographies rely on data collected by real Answers, a research organization and database publisher specializing in the multifamily housing market. real Answers focuses on collecting longitudinal data for individual rental properties through quarterly surveys. For the Bay Area, their database is comprised of properties with 40 to 3,000+ housing units. Median list prices most likely have an upward bias due to the exclusion of smaller properties. The bias may be most extreme in geographies where large rental properties represent a small portion of the overall rental market. A map of the individual properties surveyed is included in the Local Focus section.

Individual properties surveyed provided lower- and upper-bound ranges for the various types of housing available (studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, etc.). Median lower- and upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the regional and county geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the average of the median lower- and upper-bound prices for the region and counties. Median upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the city geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the median upper-bound price for cities. For simplicity, only the mean list rent is displayed for the individual properties. The metro areas geography rely upon Zillow data, which is the median price for rentals listed through www.zillow.com during the month. Like the real Answers data, Zillow's median list prices most likely have an upward bias since small properties are underrepresented in Zillow's listings. The metro area data for the Bay Area cannot be compared to the regional Bay Area data. Due to afore mentioned data limitations, this data is suitable for analyzing the change in list rents over time but not necessarily comparisons of absolute list rents. Metro area boundaries reflects today’s metro area definitions by county for consistency, rather than historical metro area boundaries.

Due to the limited number of rental properties surveyed, city-level data is unavailable for Atherton, Belvedere, Brisbane, Calistoga, Clayton, Cloverdale, Cotati, Fairfax, Half Moon Bay, Healdsburg, Hillsborough, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Moranga, Oakley, Orinda, Portola Valley, Rio Vista, Ross, San Anselmo, San Carlos, Saratoga, Sebastopol, Windsor, Woodside, and Yountville.

Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how rents have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index does create some challenges given the fact that housing represents a major chunk of consumer goods bundle used to calculate CPI. This reflects a methodological tradeoff between precision and accuracy and is a common concern when working with any commodity that is a major component of CPI itself. Percent change in inflation-adjusted median is calculated with respect to the median price from the fourth quarter or December of the base year.