As of mid-2025, Port of Spain ranked as the second Latin American and Caribbean city with the highest cost of living. The capital of ******************* obtained an index score of ****, followed by the ********* capital, with **** points.

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.

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.

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 *** U.S. dollars. In the second place was Boston, where business tourists spent around *** U.S. dollars each day on average.

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 *** U.S. dollars at that time.

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.

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 ***. Boston followed in third.

This statistic shows the most expensive cities for five star hotels worldwide as of December 2014. According to the GoEuro Accommodation Price Index, Punta Cana was the most expensive city with an average cost of 1,323 U.S. dollars per night.

In 2023, Hong Kong was the city in the Asia-Pacific region which was the most expensive for business travel in terms of daily hotel cost, in which the average daily hotel cost was approximately ***** U.S. dollars. Contrastingly, the average daily cost of a hotel for business travel in Tianjin was approximately ***** U.S. dollars in 2023.

According to an April 2023 survey by We Are Social and Statista Q, 40 percent of U.S. consumers feel highly affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis, whereas only 6 percent don't feel affected at all.

This statistic shows the most expensive cities for hostel bookings worldwide as of December 2014. According to the GoEuro Accommodation Price Index, New York was the most expensive city with an average cost of 65 U.S. dollars per night.

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.

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.

Amsterdam is set to maintain its position as Europe's most expensive city for apartment rentals in 2025, with median costs reaching 2,500 euros per month for a furnished unit. This figure is double the rent in Prague and significantly higher than other major European capitals like Paris, Berlin, and Madrid. The stark difference in rental costs across European cities reflects broader economic trends, housing policies, and the complex interplay between supply and demand in urban centers. Factors driving rental costs across Europe The disparity in rental prices across European cities can be attributed to various factors. In countries like Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, a higher proportion of the population lives in rental housing. This trend contributes to increased demand and potentially higher living costs in these nations. Conversely, many Eastern and Southern European countries have homeownership rates exceeding 90 percent, which may help keep rental prices lower in those regions. Housing affordability and market dynamics The relationship between housing prices and rental rates varies significantly across Europe. As of 2024, countries like Turkey, Iceland, Portugal, and Hungary had the highest house price to rent ratio indices. This indicates a widening gap between property values and rental costs since 2015. The affordability of homeownership versus renting differs greatly among European nations, with some countries experiencing rapid increases in property values that outpace rental growth. These market dynamics influence rental costs and contribute to the diverse rental landscape observed across European cities.

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.

In the first quarter of 2025, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Honolulu were some of the U.S. cities with the highest housing construction costs. Meanwhile, Phoenix had one of the lowest construction costs for high-end multifamily homes at *** U.S. dollars per square foot and Las Vegas for single-family homes between *** and *** U.S. dollars per square foot. Construction cost disparities As seen here, the construction cost for a high-end multi-family home in San Francisco in the first quarter of 2024 was over ***** more expensive than in Phoenix. Meanwhile, there were also great differences in the cost of building a single-family house in New York and in Portland or Seattle. Some factors that may cause these disparities are the construction materials, installation, and composite costs, differing land values, wages, etc. For example, although the price of construction materials in the U.S. was rising at a slower level than in 2022 and 2023, several materials that are essential in most construction projects had growth rates of over **** percent in 2024. Growing industry revenue Despite the economic uncertainty and other challenges, the size of the private construction market in the U.S. rose during the past years. It is important to consider that supply and demand for housing influences the revenue of this segment of the construction market. On the supply side, single-family home construction fell in 2023, but it is expected to rise in 2024 and 2025. On the demand side, some of the U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest sale prices of single-family homes were located in California, with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at the top of the ranking.

New York was the business travel destination with the highest hotel expenses at the end of 2024, registering an average daily cost of *** U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the non-U.S. corporate travel destination with the highest hotel costs was London.

In 2023, the average price per square meter for rental apartments in France was the highest in Paris. In the French capital, the average price per square meter for rental flats reached almost ** euros, compared to ** euros in the second-largest French city, Marseille. Not only is Paris the most expensive city in France for renting an accommodation, it is also one of the most expensive in Europe.
Paris housing crisis The Paris region is the most populated area of France. It is also the most densely populated region of the country. In a very centralized country like France, the capital appears to be the center of the majority of economic and cultural activities, as well as the home of an important number of universities. Finding accommodation is becoming more and more difficult in a city which also attracts millions of tourists every year. The average cost of an apartment in Paris amounted to more than 10,000 euros per square meter, compared to nearly ***** euros per square meter in the French second-largest agglomeration: Lyon. The consequences of high prices in housing In Paris, renting a two-bedroom apartment costed more than ***** US dollars in 2018, making the city one of the most expensive worldwide. To cope with this price boom, residents of the Paris metropolitan area often live in one of the many suburbs of the city. Furthermore, the pollution of the French capital, as well as its traffic jams and congested public transports, often lead Parisians to change their lives and move elsewhere after a few years. In 2015, Bordeaux was named most attractive city to live in France. Paris was only ranked eighth.

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.

During 2018, Paris was the most expensive European city to rent an Apartment, at 2.85 thousand U.S. dollars per month. London had an average rental cost of over 300 U.S. dollars less than the Capital of France. Cities within Western Europe have a higher rental price than their Eastern counterparts with Moscow seeing the average cost of rent over one thousand U.S. dollars per month lower than Paris.

Supply and demand

One of the main factors driving high rents across European cities is the same as any other consumer driven business. If demand outweighs supply, prices will inflate. The drive for high paid professionals to be located centrally in prime locations, mixed with the low levels of available space, high land and, construction costs all help keep rental prices increasing.

Renters now outweigh home owners

In London, the number of private renters has increased dramatically from 2008. Increasing house prices as well as standard costs of living have seen more and more people unable to get on to the property ladder, and are therefore forced onto the rental markets for longer. This being said 2019 has become a great time for first-time buyers as interest rates remained historically low.