Numbeo is the world’s largest cost of living database. Numbeo is also a crowd-sourced global database of quality of life data: housing indicators, perceived crime rates, healthcare quality, transport quality, and other statistics. So from time to time we like to check in on their data to understand the relative quality of life in global cities.
The cost of living indices provided on Numbero are relative to New York City (NYC), with a baseline index of 100% for NYC.
Here’s a breakdown of each index and its meaning:
- Cost of Living Index (Excl. Rent): This index indicates the relative prices of consumer goods like groceries, restaurants, transportation, and utilities. It excludes accommodation expenses such as rent or mortgage. For instance, a city with a Cost of Living Index of 120 is estimated to be 20% more expensive than New York City (excluding rent).
- Rent Index: This index estimates the prices of renting apartments in a city compared to New York City. If the Rent Index is 80, it suggests that the average rental prices in that city are approximately 20% lower than those in New York City.
- Groceries Index: This index provides an estimation of grocery prices in a city relative to New York City. Numbeo uses item weights from the “Markets” section to calculate this index for each city.
- Restaurants Index: This index compares the prices of meals and drinks in restaurants and bars to those in NYC.
- Cost of Living Plus Rent Index: This index estimates consumer goods prices, including rent, in comparison to New York City.
- Local Purchasing Power: This index indicates the relative purchasing power in a given city based on the average net salary. A domestic purchasing power of 40 means that residents with an average salary can afford, on average, 60% less goods and services compared to residents of New York City with an average salary.
| Rank | City | Cost of Living Index | Rent Index | Cost of Living Plus Rent Index | Groceries Index | Restaurant Price Index | Local Purchasing Power Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geneva, Switzerland | 101.7 | 59.6 | 81.5 | 111.4 | 101.5 | 152.2 |
| 2 | Zurich, Switzerland | 100.4 | 53.5 | 77.9 | 105.9 | 102.8 | 181.2 |
| 3 | New York, NY, United States | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 4 | San Francisco, CA, United States | 90.5 | 77.9 | 84.5 | 101.8 | 88.2 | 162.1 |
| 5 | Boston, MA, United States | 85.8 | 71.2 | 78.8 | 96.9 | 82.5 | 128.3 |
| 6 | Reykjavik, Iceland | 83.9 | 42.1 | 63.8 | 91.1 | 89.3 | 104.9 |
| 7 | Washington, DC, United States | 82.5 | 67.5 | 75.3 | 84.4 | 83.7 | 132.6 |
| 8 | Seattle, WA, United States | 81.5 | 58.2 | 70.3 | 85.2 | 78.0 | 162.0 |
| 9 | Los Angeles, CA, United States | 80.9 | 62.9 | 72.2 | 85.2 | 88.6 | 122.9 |
| 10 | Chicago, IL, United States | 80.2 | 56.2 | 68.7 | 89.6 | 83.2 | 126.3 |
| 11 | San Diego, CA, United States | 79.8 | 67.9 | 74.1 | 77.9 | 74.8 | 142.3 |
| 12 | Canberra, Australia | 79.3 | 39.8 | 60.3 | 81.3 | 81.5 | 104.0 |
| 13 | London, United Kingdom | 78.7 | 68.7 | 73.9 | 66.3 | 81.2 | 115.3 |
| 14 | Oslo, Norway | 78.4 | 32.5 | 56.4 | 84.0 | 76.2 | 114.7 |
| 15 | Portland, OR, United States | 78.4 | 43.6 | 61.7 | 85.5 | 66.1 | 140.2 |
| 16 | Tampa, FL, United States | 78.0 | 46.9 | 63.1 | 84.4 | 73.9 | 145.7 |
| 17 | Miami, FL, United States | 77.0 | 69.1 | 73.2 | 77.8 | 82.4 | 105.1 |
| 18 | Singapore, Singapore | 76.7 | 67.2 | 72.1 | 74.6 | 50.4 | 111.1 |
| 19 | Denver, CO, United States | 76.6 | 51.8 | 64.7 | 79.6 | 70.0 | 129.7 |
| 20 | Adelaide, Australia | 76.0 | 32.5 | 55.1 | 80.6 | 79.8 | 109.3 |
| 21 | Atlanta, GA, United States | 75.7 | 43.8 | 60.4 | 83.3 | 73.9 | 168.1 |
| 22 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 75.7 | 40.1 | 58.6 | 67.7 | 86.7 | 123.7 |
| 23 | Paris, France | 73.6 | 40.5 | 57.7 | 80.1 | 69.8 | 97.5 |
| 24 | Sydney, Australia | 73.4 | 51.5 | 62.9 | 79.9 | 61.7 | 118.5 |
| 25 | Espoo, Finland | 73.1 | 26.9 | 50.9 | 73.6 | 78.6 | 105.3 |
| 26 | Victoria, Canada | 72.1 | 41.8 | 57.6 | 83.9 | 66.9 | 79.5 |
| 27 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China) | 70.8 | 59.4 | 65.3 | 84.6 | 46.2 | 109.3 |
| 28 | Dallas, TX, United States | 70.5 | 49.4 | 60.4 | 70.7 | 68.1 | 159.1 |
| 29 | Wellington, New Zealand | 70.3 | 37.9 | 54.7 | 76.7 | 61.6 | 88.4 |
| 30 | Edinburgh, United Kingdom | 69.9 | 36.8 | 54.0 | 67.6 | 70.9 | 111.6 |
| 31 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 69.7 | 49.8 | 60.2 | 61.4 | 76.0 | 112.2 |
| 32 | Perth, Australia | 69.6 | 34.1 | 52.5 | 76.3 | 62.3 | 140.8 |
| 33 | Calgary, Canada | 69.5 | 33.7 | 52.3 | 74.8 | 62.3 | 124.1 |
| 34 | Dublin, Ireland | 69.3 | 52.6 | 61.3 | 60.9 | 74.5 | 100.8 |
| 35 | Vancouver, Canada | 69.1 | 50.6 | 60.2 | 79.7 | 66.7 | 98.1 |
| 36 | Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel | 69.1 | 38.8 | 54.6 | 65.4 | 79.7 | 99.1 |
| 37 | Cork, Ireland | 68.6 | 40.0 | 54.9 | 65.1 | 67.0 | 105.5 |
| 38 | Phoenix, AZ, United States | 68.5 | 39.7 | 54.7 | 69.1 | 68.6 | 148.8 |
| 39 | Las Vegas, NV, United States | 68.5 | 37.8 | 53.7 | 69.1 | 68.1 | 142.4 |
| 40 | Brisbane, Australia | 67.9 | 36.5 | 52.8 | 74.3 | 60.1 | 135.2 |
| 41 | Munich, Germany | 67.8 | 39.1 | 54.0 | 62.9 | 64.1 | 111.7 |
| 42 | Melbourne, Australia | 67.8 | 36.1 | 52.6 | 74.0 | 62.3 | 142.8 |
| 43 | Auckland, New Zealand | 67.7 | 32.1 | 50.7 | 74.5 | 60.2 | 127.8 |
| 44 | Halifax, Canada | 67.5 | 33.9 | 51.4 | 75.9 | 59.3 | 92.7 |
| 45 | Hamburg, Germany | 67.4 | 26.5 | 47.8 | 63.3 | 63.4 | 116.7 |
| 46 | Milan, Italy | 67.4 | 38.1 | 53.3 | 65.7 | 67.8 | 60.4 |
| 47 | Ottawa, Canada | 66.9 | 33.4 | 50.8 | 70.4 | 69.3 | 110.8 |
| 48 | Austin, TX, United States | 66.8 | 53.9 | 60.6 | 69.7 | 66.3 | 166.0 |
| 49 | Brussels, Belgium | 66.6 | 29.0 | 48.6 | 66.2 | 68.4 | 105.0 |
| 50 | Toronto, Canada | 66.3 | 45.2 | 56.2 | 70.5 | 66.7 | 107.6 |