DS Ranking and MWCC have analyzed the cost of living in 133 cities based on data offered by the NUMBEO platform collected through surveys completed by the people who live in them.
Within these 133 cities, Zurich ranks as the most expensive city in the world followed by Geneva, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Thus, two Swiss cities followed by three American cities take the first five places.
Among the different goods and services collected is the price for each city of restaurants, food, apartments, transportation, schools or Wi-Fi, as well as the average salary.
Zurich is the most expensive city to eat out; with a cost of 128 euros for a dinner for two people and three courses. Cities such as Mumbai, Jakarta or Cairo are positioned with the lowest prices, where the average price is between 16 and 20 euros.
Public transport, the most sustainable means of getting around, Luxembourg is positioned as a favorite city due to its free nature. Buenos Aires is another city with a minimal cost of public transportation.
On the contrary, in Zurich the individual ticket has a price of 4.7 euros, which also, together with Oslo, offers the highest taxi rates, between 12 and 14 euros for the first kilometer.
In relation to the average purchase price, we analyze the products according to the city. For a basket made up of unprocessed products, the city of San Francisco leads the cost ranking with, for example, 7.1 euros per kg of apples and 7.8 for tomatoes. On the contrary, Tehran is once again an optimal city for the average purchase price, just like Minsk or Mumbai (0.9 euros for apples, 0.5 for tomatoes and 0.5 for bread).
If we analyze the cost of telephony, which is a good indicator of technological use, the city of Seattle has the highest costs per monthly telephone bill, around 95 euros for data and calls and 86 euros for home Wi-Fi . Leading the ranking is Abu Dhabi – 105 euros. In Buenos Aires or Delhi the bills are reduced to 20 euros per month.
In terms of educational cost, cities such as Geneva and Zurich lead the ranking, with a cost close to 3,500 euros per month for the early childhood education section and with an expenditure of 38,000 euros per year for international schools. In the case of New York, the average expense shoots up to 58,000 euros per year.
In spending on housing, the city of Hong Kong leads the price ranking, with the highest average price to buy there, 26,400 euros per square meter; In the most accessible area of the ranking is Cairo, with an average price of €649/m2 and Caracas €765/m2. Regarding rent, the highest average price is in New York with 3,800 euros per month for a one-bedroom apartment in the center, while in Sarajevo it drops to 296 euros.
These cost differences are explained by the average net salary of each city. Thus, in Zurich, San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Geneva, the most expensive cities, they are also the cities with the highest salaries, along with Washington DC. In Zurich the average remuneration is 7,560 euros per month, per person, and in the rest of those cities it does not go below 6,100 euros. Meanwhile, Cairo or Caracas do not reach 180 euros/month and in Tehran they stay at 234 euros.
If we combine cost of living and salaries we will obtain the purchasing power in each city in which Huston, Chicago, Luxembourg, The Hague and Atlanta stand out positively. On the contrary, the population of Caracas, Lagos, Beirut, Cairo and Tehran are those who have the greatest difficulties.
Among Spanish cities, Bilbao is the most expensive (62), followed by Barcelona (64), Madrid (76), Seville (82), Alicante (84), Malaga (85), Valencia (86), Las Palmas (87 ), Zaragoza (93) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (94).
But if we look at purchasing power, determined by the relationship between cost of living and average salary, Madrid would be the twentieth city (20), ahead of Valencia (32), Malaga (44), Zaragoza (58), Seville (62 ), Bilbao (63), Alicante (70), Barcelona (72), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (74) and Las Palmas (86).
Information about the 133 cities and the comparison between them can be consulted in DS Ranking.
