What is Digg?134 Comments
- goeatsmsht, on 10/12/2007, -2/+91
Why didn't you publish the entire list?
Rank (last year) City COUNTRY Index
1 (1) Oslo Norway 132
2 (4) Paris France 130
3 (6) Copenhagen Denmark 126
4 (7) London UK 125
5 (2) Tokyo Japan 124
6 (4) Osaka Kobe Japan 118
6 (3) Reykjavik Iceland 118
6 (8) Zurich Switzerland 118
9 (12) Frankfurt Germany 116
9 (10) Helsinki Finland 116
11 (13) Seoul South Korea 115
12 (9) Geneva Switzerland 112
12 (11) Vienna Austria 112
14 (16) Milan Italy 108
14 (24) Singapore Singapore 108
16 (14) Hong Kong Hong Kong 107
16 (14) Munich Germany 107
18 (19) Berlin Germany 106
18 (16) Sydney Australia 106
20 (21) Brussels Belgium 104
20 (16) Dublin Ireland 104
20 (n/a) Nouméa New Caledonia 104
20 (21) Stockholm Sweden 104
24 (19) Melbourne Australia 103
25 (24) Lyon France 102
26 (23) Amsterdam Netherlands 101
26 (29) Moscow Russia 101
28 (27) New York US 100
29 (27) Düsseldorf Germany 99
29 (26) Manchester UK 99
31 (35) Barcelona Spain 98
31 (31) Rome Italy 98
33 (35) Madrid Spain 97
34 (32) Hamburg Germany 96
34 (43) Vancouver Canada 96
36 (35) Chicago US 95
36 (40) Luxembourg Luxembourg 95
36 (43) Montreal Canada 95
39 (35) Los Angeles US 94
40 (35) Perth Australia 93
41 (32) Brisbane Australia 92
41 (40) San Francisco US 92
43 (47) Toronto Canada 90
44 (40) Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire 89
44 (52) St Petersburg Russia 89
44 (46) Washington, DC US 89
47 (45) Adelaide Australia 88
47 (48) Houston US 88
47 (52) Tel Aviv Israel 88
50 (29) Auckland New Zealand 87
51 (51) Shanghai China 86
51 (32) Wellington New Zealand 86
53 (48) Istanbul Turkey 85
53 (48) Taipei Taiwan 85
55 (54) Athens Greece 84
55 (54) Miami US 84
55 (54) Minneapolis US 84
55 (58) Prague Czech Rep 84
59 (63) Lagos Nigeria 83
59 (58) Lisbon Portugal 83
61 (58) Detroit US 82
61 (58) Seattle US 82
63 (58) Beijing China 80
63 (63) Boston US 80
63 (67) Guatemala City Guatemala 80
63 (63) Pittsburgh US 80
63 (63) Warsaw Poland 80
68 (67) Dakar Senegal 79
68 (71) Dalian China 79
68 (57) Mexico City Mexico 79
71 (69) Lexington US 78
72 (70) Amman Jordan 77
73 (100) Jakarta Indonesia 76
73 (91) Lusaka Zambia 76
75 (75) Shenzhen China 75
76 (71) Guangzhou China 74
77 (74) Cleveland US 73
77 (75) Honolulu US 73
79 (80) Casablanca Morocco 72
79 (71) Dubai UAE 72
79 (82) Kiev Ukraine 72
79 (87) Rio de Janeiro Brazil 72
79 (87) Sao Paulo Brazil 72
84 (81) Atlanta US 71
85 (82) Abu Dhabi UAE 70
85 (n/a) Suzhou China 70
87 (84) Bogota Columbia 69
88 (87) Doha Qatar 68
88 (95) Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 68
88 (93) Nairobi Kenya 68
88 (84) Santiago Chile 68
92 (107) Bangkok Thailand 67
92 (107) Belgrade Serbia & Montenegro 67
92 (77) Budapest Hungary 67
92 (91) Ho Chi Minh Vietnam 67
96 (84) Bahrain Manama Bahrain 66
96 (95) Bucharest Romania 66
98 (87) Riyadh Saudi Arabia 65
98 (95) Tianjin China 65
100 (77) Johannesburg South Africa 64
100 (77) Pretoria South Africa 64
100 (n/a) Qingdao China 64
103 (106) Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei 63
103 (95) Kuwait City Kuwait 63
103 (93) Muscat Oman 63
106 (104) Hanoi Vietnam 62
106 (100) Montevideo Uruguay 62
106 (100) Quito Ecuador 62
109 (100) Jeddah Saudi Arabia 61
109 (95) Panama City Panama 61
111 (104) Al Khobar Saudi Arabia 60
111 (117) Almaty Kazakhstan 60
111 (107) Lima Peru 60
111 (110) Sofia Bulgaria 60
115 (111) Phnom Penh Cambodia 59
116 (113) Cairo Egypt 58
116 (113) Colombo Sri Lanka 58
118 (112) Caracas Venezuela 57
118 (115) Damascus Syria 57
120 (117) Buenos Aires Argentina 54
120 (117) Tashkent Uzbekistan 54
122 (120) San Jose Costa Rica 53
123 (115) Algiers Algeria 52
124 (124) Asuncion Paraguay 51
125 (121) Dhaka Bangladesh 46
126 (n/a) Kathmandu Nepal 45
126 (122) New Delhi India 45
126 (122) Tripoli Libya 45
129 (126) Karachi Pakistan 44
129 (124) Mumbai India 44
131 (127) Manila Philippines 43
132 (128) Tehran Iran 34 - mwsherman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+28It's important to note that these results do not include rent/mortgage prices, making them somewhat less useful.
- slimbooty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Can someone post a similar chart for hot females per city. That would be helpful for future travel plans.
- tom2275, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14That's the point I was going to make. So you'd compare the cost of living on what? the price of a gallon of milk? a loaf of bread? a gallon of gas? What makes a place expensive is the cost of real estate. Its the number one consideration someone would have if you were thinking of moving there. This list is useless.... BTW, I live in San Diego, CA and I know its less expensive than NY, but Detriot? Yeah, right! What a waste of time....
- Shawnosaurus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7$800 for an apartment?! That's cheap for the ghetto here (san francisco). I'd kill a man if it meant I got $800 rent.
This list is janky because they left out rent/mortgages which is really critical in cost of living. - Huus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Nonsense.
"The survey compiled its data set by collecting a snapshot of prices from 177 internationally comparable products and services sorted into 10 categories."
I live in Copenhagen, believe me it's pricey :) - sergeantmudd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Okay, you're right. Many of these places are inexpensive by Western standards. I've known people who lived in Abidjan and I've known people who have lived in Washington DC. The cost of living in Abidjan is significntly lower than the cost of living in DC. But living in Abidjan soaks up a greater percent of Ivoirians' income than Americans living in DC
- sergeantmudd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6That's a steal. Doggy day care can be $30 in Chicago.
- undersky, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Asian countries will skyrocket if real estate is considered my friends. Annual household income in Taipei might be 1/2 of that of US, but a tiny apartment easily costs over $300K. A tiny house? Several millions USD.
Oh, and the cheapest Mercedes C230 starts around $100K and a S500 is at least twice of that. - carcass350, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5What the hell are you talking about?
5 is Tokyo Japan
6 is Osaka Kobe Japan - sergeantmudd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I am sorry, I shouldn't throw out terms that provide no descriptive clues to their defintion. Doggy day care is day care for your doggy. It's what yuppies call kennels.
- nickv, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Wait... Dallas has the same amenities as New York City? Um, I'm going to say "no." Forget for a second the museums, clubs, bars, restaurants and theater (which NYC clearly has orders of magnitude more...) I'd imagine it'd be pretty tough to take the subway home at 3am after going out drinking with your friends in Dallas... I'd rather live in a small box where I'm not home much because the city provides me with all my entertainment, than a big box where there's nothing to do outside of it.
- cramd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@hablo50 it even takes too much time just to block people like you.
It would be nice if digg would just block all comments with that URL in them. - Gustomucho, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Big cities are always more expensive than small cities.
I think YOU are wrong. - MrMinit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Because it is a rich country (yeah, haha). To comparison, a liter of gasoline here could easily cost two US dollars ($2).
- chuckwoolery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I would agree with you that it's not terribly useful if you wanted to move to these cities.
But it is more useful if you have to travel to these places, especially on business, and had to justify your unusually high expense claims after a trip to Norway (this actually happened to me last year).
In fact, the purpose of the study is for expat workers (workers sent abroad by their employer) to help calculate how much they should be compensated. They have merely separated out the factors into different categories. From http://eiu.enumerate.com/asp/wcol_HelpWhatIsWCOL.asp :
"The survey also contains price information for other cost categories, helping you create separate allowances to cover housing costs, school fees and business trips. In addition, background information is provided on each city's housing market and on local disposable income levels." - Fhionnlaoch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5#34, tied with Hamburg. We do have the highest house prices in Canada, though. An average 500,000 for a house that would be 300,000 in Toronto.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Dundee, Angus isn't there either. Odd.
- StringyLow, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Dallas isn't even in the same game much less the same league when it comes to expensive cities.
Who wants to live where it's flat and brown?
I mean, besides you. - undersky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I bought a coat from Banana Republic in America for $215, and it was discounted to $175 after the holiday season. I later found the same coat in the Banana Republic store in Tokyo for $420. Identical coat. I couldn't believe my eyes. @_@
- ionchannels, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7There is no way that Montreal is more expensive than Toronto. Are they taking into account tax breaks, social safety nets etc? Daycare in Montreal is between $7 and $20 a day, compared with at least $40 a day in Toronto. Don't even get me started on rent.
- cramd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Vancouver, BC at #34 - ah that is why I feel so poor all the time! A wonderful city, but it can really test the ability of one's "living pay cheque to pay cheque skills"!
- BZKyle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4My city doesn't have money... we trade rocks.
- lesosso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This list even if i can not say it's no good, does not seem (to me anyway) like it's correct, i traveled a lot and London is definitely the place where your pocket are going to be empty in the fastest of time. And to talk about something i know for sure: Montréal is cheaper than Toronto in almost every aspect. Have a good one everybody! in all of these cities.
- undersky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Because you are inexperienced and living in a well.
By the way, NYC and Dallas both ranked very high in this ranking by Forbes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_with_the_most_billionaires - nightsweat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Chicago more expensive than LA? Nonsense.
Heck, Chicago more expensive than Seattle? Not a chance. - GeneralFault, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5They must not have recent housing prices for San Diego or something along those lines. It is pricy to live here. A couple CA reports that I've seen put SD between SF and LA.
- pygmalion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3perhaps the average salary is much higher in Toronto than Montreal
- Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Try Austin TX. Cheaper and more progressive than Phoenix.
- thechitowncubs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4props for use of janky in a digg comment.
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4No, douchebag. That joke about Canadian money being worthless is very old now.
CAD$500,000 = USD$423,670.47 ($1 USD = $1.18 CAD)
Your dollar has been dropping and ours has been rising. - youdlike2know, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This list is b.s., it doesn't even factor in the cost of housing...
I live in london, and have spent time in copenhagen, and there's no way london is cheaper.. - loquax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oslo is well worth the price. Great town and wonderful people. However, the Norwegian government needs to understand that getting Oslo out of the top 10 would boost the desirability of the country as a whole to business. Most of the expense in Oslo is due to taxation. You'll pay more to the government than to the brewer for a pint of beer in that town.
- carcass350, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Did you people even read the article, this list is "The Economist magazine's 2007 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey (WCOL) for expatriate workers."
And being a website for people in China this would mean that this list is the Cost of Living Survey for Chinese expatriate workers - DarkPrincess74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Boston would sky rocket up the list if that were the case. I wish it did have rent because that's one of the biggest things ppl consider in cost of living in a city.
- hitkaiser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+233 (35) Madrid Spain 97
- MrMinit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I top the list.
It's sad. - jamison18, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's also interesting that most (all?) of the top cities are in very socialistic countries. That would definitely drive up commodity prices in the area. (Which I am assuming were factors in their index ranking) Also explains why US cities aren't higher up.
- undersky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2??? No place in California is on the list?? Is San Francisco not part of California anymore?
- sergeantmudd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You're right, without mortgages and rents this list is bunk. But people in Detroit make alot less than people in San Diego. I think the list is saying, living in Detroit takes a bigger chunk of Detroitians paycheck than San Diegoans have to put up living in San Diego.
That being said, I still doubt that San Diego is lower than Detroit - jonathono2000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2***** there right. MPLS is ridiculously expensive. I pay almost $800 a month to sleep in broom closet. *****.
- 10lbhammer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2are you serious??
39 (35) Los Angeles US 94
41 (40) San Francisco US 92
*edit: damn, beaten... - Jo9100, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2totally true
- vanillafudge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love America. It's so cheap compared to the UK/Europe, always get a lot of bargains on the stuff that you buy. Just the difference in wages/currency I guess, we get paid more.
- johneyoung, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Pittsburgh = Boston? That alone causes me to have reservations about this list. I'm not doubting the formulas they used, but I think the term "most expensvie" needs to be be explained in more detail.
- fantasmacanino, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I travel a lot through SA and I'm very interested in the economy of the region (not saying I'm more qualified than The Economist, but you can take my opinion as someone's who has experienced the SAn economy first-hand).
To the guy who said Buenos Aires, Lima, or Caracas are "small cities", you've obviously never been out of your country, let alone of your suburban area. These are huge cities.
And if size mattered on this list, Mexico City would be the most expensive city in the world, anyway. - j37hr0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What in the hell is Doggy Day Care?
- Xanin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I went to the centre of Norway and that was expensive...£7 for a bottle of beer! I shat a brick
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1im gonna start buying my groceries form Tehran Iran.
- Styleboost, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I live in Oslo. Hooray.
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