Related News
The cost of living is going up all over, but in these 20 cities it is downright hard to get by if you aren’t a millionaire.
Using data curated from Numbeo, we’re taking you on a trip around the world to 20 of the most expensive tourist destinations and exploring how locals spend their hard-earned money. We’ve put together several maps and graphs to show you who’s paying the most, where it’s going, and what consumer goods cost locally.
Take a look at how much it costs to live in these 20 beautiful cities:
 |
| 20 Of The Most Expensive Cities In The World |
As you can see, most of the most expensive cities are in Europe and the U.S., but there were a couple surprises here. We had no idea that the median resident in Singapore is paying a whopping $3,210 per month!
Also surprising is that Dubai isn’t higher on the list. Sure, $3,051 is a lot to cough up every month, but for a city that’s known for being the playground for the Middle East’s richest and most powerful VIPs, are we silly to have expected more?
Where does the money go?
Here we see the breakdown of the cost for a similar lifestyle in each city, and there is clearly a lot of variance.
In San Francisco, an unbelievable 72.7 percent is going toward rent! Luckily for ‘frisco residents, the high cost of real estate is somewhat offset by other areas: only 8.3 percent of their monthly ‘budgets’ go toward restaurants and 1.7 percent toward recreation.
Geneva, Switzerland is at the other extreme – living in the city center, you would be putting just over half of your monthly income toward rent. That’s a lot less, but you’ll pay for it in other ways, like when you want to eat out at restaurants (15.4%) or spend money on other recreation activities (4.4%). Genevans also spend more than any other country we considered here on eating in; because food is more expensive at the grocery store in Geneva, dining at home accounts for 15.9 percent of the monthly spend.
About the methodology
This graphic was created with data compiled from Numbeo.com on December 16, 2016.
Cost-of-living figures were calculated by using a baseline, single-person household living in a 1-bedroom apartment near the city center, using public transportation.
The exact scenario used can be accessed here for New York City estimates.