From rent to groceries, the cost of living varies widely around the world.

In recent years, rising price pressures have only sharpened these disparities. While tech and financial hubs often face the steepest costs, local factors like currency and imports also drive up prices.

This infographic ranks the most expensive cities worldwide, based on data from Numbeo.

The Top 15 Most Expensive Cities Globally

For the rankings, cities are compared to New York City, which is set as the baseline of 100.

To provide a broad view of urban affordability, cities were analyzed on everyday expenses like food, transportation, and utilities, and housing costs. These were measured in a “Cost of Living Plus Rent Index”, with data as of mid-year 2025: entries per pageSearch:

Ranking	City	Country	Cost of Living Plus Rent Index
1	New York, NY	🇺🇸 U.S.	100
2	Zurich	🇨🇭 Switzerland	93.2
3	Geneva	🇨🇭 Switzerland	90.6
4	San Francisco, CA	🇺🇸 U.S.	85.3
5	Basel	🇨🇭 Switzerland	83.9
6	Lausanne	🇨🇭 Switzerland	83.4
7	Boston, MA	🇺🇸 U.S.	81.2
8	Singapore	🇸🇬 Singapore	80.9
9	San Jose, CA	🇺🇸 U.S.	80.4
10	Lugano	🇨🇭 Switzerland	79.1

The rest of the list is here

So not only do you get to live in a shithole with the most rats of any city, you get to pay more than anyone else.