World's most expensive cities

Click here: World's most expensive cities - Jun. 22, 2005


World's Most Expensive Cities

It's hard to make New Yorkers feel good about the absurd amounts of money required to live comfortably in Gotham. But a new report might at least make them feel a little better. That's because Tokyo continues to earn the dubious distinction of being the world's most expensive city to live in.

Get the Full Story
Calculator: Compare Cities
PRICEY PLACES TO LIVE
From the Mercer 2005 Cost-of-Living Survey:MOST EXPENSIVE WORLD CITIES1. Tokyo (pictured)2. Osaka3. LondonLEAST EXPENSIVE WORLD CITIES1. Asuncion, Paraguay2. Manila, Philippines3. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaMOST EXPENSIVE U.S. CITIES1. New York City (13th Overall)2. Los Angeles (44th)3. White Plains, N.Y. (45th)LEAST EXPENSIVE U.S. CITIES1. Winston-Salem, N.C. (119th)2. Portland, Ore. (112th)3. Pittsburgh (111th)�

SEE FULL LIST



World's most expensive cities
Survey: Tokyo and Osaka take top spots, followed by London, Moscow and Seoul.
June 22, 2005: 2:40 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNN/Money) � It's hard to make New Yorkers feel good about the absurd amounts of money required to live comfortably in Gotham. But a survey out this week might at least make them feel a little better.

That's because Tokyo continues to earn the dubious distinction of being the world's most expensive city to live in, according to a survey released this week by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

No. 2 on the list is Osaka, another major Japanese city, which moved up from its fourth place ranking last year.

Osaka's ascent pushed London to No. 3, and Moscow to No. 4.

Coming in fifth is Seoul, which ascended two spots from its position in last year's survey.

As for New York, it fell one spot in the rankings to No. 13 on a worldwide basis, tying it with Dublin.

But New York still ranks No. 1 in North America, followed by Los Angeles, which ranks No. 44 on a worldwide basis, White Plains, N.Y. which ranks No. 45, and San Francisco which ranks No. 50.

Mercer conducts the survey to help multinational companies and governments determine how much to pay their expatriate employees. The survey includes 144 cities across the world, and measures costs including housing, food, clothing, transportation and entertainment.

So, if your company is shipping you off to Tokyo and you're negotiating compensation, you might remind them that a luxury two-bedroom apartment unfurnished might cost you $4,595 a month.

And you also might remind them that with coffee running at over $4 a cup, there is some risk you'll be less productive due to loss of caffeine unless you're adequately paid.

If you're making a move domestically, and you're interested in finding the place where your dollar will go the farthest, try Winston Salem, N.C., which is the least expensive U.S. city surveyed and ranks No. 119 on a worldwide basis. Heading north, Ottawa will provide you with the most bang for your buck in North America.

If you head south to South America, you'll encounter some of the world's least expensive cities due to the lingering effects of the devaluation of the Argentine currency in 2002 and subsequent financial crisis, Mercer said. Asuncion, Paraguay, again ranks as the world's least expensive city, according to the survey. It is closely preceded by Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Caracas.

To see Mercer's full list of cities by rank, click on the graphic above.




Click here: 2005 Mercer cost of living rankings - popup

World's most and least expensive cities
Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 2005 Cost-of-Living Survey

2005
Rank City
1 Tokyo, Japan
2 Osaka, Japan
3 London, United Kingdom
4 Moscow, Russia
5 Seoul, South Korea
6 Geneva, Switzerland
7 Zurich, Switzerland
8 Copenhagen, Denmark
9 Hong Kong, Hong Kong
10 Oslo, Norway
11 Milan, Italy
12 Paris, France
13 New York City, United States
13 Dublin, Ireland
15 St. Petersburg, Russia
16 Vienna, Austria
17 Rome, Italy
18 Stockholm, Sweden
19 Beijing, China
20 Sydney, Australia
20 Helsinki, Finland
22 Douala, Cameroon
22 Istanbul, Turkey
24 Amsterdam, Netherlands
24 Budapest, Hungary
26 Abidjan, C�te d'Ivoire
27 Warsaw, Poland
28 Prague, Czech Republic
29 Taipei, Taiwan
30 Shanghai, China
31 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
32 D�sseldorf, Germany
33 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
34 Singapore, Singapore
34 Frankfurt, Germany
36 Dakar, Senegal
37 Munich, Germany
38 Berlin, Germany
39 Tel Aviv, Israel
40 Glasgow, United Kingdom
41 Athens, Greece
41 Brussels, Belgium
43 Barcelona, Spain
44 Los Angeles, United States
45 White Plains, United States
46 Madrid, Spain
47 Birmingham, United Kingdom
48 Zagreb, Croatia
49 Hamburg, Germany
50 Hanoi, Vietnam
50 San Francisco, United States
52 Chicago, United States
52 Beirut, Lebanon
54 Riga, Latvia
54 Kiev, Ukraine
56 Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
57 Miami, United States
58 Algiers, Algeria
59 Casablanca, Morocco
60 Tallin, Estonia
61 Lyon, France
61 Honolulu, United States
63 Shenzhen, China
64 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
65 Guangzhou, China
66 Lisbon, Portugal
67 Amman, Jordan
68 Melbourne, Australia
69 Auckland, New Zealand
70 Houston, United States
71 Jakarta, Indonesia
72 Kuwait City, Kuwait
73 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
74 San Juan, Puerto Rico
75 Almaty, Kazakhstan
76 Wellington, New Zealand
76 Ljubljana, Slovenia
78 Washington, D.C., United States
79 Boston, United States
80 Morristown, United States
81 Sofia, Bulgaria
82 Toronto, Canada
83 Atlanta, United States
84 Brisbane, Australia
85 Leipzig, Germany
86 Manama, Bahrain
87 Vancouver, Canada
88 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
89 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
89 Adelaide, Australia
91 Vilnius, Lithuania
91 Accra, Ghana
93 Perth, Australia
94 Denver, United States
95 Mexico City, Mexico
96 Lagos, Nigeria
97 Cairo, Egypt
98 Calgary, Canada
99 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
100 Limassol, Cyprus
101 Detroit, United States
102 St. Louis, United States
103 Seattle, United States
103 Bucharest, Romania
105 Kingston, Jamaica
105 Mumbai, India
107 Montreal, Canada
108 Guatemala City, Guatemala
109 Cleveland, United States
110 New Delhi, India
111 Pittsburgh, United States
112 Portland (Ore.), United States
113 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
114 Panama City, Panama
115 Monterrey, Mexico
116 Johannesburg, South Africa
117 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
118 Lima, Peru
119 Nairobi, Kenya
119 Winston-Salem, United States
119 S�o Paulo, Brazil
122 Ottawa, Canada
123 Lusaka, Zambia
124 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
125 Bangkok, Thailand
126 Tunis, Tunisia
127 Dacca (Dhaka), Bangladesh
128 Santiago, Chile
129 Tehran, Iran
130 Blantyre, Malawi
131 Tianjin, China
132 Colombo, Sri Lanka
133 Bogot�, Colombia
134 Harare, Zimbabwe
135 San Jos�, Costa Rica
136 Karachi, Pakistan
137 Quito, Ecuador
138 Chennai (Madras), India
138 Caracas, Venezuela
140 Montevideo, Uruguay
141 Bangalore, India
142 Buenos Aires, Argentina
143 Manila, Philippines
144 Asunci�n, Paraguay