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AverageCostOfLiving

Most Expensive Cities to Live In

The most expensive tracked city to live in is Monaco-Monaco, Monaco, with an average monthly cost of $9,481 for a single person. The median in this list of 100 cities is around $2,281 per month.

High costs don't always mean low value — salaries in these cities are usually higher too.

On this page 3 sections
Section Description
Top 100 most expensive cities Sorted by monthly cost for one person.
Related rankings Flip to cheapest, or look at expat value.
Frequently asked questions Why rents are so high and whether salaries compensate.
  1. #1 Monaco-Monaco Monaco $9,481
  2. #2 New-York United States $3,777
  3. #3 San-Jose-Costa-Rica Costa Rica $3,533
  4. #4 San-Jose United States $3,533
  5. #5 San-Diego United States $3,480
  6. #6 San-Francisco United States $3,472
  7. #7 Los-Angeles United States $3,410
  8. #8 Boston United States $3,397
  9. #9 London United Kingdom $3,292
  10. #10 Irvine United States $3,183
  11. #11 Zurich Switzerland $3,156
  12. #12 Geneva Switzerland $3,115
  13. #13 Nassau-Bahamas Bahamas $3,060
  14. #14 Jersey-City United States $2,911
  15. #15 Washington United States $2,900
  16. #16 Dublin Ireland $2,884
  17. #17 Honolulu United States $2,830
  18. #18 Miami United States $2,806
  19. #19 Lucerne Switzerland $2,784
  20. #20 Fort-Lauderdale United States $2,773
  21. #21 Amsterdam Netherlands $2,767
  22. #22 Luxembourg-Luxembourg Luxembourg $2,766
  23. #23 Oakland United States $2,765
  24. #24 Seattle United States $2,760
  25. #25 Galway Ireland $2,747
  26. #26 Arlington United States $2,708
  27. #27 Lausanne Switzerland $2,650
  28. #28 Haarlem Netherlands $2,563
  29. #29 Oxford United Kingdom $2,553
  30. #30 Tel-Aviv-Yafo Israel $2,545
  31. #31 Singapore-Singapore Singapore $2,516
  32. #32 Saint-Helier-Jersey Jersey $2,514
  33. #33 Cambridge United Kingdom $2,492
  34. #34 Guildford United Kingdom $2,492
  35. #35 Oslo Norway $2,487
  36. #36 Utrecht Netherlands $2,486
  37. #37 Basel Switzerland $2,455
  38. #38 Sydney Australia $2,449
  39. #39 Sacramento United States $2,445
  40. #40 Portland United States $2,442
  41. #41 Akureyri-Iceland Iceland $2,405
  42. #42 Chicago United States $2,397
  43. #43 Denver United States $2,352
  44. #44 Cork Ireland $2,340
  45. #45 Freeport-Bahamas Bahamas $2,331
  46. #46 Bristol United Kingdom $2,326
  47. #47 Rotterdam Netherlands $2,297
  48. #48 Tampa United States $2,294
  49. #49 Lugano Switzerland $2,290
  50. #50 Atlanta United States $2,283
  51. #51 Bern Switzerland $2,281
  52. #52 Brighton United Kingdom $2,272
  53. #53 Ikeja-Nigeria Nigeria $2,257
  54. #54 Limerick Ireland $2,254
  55. #55 Syracuse United States $2,246
  56. #56 Colorado-Springs United States $2,236
  57. #57 Anchorage United States $2,229
  58. #58 The-Hague-Den-Haag-Netherlands Netherlands $2,225
  59. #59 Orlando United States $2,193
  60. #60 Munich Germany $2,189
  61. #61 Vancouver-WA United States $2,188
  62. #62 Phoenix United States $2,178
  63. #63 Stavanger Norway $2,175
  64. #64 Balzers-Liechtenstein Liechtenstein $2,173
  65. #65 Leiden Netherlands $2,166
  66. #66 Dallas United States $2,165
  67. #67 Reading United Kingdom $2,155
  68. #68 Delft Netherlands $2,152
  69. #69 Vancouver Canada $2,149
  70. #70 Hong-Kong-Hong-Kong Hong Kong (China) $2,148
  71. #71 Madison United States $2,135
  72. #72 Gibraltar-Gibraltar Gibraltar $2,134
  73. #73 Perth Australia $2,129
  74. #74 Reno United States $2,126
  75. #75 Canberra Australia $2,124
  76. #76 Dubai United Arab Emirates $2,120
  77. #77 Eindhoven Netherlands $2,115
  78. #78 Nashville United States $2,096
  79. #79 Philadelphia United States $2,093
  80. #80 Ann-Arbor United States $2,077
  81. #81 Ajman United Arab Emirates $2,068
  82. #82 Ramat-Gan Israel $2,067
  83. #83 Mississauga Canada $2,064
  84. #84 Fort-Worth United States $2,064
  85. #85 Jerusalem Israel $2,063
  86. #86 Las-Vegas United States $2,063
  87. #87 Gold-Coast Australia $2,060
  88. #88 Copenhagen Denmark $2,055
  89. #89 Adelaide Australia $2,048
  90. #90 Austin United States $2,047
  91. #91 Charlotte United States $2,043
  92. #92 Melbourne Australia $2,040
  93. #93 Richmond United States $2,032
  94. #94 Albany United States $2,026
  95. #95 Toronto Canada $2,022
  96. #96 Edinburgh United Kingdom $2,022
  97. #97 Salt-Lake-City United States $2,019
  98. #98 Southampton-Bermuda Bermuda $2,013
  99. #99 Southampton United Kingdom $2,013
  100. #100 Trondheim Norway $2,007

Frequently asked questions

What is the most expensive city to live in?
New York, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, and Los Angeles repeatedly top our most-expensive list, driven by rent. Global financial capitals like London, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Zurich also rank high.
Why is rent so high in these cities?
Supply-constrained markets with high demand from finance, tech, and tourism keep both rents and property prices elevated. Salaries are usually higher too — compare both when planning a move.
Do salaries make up for the high cost?
Sometimes. The "best for expats" page ranks cities by salary-to-cost ratio so you can see where your paycheck stretches furthest, regardless of headline rent.