These 7 Major American Cities Just Ranked Among The World’s Top 10 Most Expensive Cities To Live In

Whelp… the United States has racking up high placements this month but we’re not talking about the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

According to a Cost of Living Index by City that is regularly updated and monitored by the data company Numbeo, as of mid-2024 the United States has 7 cities ranked among the 10 cities with the highest cost of living in the world!

What cities in America have the highest cost of living?

Well, according to the mid-2024 update that was recently released, the top 10 cities in the world with the highest cost of living break down as follows with their corresponding Cost of Living Index score:

1. Geneva, Switzerland – 101.7
2. Zurich, Switzerland – 100.4
3. New York, NY, United States – 100.0
4. San Francisco, CA, United States – 90.5
5. Boston, MA, United States – 85.8
6. Reykjavik, Iceland – 83.9
7. Washington, D.C., United States – 82.5
8. Seattle, WA, United States – 81.5
9. Los Angeles, CA, United States – 80.9
10. Chicago, IL, United States – 80.2

As you can see, the highest cost of living among the listed American cities was NYC, followed by San Francisco and Boston, and then D.C. making the capital the fourth highest cost of living in the country, or the 7th highest in the world!

Why is the cost of living in D.C. so high?

Well, the overall cost of living index is calculated using complex data pulled from other indexes that Numbeo has compiled:

• The Rent Index – D.C. scored 67.5, the sixth highest in America
• Cost of Living Plus Rent Index – D.C. scored 75.3, the fourth highest in America
• Groceries Index – D.C. scored 84.4, the seventh highest in America
• Restaurant Price Index – D.C. scored 83.7, the fourth highest in America
• Local Purchasing Power Index – D.C. scored 132.6, the thirteenth highest in America

How is this cost of living index calculated?

Well, the cost of living index by city calculated by Numbeo was published using data calculated through mid-2024, which means that the rankings might change or appear differently in real-time.

That being said, the index used the cost of living in New York City as a baseline for each of their indexes, they had a score of 100 in each index and every other city had a score based on how much more or less expensive it is to live in compared to NYC.

For instance, D.C. had a cost of living index score of 82.5, which means that D.C. is roughly 17.5% cheaper to live in compared to NYC, however Genevea, which had a cost of living index score of 101.7 is theoretically 1.7% more expensive to live than NYC.