The 15 US cities with the highest cost of living in 2023
The cost of living is an important factor when deciding where to live. Here are the 15 most expensive cities in which to live in the United States.
The cost of living is an important factor when deciding where to live. This refers to the amount of money needed to pay basic living expenses such as food, shelter and utlilities among a few.
Because the prices of certain goods and services change from place to place, so does the cost of living. Since 1968, the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) has collected and published data of the cost of living index.
What is the cost of living index?
According to the C2ER, the Cost of Living Index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumption expenses, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile.
This indicator is based on more than 90,000 prices covering 60 different items whose prices are collected quarterly by various agencies, organizations and university centers.
The Cost of Living Index is based on six main component categories: housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.
A composite score of 100 is the national average and any score above 100 is above average, including the next 15 most expensive cities to live in the United States.
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The 15 US cities with the highest cost of living in 2023
Based on Cost of Living Index scores, these are the 15 most expensive urban areas in the country:
- New York (Manhattan): 222
- Honolulu: 179
- San Francisco: 169.9
- New York (Brooklyn): 159.1
- Orange County, California: 150.3
- Los Angeles (Long Beach): 149.1
- Washington, D.C.: 148.7
- Boston: 148.4
- Seattle: 144.5
- San Diego: 142.5
- Arlington, Virginia: 140.1
- Oakland, Calif.: 140
- New York (Queens): 136.3
- Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md.: 135.8
- Nassau County, New York: 135.2
Manhattan, the most expensive district to live in the United States
New York's Manhattan borough is by far the most expensive place to live in the US, with the cost of living there more than double the national average.
Costs of living in Manhattan are 122% higher than average, according to data from the C2ER Cost of Living Index.
In addition, the cost of living there is 24% higher than Honolulu, the second most expensive urban area in the United States, as well as 31% higher than San Francisco , the third metropolitan area on the list.
Why is Manhattan so expensive?
A big factor in the high cost of living in Manhattan is housing, whose costs are 4.8 times the national average. Other factors contributing to the high cost of living in Manhattan are expenses for entertainment, alcohol and clothing.