New Yorkers are not ignorant to the fact that NYC is an expensive place to live. However, at least prices in San Francisco and Honolulu always helped make us all feel a little bit better. Yet, according to new information analyzing the cost of living among 271 urban areas, New York City ranked as the most expensive city in the country.
With skyrocketing rents and $8 lattes, we’d be lying if we said we were shocked—but it’s still not fun to hear.
The Cost of Living Index observed 271 urban areas in the first quarter of 2023, pulling prices from chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and university applied economic centers. It measures the regional cost differences for housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services.
New York’s cost of living is more than twice the national average. The national average COLI (Cost of Living Index) is 100; New York City scored a 222. In contrast, the least expensive city in the country came out to be Harlingen, Texas with a COLI below the national average at 75.9.
NYC was also recently found to be among the most expensive U.S. cities for a weekend getaway and one of the most expensive cities in the entire world. Even another study from the SelfStorage team showed that New York ranks as the #5 state most Americans want to move out of.
You can take a more in depth look at the Council for Community and Economic Research’s Cost of Living Index here.