Most Expensive Cities in the Country to Live In

With inflation rates soaring, the prices of goods and services seem to go up every day. Whether you’ve gotten sticker shock at the grocery store or you’ve had your jaw drop when you fill up your tank with gas, you’ve probably run into the increased cost of living, regardless of where you live.

However, some cities are significantly more expensive than others because of the higher cost of living. At its most basic level, the cost of living is how much it costs to acquire the basic necessities that people need. Food, water, shelter, health care, transportation, and other necessities all get considered when deciding which cities have the highest cost of living.

Whether you’re considering a move to a different city for work, or you just like the idea of packing up and getting a fresh start and a new adventure, it’s a good idea to know the most expensive cities to live in. Fortunately, we’ve done the work for you and have put together a list of cities with the highest cost of living.

New York City, New York

When it comes to the most expensive cities to call home, New York City, New York is at the top of virtually every list. The “city that never sleeps” may not have much time to rest because you may have to spend a lot of time working to make ends meet.

Manhattan is widely considered the most expensive part of New York City to call home, largely because of the sky-high housing market. The cost of renting or buying an apartment in the city is the highest in the world. That’s right; housing in Manhattan is more expensive than anywhere else on the planet. This is largely because there is a high population which leads to increased demand, but there isn’t a lot of available space. Some one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan cost more than $4,800 per month.

The outer boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens have slightly cheaper housing than Manhattan, but the prices in those areas are still higher than it is in most American cities.

Housing isn’t the only thing that makes the cost of living so high in New York City. Groceries, dining out, transportation, and entertainment are all expensive, and it’s normal for residents of the area to find themselves paying a premium for even the most basic services and goods. According to some studies, a single person can expect to spend $1,500 to $2,000 per month in New York City before calculating rent. Unless you have a great-paying job, New York City is probably a place you’d like to visit, but you may not want to call it home.

San Francisco, California

On our list of most expensive cities, let’s head to the other side of the country and visit the West Coast. San Francisco, California hasn’t always been one of the most expensive cities to live in, but after the technology boom that put Silicon Valley on the map, housing prices in nearby San Francisco skyrocketed.

To make things more complicated, the San Francisco Bay, which is what attracts many visitors to the area, actually makes it more difficult to find housing. Since the city is surrounded by water on three sides, there’s not much space to build new homes. This means that the supply cannot keep up with the demand, which leads to higher prices.

The hilly terrain of the city makes it difficult to walk from place to place, meaning many residents also buy cars. While there are some public transportation options available, they too struggle to keep up with the demand. When combined with the higher prices of groceries, dining out, and entertainment, combined with California’s high taxes, San Francisco is incredibly expensive to call home.