Best of

The most expensive cities in the Mundevo index

Catalog ranked by cost-of-living index, highest first. Useful for benchmarking salary expectations against high-cost destinations.

Why this list matters

The expensive end of the catalog matters for two reasons: salary calibration (what gross do you need to negotiate to maintain your current lifestyle?) and reverse-shopping (what's the cost ceiling you're trying to escape?).

Note that cost ≠ value — Zurich and Singapore command premiums for institutional strength (healthcare, safety, infrastructure) that cheaper cities can't match. The pages for each city below break this down per axis.

How we ranked

Ranked descending by composite cost-of-living index. NYC (100) is the anchor; values above mean more expensive.

#	City	Cost index	Rent index
1	ZurichSwitzerland	131	115
2	San FranciscoUnited States	120	115
3	New YorkUnited States	100	100
4	LondonUnited Kingdom	95	90
5	OsloNorway	95	85
6	SingaporeSingapore	92	80
7	SeattleUnited States	92	88
8	Tel AvivIsrael	92	88
9	DubaiUnited Arab Emirates	90	85
10	MunichGermany	88	75
11	CopenhagenDenmark	88	72
12	Hong KongHong Kong	88	95
13	DublinIreland	87	85
14	AmsterdamNetherlands	85	78
15	FrankfurtGermany	85	70
16	TokyoJapan	82	55
17	MiamiUnited States	82	85
18	SydneyAustralia	80	75
19	MilanItaly	80	65
20	VancouverCanada	80	78
21	StockholmSweden	78	62
22	AustinUnited States	78	75
23	ChicagoUnited States	78	70
24	ParisFrance	76	55
25	BerlinGermany	75	55
26	SeoulSouth Korea	75	60
27	RomeItaly	75	52
28	HamburgGermany	75	60
29	MelbourneAustralia	75	68
30	EdinburghUnited Kingdom	75	65
31	TorontoCanada	72	66
32	BrisbaneAustralia	72	62
33	RotterdamNetherlands	72	55
34	BarcelonaSpain	70	50
35	ManchesterUnited Kingdom	70	60
36	LyonFrance	70	50
37	OsakaJapan	70	50
38	MontrealCanada	68	60
39	MadridSpain	65	42
40	ViennaAustria	65	55
41	TaipeiTaiwan	62	48
42	LisbonPortugal	60	45
43	PragueCzech Republic	58	42
44	ValenciaSpain	58	38
45	TallinnEstonia	55	40
46	PortoPortugal	52	36
47	AthensGreece	52	35
48	WarsawPoland	48	38
49	BudapestHungary	45	32
50	São PauloBrazil	42	35
51	Mexico CityMexico	38	28
52	BangkokThailand	38	28
53	Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam	36	28
54	MedellinColombia	35	25
55	Kuala LumpurMalaysia	33	22
56	Buenos AiresArgentina	29	18
57	BangaloreIndia	28	22

The top three, in context

ZurichSwitzerland

Zurich tops the catalog at cost index 131 (NYC = 100) — the most expensive city we track. Mandatory private health insurance (CHF 300-500/month per adult) and high rents drive the bulk of the gap. Compensated by world-leading salaries in finance, pharma, and tech.

New YorkUnited States

New York is the anchor (cost index 100). All other cities in the catalog are indexed relative to NYC; salaries in NYC tech and finance roles are similarly anchored, making total comp here the global benchmark.

What this list doesn't tell you

Expensive doesn't mean unaffordable for everyone — it means the salary required to maintain a given lifestyle is higher. Reverse this list against the salary-by-job pages to see whether your role pays at the tier you'd need.

Related rankings

Cities with the highest quality of life

Catalog ranked by composite Mundevo quality score: 40% safety, 35% healthcare, 25% air quality.

Cities with the best healthcare

Catalog ranked by healthcare quality index. Reflects system capacity, accessibility, and outcomes — not out-of-pocket cost.

Cities with the lowest payroll deduction

Ranked by combined effective income tax + employee-side social security. Lower means a higher take-home from any given gross salary.

Want a different angle? Browse the full /best directory. Or run the numbers for your own city + lifestyle in the salary calculator.