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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	New YorkUnited States	100	100
2	San FranciscoUnited States	90	87
3	ZurichSwitzerland	76	65
4	LondonUnited Kingdom	70	65
5	MiamiUnited States	70	64
6	GenevaSwitzerland	69	60
7	Los AngelesUnited States	68	60
8	SeattleUnited States	67	56
9	SingaporeSingapore	66	65
10	AmsterdamNetherlands	61	56
11	ChicagoUnited States	61	55
12	DubaiUnited Arab Emirates	59	56
13	DublinIreland	58	54
14	SydneyAustralia	57	53
15	Hong KongHong Kong	56	51
16	CopenhagenDenmark	53	42
17	CorkIreland	53	48
18	OsloNorway	52	40
19	AustinUnited States	52	44
20	Tel AvivIsrael	52	41
21	VancouverCanada	50	43
22	RotterdamNetherlands	49	40
23	Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates	49	45
24	MunichGermany	48	38
25	StockholmSweden	47	37
26	ManchesterUnited Kingdom	47	40
27	MilanItaly	47	38
28	BrisbaneAustralia	47	42
29	TorontoCanada	46	38
30	MelbourneAustralia	45	36
31	EdinburghUnited Kingdom	45	35
32	ParisFrance	44	35
33	BerlinGermany	42	32
34	BarcelonaSpain	41	36
35	FrankfurtGermany	41	30
36	BrusselsBelgium	41	31
37	FlorenceItaly	41	32
38	LisbonPortugal	40	36
39	ViennaAustria	40	29
40	AucklandNew Zealand	40	31
41	WellingtonNew Zealand	40	30
42	MadridSpain	39	34
43	HamburgGermany	39	29
44	MontrealCanada	38	30
45	SalzburgAustria	38	26
46	TokyoJapan	37	29
47	ValenciaSpain	36	32
48	IstanbulTurkey	36	27
49	RomeItaly	35	27
50	RiyadhSaudi Arabia	35	28
51	WarsawPoland	34	27
52	AntwerpBelgium	34	23
53	PortoPortugal	33	28
54	SeoulSouth Korea	33	20
55	PragueCzech Republic	32	25
56	LyonFrance	32	19
57	GothenburgSweden	32	23
58	BusanSouth Korea	31	16
59	TallinnEstonia	30	18
60	AnkaraTurkey	29	21
61	BaliIndonesia	29	25
62	BrnoCzech Republic	29	21
63	TaipeiTaiwan	28	20
64	Mexico CityMexico	28	22
65	KrakowPoland	28	20
66	Buenos AiresArgentina	27	17
67	AthensGreece	26	16
68	Cape TownSouth Africa	26	21
69	JeddahSaudi Arabia	26	18
70	OsakaJapan	25	17
71	BudapestHungary	25	17
72	ThessalonikiGreece	25	14
73	BucharestRomania	24	16
74	Cluj-NapocaRomania	24	15
75	ShanghaiChina	24	20
76	BeijingChina	24	21
77	GuadalajaraMexico	24	18
78	Rio de JaneiroBrazil	24	19
79	MedellinColombia	23	17
80	São PauloBrazil	22	15
81	BangkokThailand	22	15
82	CordobaArgentina	22	11
83	SantiagoChile	21	13
84	LimaPeru	20	16
85	JohannesburgSouth Africa	20	11
86	ManilaPhilippines	20	13
87	DebrecenHungary	20	13
88	MumbaiIndia	20	17
89	CasablancaMorocco	19	13
90	CebuPhilippines	19	12
91	Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam	18	14
92	Kuala LumpurMalaysia	18	13
93	BogotaColombia	18	13
94	ValparaisoChile	16	8
95	MarrakechMorocco	16	11
96	JakartaIndonesia	16	9
97	Chiang MaiThailand	16	10
98	HanoiVietnam	15	10
99	BangaloreIndia	13	8
100	ArequipaPeru	13	7
101	PenangMalaysia	13	8
102	DelhiIndia	12	7
103	CairoEgypt	10	5
104	AlexandriaEgypt	8	3

The top three, in context

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.

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.

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.