Glossary · Indices and scores
Cost-of-living index
A single number that scores how expensive a city is, normalized so New York City = 100.
The cost-of-living index is a composite of six baskets — housing, food, transport, utilities, leisure and healthcare — weighted to reflect the typical share of a salaried household budget. Mundevo follows the standard convention of anchoring the scale to New York City at 100, so a city with index 60 is roughly 40% cheaper than NYC across the basket, and one at 130 is 30% more expensive.
The number is not just rent. A city with very cheap housing but expensive food and transport can still land at a moderate index value. That's why the per-category breakdown matters: two cities at the same composite score can feel very different to live in.
Limits to be aware of: the basket is calibrated to a generalized lifestyle. If your spending profile differs materially — e.g. you cook every meal at home, never own a car, or have unusually high healthcare needs — your personal index will diverge from the published one. Use it as a directional guide, not a personalized budget.
Where Mundevo uses this
- Methodology — /methodology
- All cities — /cities
Related terms
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