Just went down a rabbit hole looking at the cheapest cities to live in the world and honestly, the data is pretty wild. Turns out India absolutely dominates the list - like Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad all ranking in the top 5. Their cost of living indices are insanely low compared to the US (we're talking 24-29 range when US is 100).

What surprised me most is how affordable these places actually are beyond just rent. Groceries are dirt cheap too. Pune tops the list with a cost of living index of 24.8 and local purchasing power that's actually pretty decent at 109.7. Meanwhile you've got Pakistani cities like Karachi and Lahore with even lower indices (around 19), though the purchasing power is lower there.

If you're serious about finding the cheapest cities to live in the world, the data shows Chinese cities like Wuhan and Chengdu hanging in there too (32-33 range), plus some African options like Cape Town and Johannesburg that are more affordable than you'd expect. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is another solid option at 35.

The methodology is based on Numbeo's cost of living index cross-referenced with world population data, looking at rent, groceries, local services - all that stuff. So these aren't just random numbers. Obviously local purchasing power matters too; Bangalore and Pune actually score well there, which is why they stand out.

If you're thinking about relocating to somewhere more affordable, these are legitimately the cheapest cities to live in the world right now based on 2024 data. The gap between these places and US living costs is honestly kind of shocking when you see the numbers side by side.