I just reviewed a ranking of the most expensive cities to live in, and it's interesting to see how Switzerland completely dominates. Zurich, Geneva, and Basel occupy the top spots with indices of 112.5, 111.4, and 110.7 respectively. Everything there is costly, from housing to eating out, but wages are also much higher, ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 Swiss francs per month. What surprises me is that New York barely reaches number 7 with an index of 100, which is the baseline reference for the ranking. It means that living in Zurich costs approximately 12.5% more than in the American city.

In the United States, there are several expensive cities: Honolulu in Hawaii (94.4), San Francisco (90.7), Seattle (86), and Boston (82.7) are all in the top 25. It seems that technology and tourism drive up prices in those areas. Even Los Angeles and San Diego, with 76.3 each, make it onto the list.

The interesting part is that Singapore is the most expensive Asian city with 85.3, but it’s quite a bit below the Swiss cities. Tel Aviv and Hong Kong also have high costs but do not reach European levels. Norway is also represented with Oslo, Trondheim, and Bergen on the ranking. The index considers housing, food, transportation, services, and local purchasing power to determine which city is the most expensive in each region.