Most and Least Expensive Cities

Yahoo Finance took a look at a study done by the Council for Community and Economic Research on the country’s most and least expensive cities in Q1 2019. Based upon the Cost of Living Index (cost of housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care and miscellaneous costs), New York City was far and away the nation’s most expensive city when considering 257 cities.

Among the top 25 most expensive cities (NYC, San Francisco, Honolulu, Brooklyn, Seattle, Washington DC, Portland, Los Angeles, Stamford CT, Bergen Passaic NJ, Providence RI, Middlesex-Monmouth NJ, Chicago, New Haven, Boston, Bethesda MD, housing costs were the most expensive in the top 5 cities at 29.34% of the overall composite index in NYC. According to Naked Apartments, a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan cost $3,100/month. In San Francisco, a one-bedroom apartment cost approximately $3,600/month, according to Rent Café.

Rounding out the top 25 were Juneau. Fairbanks and Anchorage Alaska. Utility bills in those cities were the back breakers, not housing costs. The saver in Alaska, however, was the fact of no state or sales taxes.

Here are the Ten Most Expensive Cities in the country, according to Yahoo Finance:

Cost of Living Index

1. New York City 238.4
2. San Francisco 200.1
3. Honolulu 192.9
4. Brooklyn 186.4
5. Seattle 159.4
6. Washington DC 158.4
7. Oakland 158.2
8. Boston 153.5
9. Orange County 151.4
10. Arlington 151.1

Yahoo Finance’s 10 Least Expensive Cities in the country:

1. Harlingen TX 74.7
2. McAllen TX 75.9
3. Kalamazoo MI 76.4
4. Memphis 79.3
5. Richmond IN 80.3
6. Joplin MO 80.7
7. Tupelo MS 81.7
8. Fayetteville AR 81.9
9. Conway AR 81.9
10. Pittsburg KS 82.1

Harlingen’s monthly rent was $713 and median income was $38,000.

McAllen’s monthly rent was $809 and median income was $45,051.

Thanks to Yahoo Finance’s Aarthi Swaminathan and the Council for Community and Economic Research for data.