The 10 Cities With The Highest Cost Of Living: Report

An old adage seems to be proving true: if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.

New York City is home to three of the top five areas in the country with the highest cost of living, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research. Manhattan has the highest cost of living, followed by Brooklyn. Queens ranks number five. Four out of the ten cities with the lowest cost of living are in Texas, according to the index.

In Manhattan, the standard of living is more than twice the national average, the report found, while in Harlington, Texas -- the city with the lowest cost of living -- the standard is nearly 20 percent below the national average. The index was calculated based on regional differences between the cost of consumer goods and services.

Though the labor market may be poised to grow this year, Americans will likely still struggle with low wage growth, potentially placing even more strain on those people living in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and other high cost cities. In some states, wages may be adjusting slightly to fit the rising cost of living; eight states raised or are slated to boost their minimum wages this year.

In New York, the minimum wage is $7.25, far below the $11.86 an hour it takes to actually live in the city, according to the Living Wage Project. And it takes six figures to effectively belong in the city's middle class. A 2009 study from the Center for an Urban Future found that someone making $60,000 and living in Manhattan is equivalent to someone making $26,092, according to the New York Daily News.

Here are the 10 cities with the highest cost of living, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research:

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Comments

[Faw]

04:50 PM on 04/11/2012

Just go to a cheaper place :) For example Manila... http://www.eardex.com/cost-of-living/calculator.php?city_name=Manila&country_name=Philippines&table_name=tourismtravel&id=1701668&country_id=PH&calcFor=city&language_code=en&insertMode=false

[beckymonster]

10:18 AM on 02/11/2012

as a New Yorker, my wallet hurts to live here, but it's hard to live elsewhere. Although I have to say, it is possible to find affordable rent in Queens and Brooklyn, as well as fairly prices grocery stores and such. One just has to live in the residential areas that are beyond a 25 minute commute to Manhattan, which millions do anyway.

[MSROADKILL612]

06:22 AM on 03/27/2013

Eeks

dont they have like that weird grass stuff & those annoying bird things that go tweet all the time

Ta - but I will take the gunshot soundtrack to my life anytime

[BrooklynChef]

08:38 AM on 02/01/2012

Sure, living in NY is a trade-off. It costs a fortune to live here, but for a born and raised NYer, it is pretty difficult to fathom living anywhere else.

[MSROADKILL612]

09:01 PM on 01/31/2012

am from nyc - comments are most unfair - pretentious? Moi?

[MSROADKILL612]

07:19 PM on 01/31/2012

OK - i lived HK, london - 6 months - damascus - jerusalem when was jordanian sydney oz - rural oz, beiruit when it was a jewel, bangkok, belize

i made slow visits to SF & LA & FL & mexico & egypt - driving holiday as a kid

off the top of my head have had girlfriends from ; uk, france, US - several - & of course oz

ok - not nyc - didnt appeal in winter when i had the chance - but london is similar methinks - so didnt really appeal anyway

for me - sydney wins by a mile

9 months of the year - u wake up - shorts - t shirt - sandals check - ok i am off - am quoting tourists here - freedom from fussing about dressing for the weather

& what a spot to dump a city of 4.2m - no - its way unlike SF - the harbour is cosy but the bay is scary big & unswimmably cold

many of the mega rich have homes here - if u r rich - its like a resort only a real, civilised city

[Admir Fidahic]

11:31 AM on 01/30/2012

NYC might be very expensive, but its a great city to live in. I have taught so many times of moving somewhere else, but its really hard to move from NYC. Its a very stressful city, but if you want to succeed or if you are in your 20s. NYC is the place to be. If I would move from NYC I would probably move to San Diego and relax.

[MSROADKILL612]

09:08 PM on 01/31/2012

interesting - am from sydney oz & toyed w/ idea of selling up & taking a punt on US r/e - & off the top of my head - san diego sounded good, but know little of it & wouldnt trust much i read anyway

i hear there i a lot of mex cartel action there tho?

a big downside - no point if not safe

just curious as u seem familiar w/ the town

has the naval base been downgraded?

[Kelly Schatz]

05:49 AM on 03/27/2013

This is a hilarious comment, but I understand it; people from other parts of the world often tell me of insane misconceptions they hear about violence in the US. There might be Mexican drug cartels all over the place in San Diego - I don't know - but I've certainly never seen them (unless they all look like middle-aged rich ladies wearing uggs, carrying yoga mats, and drinking smoothies). San Diego is very safe.

[rsargerod]

11:08 AM on 01/30/2012

This article is misleading because in reality Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, are all part of one City- New York City. What the writer here was trying to convey was more about Counties not Cities. To the writer, New York City has five Boroughs, which comprise of the Bronx, the only borough that is attached to the main land (USA); Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Island of Manhattan. So 10 - 3 = 7 - I give the writer a Bronx Cheer for this!

[TheCon Way]

10:50 AM on 01/30/2012

I call bull! Long Island has some of the highest taxes in the country, much higher than NYC, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and anywhere up state for that matter Long Island pays for NY to operate properly! Houses Are expensive, a cheap house is around $200,000 - $400,000 easily. you need to re asses this story and ad in the fact that Long Island is #1 and not Manhattan! SOME apartments are expensive and ONLY SOME but the rent is much cheaper than on Long Island! I disagree with this nonsense and this should seriously be reevaluated

[Admir Fidahic]

11:17 AM on 01/30/2012

A cheap house is 200 K- 400k, well in brooklyn you cant find a cheap house for that kind of money. You can by a house falling apart for 400k. I payed 1200 rent for a one bedroom apt in Brooklyn. I dont understand people that live in LI, I understand the rich, but people with low incomes must be stupid to move there. First you if you work in the city you loose so much time driving home on the LIE, and yes you do have higher taxes. But, hey you cant complain, and I cant complain. We chose to live in this city.

[mommahurley]

10:45 AM on 01/30/2012

that should say San Mateo, not San Bruno in the highest areas!

[mommahurley]

10:44 AM on 01/30/2012

San Jose California? That's crap. I live on the Penninsula... everyone here knows that beginning in SF the cost of living is high... it gets lower in South San Fran San Bruno and Millbrae, then climbs drastically...it's the highest in the Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Carlos and San Bruno, takes a big dip in Redwood City, (lot of low income areas) then climbs again in Palo Alto, Mountain View, etc.... the biggest relief in cost of living Begins in San Jose! (Tons of lower income areas, plus lots of new developments that are at least 30% cheaper than the Penninsula... From there it only gets cheaper and cheaper until you get to So Cal! Even then it's way less expensive for the same house in all of So Cal. except maybe Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach etc. Who paid for this study because anyone living in California knows it's wrong!

[Clarabell]

01:21 PM on 01/30/2012

You forgot Atherton -- Los Altos and others -- and what about Marin County?

[latoussaint]

02:20 PM on 01/31/2012

Woodside.

[latoussaint]

02:21 PM on 01/31/2012

Santa Cruz.

[LEFTYLIAR]

10:34 AM on 01/30/2012

the forgot Santa fe NM

[debnaert]

10:15 AM on 01/30/2012

High taxes... for the rich to take care of the lazy.

[oldsportish111]

05:22 AM on 01/21/2013

Do rich people work? Working people often work 12 hour days and barely survive.. are you suggesting that if you're poor you're lazy? The rich make most of their income from capital gains and rents.. and even if they do work hard, it's because they had the $$$ to go to good schools be from good areas an pay for $$$ grad school. The rich are no more hard working than anyone else.. in fact they are lazier!

[MSROADKILL612]

06:30 AM on 03/27/2013

They do if they like their job basically

[debnaert]

10:14 AM on 01/30/2012

Figures.... California...NY... etc.

[TSHURAH DOVE]

09:59 AM on 01/30/2012

I live in NYC, in the Bronx to be exact, and I always say you have to make serious life decisions to live in NYC. Between the tolls, transit fares, and food I'm surprised so many people who dont make six figures survive daily.

[ycplum]

09:55 AM on 01/30/2012

FYI.

I suspect that the reason the NYC boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan are listed seperately is because they are also seperate counties. It is a little known fact that 5 counties reside in NYC: Bronx, Queens, Kings (aka Brooklyn), New York (aka Manhattan), and Richmond (aka Staten Island).

[FourColorTheorem]

10:45 AM on 01/30/2012

Everybody knows that!

[Admir Fidahic]

11:20 AM on 01/30/2012

LOL Somehow most of the people forget about Staten Island. Staten Island is bad reputation for the City