These are the most expensive cities in North America

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FOR A CITY that only recently discovered the bin, New York is startlingly expensive. Last year EIU, our sister company, ranked it as the priciest city in the world alongside Singapore (a city that would not dream of being without proper waste management). In this year’s ranking New York remains the most expensive city in North America, though globally it fell to third, tying with Geneva. The map below reveals how other cities in the region are ranked in comparison.

EIU’s cost-of-living index ranks 173 cities around the world based on the cost of more than 200 products and services. This year’s top three in North America are unsurprising: New York, which remains America’s cultural and financial hub; Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood; and San Francisco, whose tech workers pay more for domestic help than city-dwellers anywhere else in the world.

But even these money-sucking metropolises have become slightly cheaper relative to the rest of the world than they were last year. Because of an improvement in global supply chains and early action by America’s Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, the rate of price increases slowed in North America in 2023. Inflation in New York, for example, was estimated by the EIU to be 5.1% last year; the annual rate is now just 1.9%. On average, American cities slipped 4.2 places in the global rankings.

The region is still a dear place to live. Houston, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Diego and Washington, DC are also among the most expensive places. They all have fairly strong economies even though they are based on different sectors—Houston runs on oil and gas money whereas the Seattle area is home to tech juggernauts, such as Amazon and Microsoft.

Cities in America’s south are generally cheaper than those in the north: Atlanta and Charlotte share the 16th spot in the North American rankings. But money goes even further in Canada. Montreal, Calgary and Toronto are among the cheapest cities in the region.

Die-hard New Yorkers will stick with their city as long as they can afford it. But some may be tempted to move north of the border. They will find life to be cheaper there. They might also find it rather more pleasant: the most liveable cities in North America happen to be in Canada. Some may even have bins.■

Read more on the world’s most expensive cities:

These are the world’s most expensive cities
Asia’s most expensive cities, ranked