Momo Takahashi / BI
US cities are getting more and more expensive to live in.
The likes of New York, Boston, and San Francisco are catching up with their Swiss counterparts, the Deutsche Bank Research Institute’s annual Mapping the World’s Prices report found.
Authors tracked the cost of living in 69 cities relevant to financial markets by standardizing the cost of goods and services and converting all amounts into dollars.
“When we launched this report in 2012, US cities were relatively cheap compared with their developed market peers, with costs of goods and salaries generally outside the global top 10,” wrote Jim Reid, the bank’s head of global and macro thematic research and author of the report.
“Fast-forward a decade or so, and the US now ranks near the top in both categories — rivaled only by Geneva and Zurich across the globe.”
Reid puts this development down to a stronger dollar, the rise in US exceptionalism, the resilience of the American financial sector, and the expansion of the US-dominated technology sector.
The report said that since its inception, Swiss cities had always been among the most expensive. The Swiss franc is one of the world’s most stable currencies, and Switzerland has had one of the lowest inflation rates in recent decades.
The European nation is also home to several high-paying sectors such as banking and finance, and pharmaceuticals.
New York is the priciest place to live in the city centre, with a three-bedroom apartment costing an average of $8,500 a month to rent in 2025.
It’s followed by Singapore, Boston, London, San Francisco, Zurich, Hong Kong, and Geneva. All five American cities featured in the report appear in the first 11 spots for rent costs; the other two are Chicago and Los Angeles.
The five US cities are also towards the top of the rankings for the cost of groceries.
“Historical patterns of US dollar cycles, combined with ongoing policy shifts in 2025, suggest there’s a meaningful chance that US cities could slip down the list in the years ahead,” Reid said.
Geneva, Zurich, San Francisco, Luxembourg, and Boston rank the highest for salaries after taxes.
In terms of quality of life, the best performers are Luxembourg, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam.
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