Personal Financial Management  »  Cost of Living   »   Most Expensive Cities in the U.S.
expensive city

Most Expensive Cities in the U.S.

by on January 19, 2013

NerdWallet ranked the nation’s most expensive cities according to ACCRA’s Cost of Living index.  The index scores listed can be compared to the national average score of 100.

New England and California hold the dubious honor of being some of the most expensive places to live in the United States, and far-away states like Alaska and Hawaii also appear on this list, likely because their increased shipping costs contribute to higher-cost goods and services.

For more information, check out our Cost of Living Calculator and City Life tool.  All of our city studies can be found here.

 

City Cost of living composite index
1 New York (Manhattan), NY 229.6
2 New York (Brooklyn), NY 180.2
3 Honolulu, HI 169.7
4 San Francisco, CA 168.3
5 San Jose, CA 157.0
6 New York (Queens), NY 152.4
7 Washington, DC 150.9
8 Stamford, CT 148.4
9 Boston, MA 142.8
10 Juneau, AK 141.5
11 Orange County, CA 140.1
12 Bergen-Passaic, NJ 139.9
13 Fairbanks, AK 139.8
14 Oakland, CA 136.8
15 San Diego, CA 134.4
16 Nassau County, NY 133.4
17 Los Angeles, CA 131.3
18 New Haven, CT 131.0
19 Bethesda, MD 130.9
20 Kodiak, AK 130.4
21 Newark, NJ 129.4
22 Middlesex, NJ 126.9
23 Anchorage, AK 125.9
24 Hartford, CT 124.6
25 Philadelphia, PA 122.8

Looking for more city studies?  Check out:

City skyline image from Shutterstock.