Inflation in the United States is still at a high level in early 2023, so you may be wondering how convenient the city you live or want to live in is.

According to the cost of living and rent index from data analytics site Numbeo, Santa Barbara is the most expensive city in the United States. This is followed by New York and the Californians San Francisco and Oakland.

Even California’s presence is the most prominent in the ranking, as five of the 10 most expensive are in that western state.

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The Numbeo values ​​taken as a reference combine two indices: cost of living and income.

The cost of living is compounded based on the prices of consumer goods, including groceries, restaurants, transportation, and utilities. The rent adds the rental cost to the equation.

If the cost of living without rent was taken into account, Santa Barbara would still rank first, New York would drop to fourth, and Honolulu would rise to second, albeit with insignificant differences. Photo: Istock

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With this data, this is the list of the most expensive cities:

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One of Oakland’s biggest drawbacks is the high cost of living. If you don’t have an income of more than $2,000 a month, you could have serious problems making ends meet. Photo: Istock

If the cost of living without rent was taken into account, Santa Barbara would still rank first, New York would drop to fourth, and Honolulu would rise to second, albeit with insignificant differences.

However, if we take Honolulu as an example, the city ranks fifth among the most expensive cities in the United States due to its low rental index.

How to compare cost of living

If you’re thinking of moving and looking for places where the cost of living is lower, you can access this online calculator from CNN that will help you compare what you’ll pay between two cities in different categories, broken down, and in general terms.

The comparison is made based on the figures of the Cost of Living Index updated to September 2022.