New York and London are some of the most desirable cities to live in due to the sheer number of job opportunities and vibrant entertainment opportunities – but residents pay a better price.
New York next to Singapore as the most costly cities in the world in 2022, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Cost of Living Index. London ranked twenty eighth.
Lucy Wong is a New Yorker who moved to London in February. She recently challenged herself limit her weekly spending to $150something she did while living in different cities around the world.
Tracking spending “really makes you aware of how much you are spending,” Wong said. “I spent rather a lot extra money once I was in New York.”
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“New York is rather a lot costlier than London,” said Lily Slater, who grew up in London and moved to New York for postgraduate studies in 2017. “I believe the appetite for bidding is way stronger here.”
“There’s rather a lot more sense of ‘how much can I charge here? “
One of these high-paying items is rent. One bedroom close to the city center is approx $3,700 in New Yorkaccording to the Numbeo cost of living data collection project as of June 21, while a comparable apartment in London would cost about $2,600.
As well as to a bigger rent, groceries are provided almost 70% costlier in New York, by Numbeo.
“Each time I am going to the food market, I’m shocked by the prices,” said Wong. “Once I take a look at, I believe it will be double in New York.”
How earnings, taxes affect purchasing power
New York could also be costlier, but residents tend to earn more and are taxed lower than Londoners. The common New Yorker earned just below $1,400 every week in December, while the London average is around $970, according to St. Louis Fed and the UK Office for National Statistics.
For that reason, the local purchasing power in New York is about 23% higher than in London, Numbeo estimates.
“Once I got my last job, I got a reasonably large pay increase,” said Slater. “My dad, who lives in South London, was amazed [at] how much money I used to be going to make.”
Slater’s dad soon realized her paycheck couldn’t go very far after visiting New York.
“He and his girlfriend bought a coffee that cost $15 for just two coffees,” said Slater.
Despite higher prices, people still want to live in each cities. New York was at the top City readers dream of moving then to London, according to a recent poll by Time Out magazine.
“I used to be very excited to come to New York once I moved here, and I understand that, but I do not think people think that about London,” Slater said. “There’s something about New York City where individuals are so obsessive about living here that everybody agrees on how disgusting it’s, how difficult and the way expensive it’s.
“And I do not think that is true in London.”
Watch video above to discover more about the cost of living in New York and London and why people select to live in these cities when it is so expensive there.