The 15 U.S. cities with the highest cost of living—San Francisco isn't No. 1

CNBC ^ | August 22, 2023 | Mike Winters

[lowbridge]

New York's Manhattan borough is the most expensive place to live in the U.S. by a wide margin — the cost of living there is more than double the national average.

Living costs in Manhattan are 122% higher than average, according to data from The Council for Community and Economic Research's Cost of Living Index, which measures regional price differences for everyday goods and services in 271 urban areas.

Manhattan isn't just expensive, it's considerably more costly than other highly ranked places in the index.

The New York borough's cost of living is 24% more than Honolulu's, the second-most expensive urban area in the U.S. And it's 31% higher than San Francisco's, the third-most expensive city, according to C2ER's data.

The cost of living is expressed as a composite index score, based on six weighted categories: housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods or services. A composite score of 100 is the national average, and any score higher than 100 is above average.

Here's a look at the 15 most expensive urban areas, based on composite index scores. 

New York (Manhattan): 222

Honolulu: 179

San Francisco: 169.9

New York (Brooklyn): 159.1

Orange County, California: 150.3

Los Angeles (Long Beach): 149.1

Washington, D.C.: 148.4

Seattle: 144.5

San Diego: 142.5

Arlington, Virginia: 140.1

Oakland, California: 140

New York (Queens): 136.3

Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Maryland.: 135.8

Nassau County, New York: 135.2

[married21]

The Oakland hills have a lot of expensive homes.

[Veto!]

Back in the sixties and seventies, it was delightful. I visited regularly, knew many people who lived there. Great condos on the upper west side near symphony hall.

And earlier, my dad had several stores in Manhattan and we went there when I was seven, and of course had to go to the top of the Empire State Building, tallest in the city at that time.

“Progress” has wrecked that wonderful place.