www.numbeo.com

[BunsGettingFirm]

I am always interested in doing quick cost-of-living comparisons between cities. I know there are a few other enthusiasts who rave about comparable sites such as city-data.com. Here it is Cost of Living. It uses crowd sourcing to gather some of the prices it tracks, kind of like the what the BLS does for CPI but of course with much less rigorous quality control. However, judging by the prices quoted for a few of the cities I have lived in, the costs are not far off. Let me know what you think.

 

[W2R]

I didn't think the prices were very close for New Orleans. Maybe this is an anomaly.

 

[utrecht]

Dallas looks more or less correct

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Hi, are the prices too high or too low or all over the map? How about major categories such as rent, food, and utilities?

 

[GregLee]

Milk in Honolulu doesn't sell by the liter, nor cheese by the kilo. $20 for a "mid-range" bottle of wine? I've certainly never paid that much. $160 for men's leather shoes? Same comment.

 

[W2R]

Hi, are the prices too high or too low or all over the map? How about major categories such as rent, food, and utilities?

All over the map. Rent looks low to me for most apartments, restaurant food's too high (like what a tourist would pay at the tourist joints, since they don't know any better), and I have no idea what most people spend on utilities but mine are much lower.

 

[traineeinvestor]

With the exception of rents (which look low to me), eating out (there is a huge range) and shoes (which look too low, possibly distorted by the fact that most places do not sell my size, forcing me to shop in more expensive shops), the numbers for HK look about right.

 

[FUEGO]

Clearly wrong, because they say you can rent a place in the city center for $700/mo or outside city center for $500/mo. From another thread, it is impossible to rent something so cheap in a metro city area without being surrounded by stabbing hobos, homeless bums, section 8ers, welfare cheats, etc. j/k Seriously, $700/500 might be a tad too low but not far off.

They didn't have it for my city, but the similar city down the road a bit is very accurate for most things. Some exceptions: Beer at the market was way high ($3+ for a bottle of beer??). Rents were pretty close. Sales of apartments outside city center was shown as $160/sf. That is probably 50% higher than the median price per sf for a typical lux condo or house. But the $190/sf for city center apartment buying is probably pretty good for the modern lux condos.

 

[RonBoyd]

I didn't think the prices were very close for New Orleans. Maybe this is an anomaly.

Hmmmm.

Consumer Prices in New Orleans, LA are 20.49% lower than in Denver, CO
Consumer Prices Including Rent in New Orleans, LA are 11.03% lower than in Denver, CO
Rent Prices in New Orleans, LA are 9.86% higher than in Denver, CO
Restaurant Prices in New Orleans, LA are 29.41% lower than in Denver, CO
Groceries Prices in New Orleans, LA are 10.70% lower than in Denver, CO
Local Purchasing Power in New Orleans, LA is 57.25% lower than in Denver, CO

Indexes at this website are relative to New York City (NYC). Which means that for New York City, each index should be 100(%). If another city has, for example, rent index of 120, it means rents in average in that city are 20% more expensive than in New York City. If the city has rent index of 70, that means in the average in that city rents are 30% less expensive than in New York City.

Consumer Price Excl. Rent Index (CPI) is relative indicator of consumer goods price, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities. CPI Index doesn't include accomodation expenses such as rent or mortgage. If city has CPI index of 120, it means Numbeo estimates it is 20% more expensive than New York (excluding rent).
Rent Index is estimation of prices of renting apartments in the city compared to New York City. If Rent index is 80, Numbeo estimates that price for renting in that city is 80% of price in New York.
Groceries Index is an estimation of grocery prices in the city compared to New York City. To calculate this section, Numbeo uses "Markets" section of each city.
Restaurants Index is a comparison of prices of meals and drinks in restaurants and bars compared to NYC.
Consumer Price Plus Rent Index is an estimation of consumer goods prices including rent in the city comparing to New York City.
Local Purchasing Power shows relative purchasing power in buying goods and services in a given city for the average wage in that city. If domestic purchasing power is 40, this means that inhabitans of that city with the average salary can afford to buy 60% less typical goods and services than New York City residents with an average salary.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Milk in Honolulu doesn't sell by the liter, nor cheese by the kilo. $20 for a "mid-range" bottle of wine? I've certainly never paid that much. $160 for men's leather shoes? Same comment.

I understand that, but to make comparison easier with the rest of the world that use metric, milk is listed in liters, as a lot of other measurements such as real estate in square meters instead of square feet. I think the conversion can be done.

 

[Koolau]

What I read for the two cities I'm most familiar with (in recent history) Honolulu and Indianapolis, the costs seem generally in line. Can't comment on how either city compares to NYC on a % basis.

As we've often discussed, such comparisons have some weaknesses but they can be helpful if you understand their limitations. For instance, when you move from Indy to Paradise, you stop buying things like fresh blueberries and substitute more local fruits or less expensive imported fruits. I realize the data wasn't presented as a "market basket", but the same principle holds.

I also wonder if the "naturally frugal" nature of us ERs distorts our perspective. For instance: Utilities in Honolulu were listed at $275/mo. We spend 1/3 that or less, but we dry our clothes in the open air for the most part and we don't have AC. I have heard lots of folks around town suggesting they spend $200+ just for electricity. I couldn't live like that, so it makes some comparisons difficult.