Inflation has increased the cost of living in most parts of the world. Beyond that, some cities are expensive because they are in parts of the world where costs have been traditionally high. This is usually because these metros are far from where the goods and services people use originate. Hamilton tops the list. It is on the relatively remote island of Bermuda.
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Numbeo has released its Cost of Living Index 2023. It measures rent, food and restaurant prices, and it covers 540 metropolitan areas. Each city receives an index score. The primary reason Hamilton’s 142.1 score is so high is the cost of food.

Several cities in Switzerland make up the very top of the list. These are Basel (127.0), Zurich (120.8), Lausanne (119.7), Zug (118.5) and Bern (116.1). Much of the balance of the top of the list includes U.S. cities, including Santa Barbara (112.2), Honolulu (102.7) and New York (100.0). (See if these are among the richest cities in America.)

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At the bottom of the list are several metros in underdeveloped countries. The 540th city is Peshawar, Pakistan (15.1). Multan (15.6), Faisalabad (16.1) and Rawalpindi (16.4) are among the seven lowest-ranked cities that are in Pakistan. The bottom also includes many cities in India.

Notably, the highest-ranked cities are among those with the highest education and income levels in the world, and metros that are safest for their populations. The lowest-ranked cities are at the bottom of the list by the same measure.

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