51–60 of 84 posts
This looks very similar to http://www.numbeo.com which was also created in 2009. Is it the same data?
In fact, most places in the US (even the sunny bits) look cheaper to live in than Coventry. How sad.
New York is portrayed in films as somewhere great to go, whereas they always portray London as dreary, and it is always raining. (London is alright to visit, but by the way).
It would be even better if you could input what you spend your money on. E.g. if someone buys a lot of alcohol, then the cost of living depends more on the alcohol tax.
Also, several items are sufficiently vague that they have a huge price range; for instance, "1 pair of sport shoes (Nike, Adidas, or similar)" or "Daily menu in the business district". Far too subjective to serve as a basis for comparison; in the same city, those values could vary by 2-3x depending on taste.
Would be nice to take into consideration Sales Tax, Income Tax and Property Taxes. In the states it can be fairly misleading if you ignore these factors as some states have no personal income tax as an example and others have crazy sales tax and personal income tax combined with property tax. All these drain a persons resources when they move from one locale to another. Not sure how to capture "soft" stuff like healt…
Sales taxes and property taxes figure into prices of goods. The site already says to include sales taxes, though it would help to have rates noted explicitly. Property taxes should appear as an expense under housing.
Would be nice to take into consideration Sales Tax, Income Tax and Property Taxes. In the states it can be fairly misleading if you ignore these factors as some states have no personal income tax as an example and others have crazy sales tax and personal income tax combined with property tax. All these drain a persons resources when they move from one locale to another. Not sure how to capture "soft" stuff like healt…
Yeah some of the big states are fun. I'm in NY, my property taxes are about 60% of my mortgage payment.
You're comparing cost of living without taking into account median salaries? I don't think any comparison is complete without some sort of salary survey.
True, and another key component, which will become even more important once median incomes are taken into account, is public services. For instance Paris is described to be about as expansive as San Francisco. But in Paris, you have your kids' school and your health insurance for free (well, included into your taxes). Plus, if you studied there, you don't have a student loan to pay back.
I compared the price from Vancouver BC to Seattle WA and was surprised to say that food was cheaper in Vancouver, as Vancouverites are always coming south of the border to buy their groceries. Especially milk, which they load up on by the cart full. On this site though it says a liter of milk in Vancouver is $1.65 and a litre in the US is $2.90, a GALLON in the US can be bought for less than $2.90.
So I'm a little suspect of the data.
I'm not sure where they got their data from, but one thing stood out to me. I compared the price from Vancouver BC to Seattle WA and was surprised to say that food was cheaper in Vancouver, as Vancouverites are always coming south of the border to buy their groceries. Especially milk, which they load up on by the cart full. On this site though it says a liter of milk in Vancouver is $1.65 and a litre in the US is $2.…
Numbeo gives 0.90 for a liter of milk in Seattle http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country...
I treated the subject of quality of life from the subjective perspective of a software developer (big salary in a country with small income - the average net income in romania is around 400 eur)