10 World Cities With the Highest Cost of Living

Six are in Switzerland
Posted Feb 1, 2026 11:50 AM CST
World Cities With the Highest Cost of Living
An aerial view of Zurich.   (Getty/taranchic)

One easy takeaway from a new ranking of cities with the highest cost of living: It's expensive to live in Switzerland. No fewer than six of the top 10 cities in the assessment by Numbeo are in that nation, notes TimeOut. The US isn't too far behind with three. The study looks at factors such as groceries, rent, restaurants, and "local purchasing power" to come up with an overall score. The top 10:

  1. Zurich, Switzerland, 118.5
  2. Geneva, Switzerland, 116.5
  3. Basel, Switzerland, 112.4
  4. Lausanne, Switzerland, 111.5
  5. Lugano, Switzerland, 110.1
  6. Bern, Switzerland, 110.0
  7. New York City, 100.0
  8. Reykjavik, Iceland, 98.9
  9. Honolulu, 98.2
  10. San Francisco, 97.6

  • The bottom 10 on the list of 479 cities are all in India, with Coimbatore having the lowest cost of living with a score of 17.6
  • See the full list.

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