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Here’s more proof NYC is getting more expensive – Metro US

Here’s more proof NYC is getting more expensive

Here’s more proof NYC is getting more expensive
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New York City has moved up five spots in a listing of the world’s most expensive places for expats to live, although it still didn’t crack the top 10, and continued to trail last year’s leader, Luanda, Angola’s capital.

According to consulting firm Mercer’s 22nd annual Cost of Living Survey, in the last year the Big Apple wen from 16 worldwide list to 11.

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New York is the only U.S. city the top 25 — with San Francisco and Los Angeles coming in at 26 and 27, respectively.

The survey — which includes over 375 cities across the world and focuses on how expensive it is for expatriates to live in particular cities— measures comparatives costs of more than 200 items including the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household items, and entertainment.

In New York City, the cost of renting a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment of “international standards in an appropriate neighborhood” comes out to $5,100 a month. Othere costs determining ranking included movie tickets – $15.50 a piece in New York; $58 for a pair of blue jeans; $2.28 for a cup of coffee; $8.74 for a fast-food hamburger; and $2.39 for mineral water.

In Johannesburg in South Africa — 205 on Mercer’s list — a movie ticket goes for $4.18; a hamburger for $2.85 and rent for a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment is $1,139.43.

This survey comes about a month after the National Low Income Housing Coalition released a report that revealed that residents in New York City have to make an hourly wage of at least $30 in order to afford a two-bedroom home and live comfortably. Even for a studio apartment, residents are required to make at least $24.87 per hour to afford to pay rent.

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According to Mercer’s survey, cities in the United States have climbed in ranking since last year due to the strength of the dollar against other currencies. Othere U.S. cities that jumped on the list were Seattle, which went up 23 spots, and Boston, up 17 spots to 47 on the list.

Hong Kong tops Mercer’s ranking list as the most expensive city, with Luanda in Angola coming in at number 2 — after being number one last year— and Zurich in Switzerland staying in third place.

Luanda’s poor get by on as little as $17 a month, but life is glamourous and costly for well-paid expatsin the bustling seaside Angolan capital enjoying a resurgence after three decades of civil war.