Manhattan Tops List; Brooklyn Second, Queens Sixth
The boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens were ranked among the 10 most expensive places in the United States in which to live, according to a study released last week.
The Council for Community and Economic Research announced that Manhattan had the highest cost of living, with a Cost of Living Index (COLI) of 233.5, over twice the national average.
Brooklyn came in second with a COLI of 183.4, followed by Honolulu, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif. Queens came in sixth highest with a COLI of 151.4. Rounding out the top 10 were Stamford, Conn., Washington D.C. and Orange County, Calif.
The index is based on the cost of housing, utility bills, grocery costs, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods.
Those interested in a lower cost of living should look south, as four of the cities with the lowest cost of living are located in Texas and three in Oklahoma. Harlingen, Tx., a city of about 65,000, had the lowest COLI at 81.6-almost one-third that of Manhattan.
