Cost of Living Comparisons

For US citizens weighing a move abroad, cost of living is usually the first number that matters and the most misunderstood. Most comparisons are built on indices that benchmark a fixed 'basket' of everyday goods against a reference city, with New York City set to 100. On Numbeo's index, the United States as a whole sits around 68.8, while the most affordable expat destinations cluster in the 20s and low 30s, meaning core day-to-day prices in countries like Vietnam (~26) or Indonesia (~26) can run a fraction of US levels. Mercer, Expatistan, and most relocation firms publish parallel indices built on similar crowd-sourced and surveyed price data, so the rankings broadly agree even when the exact numbers differ. The practical spread is enormous. At the affordable end, single expats report living comfortably on roughly $1,000-$1,500 a month in Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, and parts of Portugal, and retired couples on $2,000-$3,000 in Costa Rica or Mexico. At the expensive end, Mercer ranks Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zurich as the costliest cities for international workers, with New York and London close behind, places where housing alone can exceed a comfortable all-in budget in Southeast Asia. The biggest single driver of these gaps is almost always rent: a one-bedroom in central Lisbon runs about €1,300 versus roughly £2,500 in central London. The critical caveat is that headline indices usually exclude housing and almost always exclude the one-time and recurring 'hidden' costs of expat life: visas, international shipping, flights home, currency-conversion fees, and private health insurance. They also report nominal prices, not purchasing power. Purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusts for what money actually buys on the ground and is the right lens for deciding how much income you truly need to replicate your current lifestyle in a new country. A realistic expat budget layers all of these together rather than trusting a single index figure.

Key Points

• 1Indices are anchored to NYC = 100: the US averages ~68.8 on Numbeo's Cost of Living Index, while the cheapest expat destinations (Vietnam ~26.4, Indonesia ~26.1) sit in the 20s-30s. Crucially, most indices EXCLUDE rent, so a low index score still requires checking local housing separately.
• 2Cheapest countries with real monthly budgets: single expats commonly report ~$500-$760/month in Mexico, ~$800-$1,500 in Thailand (Chiang Mai/Bangkok), and Vietnam rents of just $250-$400/month with street meals under $2. Numbeo data supports living well on about $1,500/month in low-cost countries once rent is kept modest.
• 3Most expensive destinations: Mercer's Cost of Living Ranking puts Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zurich at the top for international workers, followed by Geneva, Basel, Bern, New York (#7, costliest in North America), and London (#8). High rent, transport, and goods prices drive these rankings across 226+ cities.
• 4Housing is the make-or-break line item: a central one-bedroom in Lisbon runs ~€1,300/month vs. ~£2,500 in central London and a 2025 NYC median near $2,367. Utilities show the same gap, an 85m² Portuguese apartment averages only ~€94-110/month for electricity, heating, water, and internet versus roughly £209 in the UK.
• 5Healthcare can flip the math: international private health insurance averages ~$2,517/year for an individual and ranges from ~$500 (basic) to $10,000+ (comprehensive, US-inclusive). Plans that exclude the US are far cheaper; Pacific Prime found the US the most expensive market, with premiums up 53% in 2024. Out-of-pocket visits are modest abroad, roughly $2-$7 in Thailand and €45-€70 in Spain.
• 6Hidden and one-time costs add up fast: total emigration runs from about €5,540 (Mexico) to €14,644 (Australia). Shipping a small container is $1,500-$5,000, storage back home $100-$300/month, one-way flights $150-$900 (and emergency flights home $1,500-$3,000), plus visa fees ($50-$2,000+), apostilles, sworn translations, and bank FX fees that can reach 4%-15% on transfers.
• 7Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the lens that matters: it estimates the exchange rate at which a basket of goods costs the same in two countries, revealing what your money actually buys rather than its raw converted value. Practically, a PPP calculator tells a US expat the equivalent local salary needed to maintain the same lifestyle, often dramatically lower than a straight dollar conversion suggests.