About cost of living indices (compared to New York)

These indexes are correlated with New York. This means that for New York, each index is 100 (%). If another city has a rent index of 120, for example, this means that, on average, rent in that city is 20% more expensive than in New York. If a city's rent index is 70, it means that, on average, rent in that city is 30% cheaper than in New York.

The Cost of Living Index (excluding rent) is a relative measure of the prices of consumer goods, including food, restaurants, transportation, and utilities. The cost of living index does not include living expenses such as rent or mortgage. If a city has a cost of living index of 120, it means that it is 20% more expensive than New York (excluding rent).

The Rent Index is an estimate of apartment rental prices in the city compared to New York City. If the Rent Index is 80, it means that the rent in that city is on average 20% lower than in New York.

The Grocery Index is an estimate of the price of food in a city compared to New York City.

The Restaurant Price Index is a comparison of food and drink prices in restaurants and bars compared to New York City.

The Cost of Living Plus Rent Index is an estimate of the price of consumer goods, including rent, compared to New York City.

Index of local purchasing power. Local purchasing power measures the relative purchasing power of buying goods and services in a given city against the average net wage in that city. If the internal purchasing power is 40, this means that residents of this city with an average salary can afford to buy, on average, 60% less goods and services than residents of New York with an average salary.

The cost of living index by city is developed by the Numbeo website. It is updated regularly and includes data for all major cities and continents. In Europe, it includes 234 cities, including Warsaw (184), Gdynia (186), Gdansk (188), Krakow (189), Wroclaw (190), Poznań (192), Katowice (196), Szczecin (200), Lublin (206), Lodz (207). In parentheses is the rating of Polish cities in terms of the cost of living index. As you can see, it is not high.

The rating is headed by 6 Swiss and 5 Norwegian cities. Moreover, the first 8 cities have a higher cost of living index than New York, according to which this indicator is set. But we are interested in Warsaw. The cost of living index in the Polish capital is better than in Moscow (185), Sofia (187), Belgrade (194), Bucharest (195), Kiev (217), St. Petersburg (203), Minsk (227).