UBS updated its survey of "Prices and Earnings, a global purchasing power comparison." The September 2010 update to the 2009 report, which gathered information from 73 cities, on 122 goods and services, cites cities on three continents, from Oslo to Montreal, as the 10 most expensive cities to live in.
The 10 most expensive cities–excluding rent–are: Oslo, Zurich, Geneva, Tokyo, Copenhagen, New York, Stockholm, Toronto, Montreal and London. But when you include rent, Dubai and Singapore jump into the top 10, replacing Stockholm and Montreal.
Who Gets Paid the Most?
Switzerland pays workers the most, the updated study says, and "payroll deductions are relatively low." Zurich, Copenhagen, Geneva, Oslo, New York and Sydney pay the highest gross wages, but, as they used to say in the ads for municipal bonds, "It's not what you earn, it's what you keep!" Zurich and Geneva pay workers the most wages with the fewest deductions–so workers earn the highest net wages there, followed by New York, Sydney, Los Angeles and Oslo.
The September 2010 update focused on the "key indices (prices, wages and purchasing power)" but did not run the entire survey again–that's scheduled for spring 2012. See the 2010 update and the 2009 survey findings here.
