4 Most Expensive Places To Live In The United States

Let’s say you you’re offered a job in San Jose, California, with a $50,000 bump in pay. It might sound like a pretty sweet deal, right? But is it? You may find that making the move will cause you to move into a smaller home and afford less than where you live now. So before you accept that job, consider the most expensive regions to live in the United States.

New York City

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No doubt about it, the New York metro area and surrounding boroughs are some of the most expensive in the United States. In Manhattan, the average monthly rent is $3,902 and the average home price is $1.3 million. Though some of the boroughs outside Manhattan are cheaper, they’re not much cheaper. In Brooklyn, you’ll pay on average $2,411 in rent and home prices are around $959,907. Queens is slightly more affordable, with an average rent of $2,152 and home prices at $630,189.

Hawaii

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The Big Island of Hawaii, and especially Honolulu, have average prices of goods and services that are 69.7% higher than the national average. Not only that, but these prices increased in the last 12 months by 2.4%, where the rest of the country averaged only a 1.1% increase. Rent in Honolulu averages about $2,646, while home prices are $668,020. Other items are more expensive as well. You’ll pay $3.28 per gallon of milk and $4.24 per gallon of gas. Besides getting to live in a paradise, residents pay an extra premium because of the cost to ship goods to the island.

San Francisco / San Jose

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Between Google in Mountain View and Apple in Cupertino, not to mention being on the coast of California, the San Francisco/San Jose area has become a very expensive place to live. With a cost of living at 57% above the rest of the country, it’s a good thing that the median income for households in this area is $80,764, because the average house price is $764,283. Many are able to get great deals on mortgages to be able to afford these expensive homes, and on the plus side, the schools in this area are known for being outstanding.

Chicago

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Located on the southwest shores of Lake Michigan in northeastern Illinois lies the third most populous city in the United States. Comparing closely to the living expenses in major cities such as New York, Chicago has kept up their end of the charts. Trailing in as one of the most expensive cities to buy gas in with an average of $4.46 per gallon, you might want to consider other forms of transportation to work. If you are looking to try and save money it might help to wait on purchasing a new household in the Chicago area. In the past year the median price of properties rose 8.2%. A better option might be to live in apartments for rent in Chicago from ForRent.com.

After these areas, the next most expensive areas are Washington, D.C. (no surprise there), Orange County and Los Angeles area, and Boston. These areas definitely have their advantages, but you’ll have to consider whether the advantages outweigh the cost.

Would you want to live in one of these expensive regions?