The 10 Most Expensive Cities in the United States
What will it cost you to live in the top cities?
As rent eats up more and more of Americans' paychecks, some cities are becoming far more expensive than others. San Francisco is nearly 50% higher than the 10th most expensive city on the list, Honolulu. Furthermore, San Francisco is nearly twice as expensive as Kansas City, which cost $63 thousand per year, according to GoBankingRates. These cities are becoming ever more impossible for citizens on minimum wage to afford and many feel the higher cost drives out the character of the neighborhoods, as older mom and pop stores leave who can't afford the higher rental expenses.
The list:
$123,268 to live comfortably
With tech giants such as Google and Facebook and Silicon Valley being a short drive, its no wonder that the gigantic explosion of wealth in tech has sent San Francisco to the top of the list.
Apple's new corporate campus.
Google's downton San Francisco campus.
Google's Mountain View Campus.
Billionaires roam the streets and millionaires feel inadequate.
GOBankingRates states that San Franciscans are starting to leave the city. "The city is facing a mass exodus of residents," according to the site.
New York is nearly 24% cheaper at the second most expensive city on the list.
$99,667 to live comfortably
A view of the city from the bay.
Wall Street has surged since the Great Recession and its no surprise that New York finds itself on this list. New York now has an area dubbed "Billionaire's Row" and the city just saw its second Four Seasons Hotel erected.
The new downtown Four Seasons Hotel & Tower.
Furthermore, the World Trade Center is almost completed!
The new World Trade Center site, Ground Zero, no more.
New York's Hudson Yards towers over its neighbors.
New York's Hudson Yards development has attracted notable companies such as Time Warner and Blackrock and will be larger than most US cities when it is completed.
The days of high crime and awful subways are memories of the past for New Yorkers, but with de Blasio's progressive policies, Manhattanites are starting to grow accustomed to homeless on the street corners again. Police are no longer allowed to arrest people for loitering.
$99,431 to live comfortably
San Jose like Oakland has become an outgrowth of San Francisco with the tech boom overtaking the city and driving up the cost of living.
$95,611 to live comfortably
A very livable downtown.
See San Jose.
But, signs of its industrial past are everywhere.
$90,811 to live comfortably
The new Washington DC Wharf development.
Our nation's capital has seen an economic boom from the last decade of high spending policies enacted by our government.
The famous cherry trees in blossom. A gift from the Emperor of Japan.
Furthermore, the business of lobbying our elected officials has continued to grow alongside the larger contracts awarded to local DC firms.
$89,248 to live comfortably
One of the original cities of tech, Seattle is still home to Microsoft, Boeing and Amazon.
Microsoft's corporate campus just outside of downtown Seattle.
Amazon chose the downtown for their corporate campus.
Amazon went for a jungle-like atmosphere.
Seattle's fish market is one of its tourist attractions.
In addition to one of the most beautiful waterways in our country, Seattle boasts nearby ski resorts and beautiful hiking for those who love the outdoors.
One of the most beautiful cities the US has to offer.
Ski mountains are visible from the downtown.
$88,967 to live comfortably
Sailing is a very popular sport in Boston.
Boston has been the beneficiary of a boom in Biotechnology, Tech, Private Equity, Mutual Funds and Real Estate.
GE's new Boston Campus.
Boston's Charles River has plenty of rowers every morning.
With Harvard & MIT, Boston has no shortage of bright minds working on tomorrow's great companies.
Harvard's dinning hall has the opulence that will show up in a wealthy city.
MIT's campus, a mecca for the technical minded.
$87,260 to live comfortably
Skiing is a short drive from dowtown LA.
Even with Netflix and Amazon stealing the show from Hollywood, Los Angeles continues to thrive.
The famous Hollywood sign.
Santa Monica Pier continues to be a top tourist destination.
A gigantic city with an amazingly diverse economy, LA boasts beaches, mountains and desert all within a short drive.
Beaches at your fingertips.
Plus, if you like spotting celebrities, you will be in luck.
Universal Studios is one of many that make up the film industry of LA.
$86,721 to live comfortably
Downtown Anaheim.
An outgrowth of the financial boom of Los Angeles and the chosen home of Disneyland, Anaheim has grown to national recognition from 50 years ago when the average schoolchild had never heard of Anaheim.
Anaheim Convention Center.
Who doesn't want a reason to buy an annual pass to Disneyland?
Disneyland's castle.
$85,367 to live comfortably
The beaches of Waikiki.
Hawaii imports almost everything you eat, drink, drive and sleep in, so its no wonder this is a costly place to live.
Everything in Hawaii must be shipped in, driving up cost.
However, what give in cost, you get in natural beauty.
Amazing natural beauty.
Hawaii is arguably the nation's most beautiful state, an island paradise where many people come for vacation and stay for life.
An afternoon dip in the ocean doesn't sound so bad?
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Written by Rachel Weissman & Jack Vasquez, Edited by Alexander Fleiss