How does Toronto’s cost of living stack up against the rest of the world? Pretty well, actually
Toronto may be the most expensive city in Canada, but as for how we stack up against the rest of the world? It’s complicated. This new cost-of-living analysis by a website called Expatistan paints an intriguing picture. Using Prague as a middle-ground reference point, it ranks 194 different cities by how expensive they are for people who live in them. Toronto is nowhere near the top.
By Expatistan’s reckoning, Toronto is the 32nd most expensive city in the world (we’re apparently 75 per cent more expensive than Prague). That may seem pricey relative to other Canadian cities, but it makes us about half as expensive as London, U.K., which bagged the top spot. That said, Canada has a few cities where life is evidently surprisingly costly. According to Expatistan, Halifax is the world’s 74th-most-expensive city. And the prairie city of Edmonton (ranked 71) may cost more than we think. It comes in at roughly the same price point as the buzzing metropolis of Chicago (70) and super-posh Dubai (69)—not to mention Montreal (75).
To add to the confusion, all those Canadian cities are somehow cheaper than the African city of Lagos (50), in the heart of Nigeria, where the cost of living is about 10 per cent higher. But if you’re looking to live in a decent-sized Canadian city on the extra-cheap, 95-ranked Winnipeg may be your best bet, provided you can handle the colder-than-Mars temperatures.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/cost-living-index-reveals-surprising-results/&title=How does Toronto’s cost of living stack up against the rest of the world? Pretty well, actually&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/cost-of-living-toronto-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_254285" align="alignnone" width="656"] Expatistan's map of the cost of living in different world cities. Darker red means more expensive. (Image: Courtesy of Expatistan)[/caption]
Toronto may be the most expensive city in Canada, but as for how we stack up against the rest of the world? It's complicated. This new cost-of-living analysis by a website called Expatistan paints an intriguing picture. Using Prague as a middle-ground reference point, it ranks 194 different cities by how expensive they are for people who live in them. Toronto is nowhere near the top.
By Expatistan's reckoning, Toronto is the 32nd most expensive city in the world (we're apparently 75 per cent more expensive than Prague). That may seem pricey relative to other Canadian cities, but it makes us about half as expensive as London, U.K., which bagged the top spot. That said, Canada has a few cities where life is evidently surprisingly costly. According to Expatistan, Halifax is the world's 74th-most-expensive city. And the prairie city of Edmonton (ranked 71) may cost more than we think. It comes in at roughly the same price point as the buzzing metropolis of Chicago (70) and super-posh Dubai (69)—not to mention Montreal (75).
To add to the confusion, all those Canadian cities are somehow cheaper than the African city of Lagos (50), in the heart of Nigeria, where the cost of living is about 10 per cent higher. But if you’re looking to live in a decent-sized Canadian city on the extra-cheap, 95-ranked Winnipeg may be your best bet, provided you can handle the colder-than-Mars temperatures.){kind=link}
as a student, i am obliged to disagree with this post
I checked the prices listed and I suspect some people are not including GST, tips, freight, all the good stuff that expatistan.com said to include when listing prices on their site.