The World’s Priciest (& Cheapest) Cities to Live In for 2017

Will Travel for Affordable Housing?

Finding affordable housing may seem like the impossible American dream these days, but here’s a small consolation: America isn’t home to the priciest city in the world. In fact, a full four (yes, four!) places bested U.S. locales when it comes to super-costly places to lay your head, according to the 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2017.

The survey measured affordability in 406 metropolitan housing markets in nine countries around the world — Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. — using data from the third quarter of 2016. Demographia then ranked 92 major housing markets (those with populations of more than 1,000,000) using the “median multiple,” a measure recommended by the World Bank and the United Nations that takes the median house price and divides it by the median household income.

Ready for more good news? The U.S. actually has the most affordable housing among the measured nations, netting all 11 slots on Demographia’s least affordable cities list (there were a whole bunch of ties).

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A Humble Abode

Of course, that may come as small consolation to Americans. There are still plenty of metros in the U.S. that cost a significant percentage of its residents more than 30% of their income (the recommended maximum to spend on your abode). And other U.S. cities are becoming more unaffordable at a rapid pace.

That’s why it’s important for Americans looking to buy or even rent a home to research markets carefully, get a concrete idea of what’s within their budget, and monitor their credit. A good credit score helps you net the best mortgage rates while a clean credit report can bolster a lease application. (You can see where your credit stands by pulling your credit reports for free each year at AnnualCreditReport.com and viewing your free credit report snapshot, updated every 14 days, on Credit.com.)

Now, without further ado, here are the 10 most expensive major cities in the world to live, followed by the 10 cheapest.

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10th Most Expensive City: Bournemouth & Dorset, U.K.

Median Multiple: 8.9

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9th Most Expensive City: San Francisco, U.S.

Median Multiple: 9.2

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8th Most Expensive City: Los Angeles, U.S.

Median Multiple: 9.3

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7th Most Expensive City: Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

Median Multiple: 9.4

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6th Most Expensive City: Melbourne, Australia

Median Multiple: 9.5

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5th Most Expensive City: San Jose, California, U.S.

Median Multiple: 9.6

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4th Most Expensive City: Auckland, New Zealand

Median Multiple: 10.0

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3rd Most Expensive City: Vancouver, Canada

Median Multiple: 11.8

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2nd Most Expensive City: Sydney, Australia

Median Multiple: 12.2

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Most Expensive City: Hong Kong

Median Multiple: 18.1

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8th Most Affordable City (Tie): Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas, U.S.

Median Multiple: 3.0

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8th Most Affordable City (Tie): Indianapolis, U.S.

Median Multiple: 3.0

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8th Most Affordable City (Tie): Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.

Median Multiple: 3.0

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8th Most Affordable City (Tie): Detroit, U.S.

Median Multiple: 3.0

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6th Most Affordable City (Tie): St. Louis, U.S.

Median Multiple: 2.9

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6th Most Affordable City (Tie): Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.

Median Multiple: 2.9

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3rd Most Affordable City (Tie): Pittsburgh, U.S.

Median Multiple: 2.7

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3rd Most Affordable City (Tie): Cleveland, U.S.

Median Multiple: 2.7

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3rd Most Affordable City (Tie): Cincinnati, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana, U.S.

Median Multiple: 2.7

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2nd Most Affordable City Buffalo, New York, U.S.

Median Multiple: 2.6

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Most Affordable City: Rochester, New York, U.S.

Median Multiple: 2.5

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