If Singapore is the most expensive city, then why Redmond costs more?

To answer the question in the title, you should look at the purpose of the study. The study naming Singapore as the most expensive city come from the Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living Index, which is supposed to "help human resources and finance managers calculate cost-of-living allowances and build compensation packages for expatriates and business travellers" and is "based on the assumption that an expatriate has a right to live at the assignment site in the same manner and with the same kind of goods and services he would find at home" (source: https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=Wc..., http://www.worldwidecostofliving.com/asp/wcol_HelpWhatIsWCOL...).

In other words, it's comparing the price of living a Western executive lifestyle, not the cost of living for a regular person. Transport costs are high because Singapore has very high taxes on cars (more expensive than the cost of the car itself) - the target audience isn't going to be using a bus pass. Food costs are based on prices at high-end Western restaurants, not $5 worth of groceries. The housing comparison definitely isn't based on a studio apartment. And so on and so forth.

The calculation the Economist Intelligence Unit uses is very different from the one presented in this blog post. For instance, the price of a car is not factored into the blog post as the author assumes a "student lifestyle."

For instance, in Singapore, a new Toyota Camry costs almost US$150,000 while the same car in Seattle costs at most $30,000. The difference is worth the downpayment to an apartment in Seattle. A public transport pass in Singapore (EZLink Season Pass) is $134, which is more expensive than Seattle anyway.

I lived in Singapore for a while last year.

Lodging and housing is indeed very expensive, I was living in a shared apartment in a university dorm and I had to pay like 1K € per month. Certainly very expensive, although not that far from what I've seen in other expensive places like some parts of Sweden or the UK.

On the other hand, food is ridiculously cheap. You can go to hawker stalls and eat a fine meal for less than 3 €. In most European countries you can't have a decent meal for less than 8 €. Damn, here in Spain I don't think I can even match the price of Singaporean hawker stalls if I buy groceries and cook myself, unless if I only eat fried eggs or pasta with tomato, and in Singapore I was eating like a king.

Transportation is outrageously expensive if you need a car, but it's rather cheap if you use public transport, which has a great coverage and is really good. I don't really see much of a reason to use a car in Singapore, except if you are a car-aholic. Even if you need to go somewhere out of reach of the subway and bus network, taxis are cheap too.

To sum up, I would say that the relatively cheap food and transportation compensate for the very expensive accomodation, and the overall result is that Singapore is rather expensive, but there definitely are more expensive places (at the very least in the north of Europe). I'm surprised that people are saying it's the most expensive city.

These prices are likely a dramatic underestimate.

1 bedroom Apartments start at ~1400 a month. You can of course go cheaper if you rent a larger house with room mates (which in fact many people do). Food prices are outrageous, expect to pay at least $10 per person per meal if you go out to eat, $15 is more common.

But this page also doesn't mention any of the quality of life benefits of living in Redmond.

For one thing, crime is almost non-existent. Police vehicles regularly patrol the area 24/7. There is no noise, no one partying outside, no cars driving around blasting music, none of that.

And the city is maintained in an almost pristine state. The roads are damn near perfect. Pot holes are fixed within a week, if not days. City services are all around amazing, heck even the police are polite and a delight to deal with.

The commute to work is excellent. From out my door to into the work parking lot is about 5 minutes.

Direct access to Seattle, 15 minutes to downtown Seattle during non-rush hours.

And finally, the math in this Article is so bonkers, it seems like it'd apply to almost any major city. Rent in a "won't be stabbed" part of Seattle is higher than it is in Redmond. Rent in NYC or SF for a comparable quality of life is going to be much higher! (Can you even rent a place in SF proper that in in a neighborhood with virtually no crime?)

Perhaps my main complaint about living here is the scarcity of restaurants that deliver!

Interesting analysis, but just to set expectations there is no way you will be taken seriously if you ask for $199k/year as a fresh from college new hire at a large software company in Seattle. $200k+/year in Seattle is well into very senior/principle/partner engineer territory.

I've read this article a half dozen times, there is no mention of Singapore in it, let alone how much it costs to live there. So I guess I'm supposed to just take this made up headline at its word?

Also keep in mind, the author wants to SAVE $120K a year

As someone who posted adverts for $10/hr coding gigs around Redmond and got decent applicants, LOL @ $200,000 figure.

However your other expenses are near the mark for a 'student' lifestyle, but a little on the low side...

Congrats to you if you currently save at that rate.

$5/meal? I spend more like $12-20 when I cook for myself, and $20-30 if I eat lunch out.

And I live in a cheaper city than Redmond.

On a completely unrelated note, I've felt for some time that students of english should be taught to say "how come" instead of "why"; it doesn't trigger the auxiliary inversion that "why" requires. Go ahead and note that it's informal, but it would do a lot of good.

A a "Singaporean" founder I would ask: Does Redmond have: Gardens by the Bay, Clarke Quay, Sentosa, Universal Studios, Casinos, Top Universities, huge Asian Financing Hub, vibrant and multi-cultural environment, safety, affordable health-care all within a 45 km radius?

Damn, how does anyone live in these places? What supports this? Quantitative Easing? ;)

Isn't minimum wage in Washington under $8 / hour? What do they eat?

Philippines...

Rent: You can get a decent house or apartment for $150 / month.

Food: I can eat a street meal here for around 50 cents. For something fancy, I can eat out for $1.50. McDonald's is an expensive meal at $3.50 for 1/4 Pounder w/ cheese meal. A nice restaurant might charge $6. To get more expensive than that you have to eat at a European owned place which imports food I have never heard of with names I can't pronounce.

Electric: ~ $35 / month.

Water: ~ $15 / month.

Internet: ~ $25 / month.

I have lived here long enough that I have become completely out of touch with the prices in places like the U.S. and Europe. Singapore is right in my backyard though.

Realistically, because the lists of the world's "most expensive cities" usually only include cities with populations over a million, with exceptions for capitals and smaller international jetset/business/gov't towns like Geneva or SF.

I find it funny how people calculate ridiculously low rent prices and an impossible $5/meal (isn't even unhealthy fast food slightly higher than that?), yet magically come to the conclusion that at least $200,000 are necessary.

i'm a singaporean here

most expensive city? not sure too expensive to live? definitely

you ever heard of certificate of ownership? it's a cert that requires you to own a car. a mazda biante here cost around $150k SGD, not sure about other countries though.

furthermore, there's a lot of taxes we need to pay and we don't even know where these tax goes to! it doesn't really even help the poor as far as i can see. Furthermore, ministers' salaries are in millions per annum and there are so many ministers and you defiinitely need to pull strings to get that job

still have a lot of more to complain, but then i'm too tired to keep typing so much

Not sure how much more expensive Redmond is compared to Seattle, but Numbeo [1] would also be a good start when comparing locations. (Numbeo has no numbers for Redmond.)

[1] http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...

is that in Singapore Dollars? (comes to USD160K) still waay too much money for a fresher. You also want to save 9k per month? hmm... looks like you have put in a lot of time on analysis/charts, so when you surveyed for rental prices - didnt you bother asking your friends if it these figures were even realistic?

Very detailed work but you shouldn't be using cost as your primary basis. It's more important to look at average salaries for your position and see how it varies by city & state. That will give you an accurate depiction of how the industry views relative cost of living.

Very literal naïveté.