Expat Survey Reveals Cheapest and Costliest Cities
From value-for-money Valencia to overpriced Vancouver, the cheapest and costliest cities for expats have been revealed in an extensive global survey. InterNations asked those living abroad to rate their lives based on key personal-finance factors. Such as, the cost of living, satisfaction with their finances and whether their disposable income was enough to lead a comfortable life.
While Tokyo scored comfortably in the top third, Valencia was the cheapest city to live for expats, with more than three quarters of respondents in the Spanish city satisfied with their financial situation, compared to the global average of 54%.
Vancouver, meanwhile, ranks as the most unaffordable, with 88% complaining it is too expensive, 65% saying their disposable income is not enough to lead a comfortable life, and 48% calling the cost of living very bad. The Canadian city drew more students (23% relocated for school or university vs. 9% globally) than job-seekers (17% cite job-related reasons vs. 35% globally).
Third-from-bottom London reports that 39% of expats are unhappy with their personal financial situation. An American expat said: “I wish our salaries matched the cost of living.” Seven in ten negatively rate the cost of living (39% globally) and 39% are dissatisfied with their financial situation (26% globally).
Expats rated three factors on a scale of one (very bad / disagree completely) to seven (very good / agree completely): general cost of living; satisfaction with their financial situation; and whether their disposable household income is enough to lead a comfortable life. To be featured in the ranking, a city must have a minimum of 50 respondents. In 2024, 53 destinations made this threshold.
Although Málaga ranks third with 43% of expats there retired (11% globally), financial reasons were not named by a single respondent as their main motivation for moving (2% globally) and just 5% named high cost of living, compared to the 25% global average. Hong Kong made the biggest gain by leaping 15 spots to 19th from last year’s 34th, while Munich fell 17 to 48th. Mexico City, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Ras Al Khaimah, Warsaw and Vienna also scored high for affordable cost of living.
