--- title: 10 Most Expensive Cities to Live in Around the World in 2018 description: The world's most expensive cities to live in have been revealed in a major survey of almost 300 population hubs. canonical: https://time.com/5120648/10-most-expensive-cities-2018/ author: Business Insider article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-26T18:34:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:11.268Z og:title: These 10 Cities Are the Most Expensive to Live in Around the World og:description: From Melbourne to San Jose og:url: https://time.com/5120648/10-most-expensive-cities-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These 10 Cities Are the Most Expensive to Live in Around the World twitter:description: From Melbourne to San Jose twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # These 10 Cities Are the Most Expensive to Live In Around the World by [Alison Millington / Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Alison Millington / Business Insider Jan 26, 2018 6:34 PM UTC by [Alison Millington / Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Alison Millington / Business Insider Jan 26, 2018 6:34 PM UTC The world’s most expensive cities to live in have been revealed in a major survey of almost 300 population hubs. The destinations are named in the 14th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2018. It analysed 293 metropolitan housing markets in nine countries — Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, and the US — in the third quarter of 2017. Using the “median multiple” approach, which involves taking an area’s median house price and dividing it by — the median household income. So if the average income was $50,000 and the average house cost $250,000, the median multiple would be 5. The method found 26 “severely unaffordable” locations, with the worst offenders in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and China. The survey also looked at all cities, non-major markets included — which is the data we’ve compiled below. Scroll down to see the 10 most expensive cities to live in around the world in 2018. ### 10\. Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand  Photo Taken In New Zealand, Tauranga Getty Images New Zealand’s housing is severely unaffordable with an overall median multiple of 5.8, and in Tauranga the average home costs 8.9 times the average income. ### \=9\. Salinas, Monterey, California, USA  Main Street, Salinas, Monterey County, California, USA Getty Images Located in the county of Monterey, Salinas — a city with a population of less than 150,000 — has a median multiple of 9.1. ### \=9\. San Francisco, California, USA  Aerial of downtown district at sunset, San Francisco, California, USA Getty Images Tied with Salinas is hilly, much more populous San Francisco, also with a median multiple of 9.1. **_Read more:_** [_The 10 most expensive cities to live in around the world in 2017_](http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-expensive-cities-to-live-in-around-the-world-in-2017-2017-1?r=UK&IR=T) ### 8\. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA  Getty Images The beachy Hawaiian capital, which sits on the south coast of the island of Oahu, has an unaffordable median multiple of 9.2. ### \=7\. Los Angeles, California, USA  An action shot of people riding their bikes along the beachfront pathway at sunset in Santa Monica, California. A grove of palm trees is silhouetted against the sunset. Santa Monica pier and the ferris wheel are visible in the background. Getty Images LA is the second least affordable city in the US, with a median multiple of 9.4. ### \=7\. Santa Barbara, California, USA  Three stand up paddlers head for the finish line at the end of the 2010 Santa Barbara Cold Current Paddleboard and SUP 9 mile race in Santa Barbara, CA. Getty Images The fourth — but not the last — Californian city to reach the top 10, Santa Barbara has a median multiple of 9.4. ### 6\. Melbourne, Australia  Cafes and people in laneways Getty Images With a median multiple of 9.9, Melbourne has deteriorated from 6.3 in 2001, and under 3.0 in the early 1980s. Since 2001, median house prices have increased the equivalent of more than three years in pre-tax median household income. **_Read more:_** [_The largest city in every state_](http://www.businessinsider.com/largest-city-every-us-state-2018-1) ### 5\. San Jose, California, USA  Fountains in the Plaza area of downtown San Jose, California, USA Getty Images The least affordable housing market in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose has a median multiple of 10.3. ### 4\. Santa Cruz, California, USA  Getty Image Also located in the Bay Area, Santa Cruz is the least affordable market in the US with a median multiple of 10.4. ### 3\. Vancouver, Canada  Vancouver with False Creek in foreground and Grouse Mountain and the North Shore Mountains in background. Getty Images The least affordable market in Canada with a median multiple of 12.6, Vancouver has experienced the greatest housing affordability deterioration among major markets in the survey, rising by more than 2.35 times from 5.3 in 2004. ### 2\. Sydney, Australia  Getty Images The country’s least affordable market, Sydney has a median multiple of 12.9, a rapid deterioration considering the rate was 6.3 in 2001\. The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index rates Sydney as having the world’s fourth worst housing bubble risk (tied with Vancouver). **_Read more:_** [_The best place to live in every U.S. state_](http://www.businessinsider.com/best-cities-to-live-in-every-us-state-2018-1) ### 1\. Hong Kong, China  Junkboat of Hong Kong at Night Getty Images The least affordable housing for the eighth straight year with a median multiple of 19.4 — the highest ever reported in the survey, up from 18.1 last year. _This_ [_article_](http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-expensive-cities-to-live-in-around-the-world-in-2018-2018-1/) _originally appeared on_ [_BusinessInsider.com_](http://www.businessinsider.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5120648/10-most-expensive-cities-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5120648/10-most-expensive-cities-2018/"},"headline":"These 10 Cities Are the Most Expensive to Live In Around the World","datePublished":"2018-01-26T18:34:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:11.268Z","description":"From Melbourne to San Jose","url":"https://time.com/5120648/10-most-expensive-cities-2018/","keywords":["Living","cities","onetime","bi"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alison Millington / Business Insider"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5120648/10-most-expensive-cities-2018/","name":"These 10 Cities Are the Most Expensive to Live In Around the World"}}]}] ```