Re:Living in Switzerland ruined me for America and its lousy...
by simonebrunozzi on Thursday June 27, 2019 @12:58PM
(#20296259)
The single metric of "cost of living by country" is misrepresenting reality in certain areas, let me tell you why.
USA on average is cheaper than Switzerland, sure. You are correct on that front. But you never live "in a country", you live in a specific city!
Try comparing Bay Area with Switzerland, or even better, San Francisco with Zurich, and you'll get a very different picture. Let's look at it quickly.
One of the most important metrics to determine real cost of living is "Cost per square foot" (or square meter) to buy a house/apartment in the city center.
San Francisco and Zurich are both at ~$1,200 per square foot [0], but San Francisco is more expensive on pretty much any other metric, and remember that home prices are affected (reduced) by a much higher property tax in San Francisco compared to Zurich.
Renting a 1-bedroom in downtown SF is at ~$3,410, compared to a bit more than half (!) in Zurich at ~$1,790. [0].
In 2019, San Francisco displaced Zurich as the city with the highest salaries [1, page 8].
So, to summarize: San Francisco is actually more expensive than Zurich.
USA on average is cheaper than Switzerland, sure. You are correct on that front. But you never live "in a country", you live in a specific city!
Try comparing Bay Area with Switzerland, or even better, San Francisco with Zurich, and you'll get a very different picture. Let's look at it quickly.
One of the most important metrics to determine real cost of living is "Cost per square foot" (or square meter) to buy a house/apartment in the city center.
San Francisco and Zurich are both at ~$1,200 per square foot [0], but San Francisco is more expensive on pretty much any other metric, and remember that home prices are affected (reduced) by a much higher property tax in San Francisco compared to Zurich.
Renting a 1-bedroom in downtown SF is at ~$3,410, compared to a bit more than half (!) in Zurich at ~$1,790. [0].
In 2019, San Francisco displaced Zurich as the city with the highest salaries [1, page 8].
So, to summarize: San Francisco is actually more expensive than Zurich.
[0]: https://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/compare_cities.js...
[1]: https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD000000000049...