America comprises North and South America and it is the second largest and third most populous continent of the world. The English speaking countries in this continent, as Canada and the United States, are among the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world. The rest of the countries are less developed. In the last years, some of them are experiencing economic and political problems, such as decline in output, increasing of unemployment level, worsening financial conditions and political issues etc.
There are many people, who are thinking to move to America continent for living. Moving to countries as USA and Canada is not simple for most of the people and one of the biggest hurdles when moving there is obtaining the requisite visa. Before moving to America continent, it is important to take in consideration the most important objective and subjective factors during the decision-making. One of the most important factors is definitely the cost of living and in this work, we are going to compare the cost of living (excl. rent) and cost of living plus rent in some of the American countries with the cost of living in New York City.
In all the American countries, considered in this work, the cost of living (excl. rent) and cost of living plus rent are lower than in NYC. If we consider cost of living index (excl. rent), the most expensive country in America is Bahamas, followed by United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, but if we consider cost of living plus rent index the rank changes. Bahamas is the most expensive country, followed by United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Panama.
Colombia is in the penultimate place in cost of living (excl. rent) ranking and cost of living plus rent ranking. Venezuela is the cheapest country in America in both of them.
About the data used in this work
Cost of living index (excl. rent) is a relative indicator of consumer goods prices. It includes groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities, but it does not include accommodation expenses such as rent or mortgage. Cost of living plus rent index includes consumer goods prices and the rent.
These indices are relative to New York City, so it means that for NYC, each index should be 100%. If another country or city has, for example, cost of living index plus rent of 145, it means that on an average in that country or city cost of living plus rent is 45% more expensive than in NYC. If a country or a city has, a cost of living plus rent index of 45 that means on an average in that country or city cost of living plus rent is 45% less expensive than in NYC.
The data used in this work are provided by Numbeo and are relating to 2019.