San Francisco is the world’s best city in terms of making a living, according to an annual analysis conducted by Deutsche Bank. The firm’s “Mapping the World’s Prices 2019” report, which analyzes cities the world over and ranks them for salary and disposable income after rent, placed the Golden City first. San Francisco had previously placed 7th and 21st on both lists.
“The rapid growth of the U.S. tech sector is helping San Fran beat traditional capital cities for incomes,” Deutsche Bank’s report, written by Jim Reid, Craig Nicol and Henry Allen, states.
“Whilst its cost of living is increasing each year and rising up the cost rankings on most measures we cover, it still lags major global capitals. In terms of 2-bed rents however, it is only behind Hong Kong,” it adds.
The U.S. dominated the top spots on the list with New York, Boston and Chicago coming in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Zurich, previously ranked number one came in second this year.
Much of the shift in U.S. cities is due to the strong performance of the dollar. Over the past 5 years the dollar has appreciated 20% against the Euro, and 23% against the British Pound.
It’s not all bad news for European cities, however. Zurich retains its top ranking for quality of life and is near the top of rankings in terms of cost of goods and services.
It also however remains the most expensive city to go on a date in.
“Zurich is again the place to find a long-term partner early in life and persuade them to stay at home at night, eat in, watch the telly and save your high disposable income or risk seeing it erode away on your partner,” the report states.
Photo by Supercarwaar via Wikimedia Commons