Re: Link to cities cost of living rankings
 

So how do they define cost of living? Is it based on the cost of necessities relative to the average income, or is it just the total cost that is measured? Say it costs $50,000 a year for cost of living in one city, and the average income for that city is $75,000. Would the cost of living be higher or lower than a city with a cost of living of $49,000, but average income of only $60,000?

Re: Link to cities cost of living rankings
 

My guess is this data is at least 1 year old.

From TFA:

“The strengthening of the US dollar against the European and other major currencies is a large contributor to the rise of most US cities in the rankings,” commented Ms Powers.

The dollar gained in 05 but lost a lot of ground against the EUR in 06. Maybe there is an updated version somewhere.

Re: Link to cities cost of living rankings
 

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So how do they define cost of living? Is it based on the cost of necessities relative to the average income

[/ QUOTE ]
No, the average income is never considered here, it is based on absolute money values. The way they do it differs a lot it seems, hence the big difference in the results. For example some indexes do not consider the rent.