[cimmanom]

Really. I have friends and family who have moved from NY to London and they all say London is slightly more expensive.

Most online comparisons are weird for two reasons: 1) they include the cost of car ownership, which is common in neither place, and 2) most rental apartments in London are furnished and in NY are not. I’ve seen comparisons for the cost of a furnished rental, but in NY you’d pay a huge premium for that. It’s also, of course, just plain hard to choose equivalent neighborhoods.

Reportedly, the rental market in London is even tighter than in NY. My friends say you can get a 1-BR or 2-BR for about 10% more than in NY (after accounting for exchange rates, and with housing stock / in a location that they consider equivalent to what they’d left behind), but it will be smaller simply because historically London buildings have been constructed with smaller rooms than NY ones.

Food in London seems to be more expensive than in NY. Medical care, of course, is less expensive. Transit is close enough to be a wash. Etc.