Chicago named 7th most expensive city -- in the world

Sept. 18--Hey, Chicago. It's cheaper to live in Tokyo.

Or so says a report released this week by UBS that lists Chicago as the 7th most expensive city, behind top-ranked, super-pricey Swiss towns Zurich and Geneva.

Other cities ranked as more expensive than Chicago are, in order, New York City; Oslo, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; and London. Tokyo was listed No. 8, followed by Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney.

Published every three years, the report ranked the cities based on the cost of goods and services. It also ranked cities including and excluding the cost of rent. In both comparisons, Chicago, where a three-person family on average spends about $2,792 monthly on goods and services, held steady at No. 7. In New York City, spending $3,342 monthly (excluding rent) is the average.

Part of what makes Chicago so expensive is the cost of clothing, according to the report. In Chicago, both men and women would spend over $1,100 for new business attire. In cheaper locales, like Warsaw, Poland, the cost of a two-piece suit, a blazer, a dress, pantyhose and a pair of shoes for women would cost much less, about $500. Men would pay slightly more in Warsaw, about $670 for a business suit, a blazer, a shirt, a pair of jeans, socks and a pair of shoes.

To compile the rankings, the authors considered the prices of a standardized basket of 122 goods and services in each metropolitan area. Prices were about 2.5 times higher in expensive cities like Zurich, Geneva and New York City than in places like Bucharest, Romania; Sofia, Bulgaria; and Kiev, Ukraine.

Matching Chicago's high prices are its relatively high wages, the report said. Chicago was listed at No. 10 in terms of wage levels in the report. The highest wages were earned in Zurich and Geneva, respectively, with the lowest in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Kiev.

crshropshire@tribpub.com