Hamilton has topped the latest global cost of living index.

The city is number one on a list compiled by Numbeo.com, which compared the cost of living of 600 cities around the world against the cost of living in New York City.

After Hamilton, the next six places with the highest cost of living (excluding rent) are all in Switzerland, followed by five in Norway. Nassau, in The Bahamas, is at 28 on the list, the highest from the Caribbean region.

Numbeo put the table together based on costs relative to New York City, with the Big Apple acting as the “100” baseline on the scale. New York is at 13 on the list.

Hamilton’s cost of living index, excluding rent, is 143.28, which means it is 43 per cent more expensive than New York.

Second-placed Zurich is 34 per cent more expensive than New York.

However, in an estimation of how much it costs to rent an apartment, Hamilton is about 9 per cent cheaper than the Big Apple.

The combined cost of living and rent index showed Hamilton is 19 per cent more expensive than New York. The only other cities on the list that were more expensive than New York were Zurich, Geneva, and San Francisco.

In the 2021 figures, the restaurant price index for Hamilton was 145.38 – or almost a half more expensive than in New York.

Groceries were 42 per cent more expensive with an index figure of 142.87 for Hamilton, and the Numbeo data suggested an average Hamilton salary will pay for 6 per cent less goods and services locally than an average New York salary would cover in that city.

The full Numbeo list can be found at www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp