Those not originally from D.C. know their move to the area took a toll on their wallets. A study from a Berlin-based moving company ranks D.C. as the 14th most expensive city in the world to move to.
The high cost of housing in D.C. landed the District into the high ranking out of 85 major cities worldwide.
Housing is also why San Francisco is the single most expensive city in the world to move to, according to Movinga’s study. Other U.S. cities that rank ahead of D.C. include New York (No. 3), Boston (No. 8) and Los Angeles (No. 12).
Movinga took into account the many costs associated with moving to a new city, including housing and temporary housing (think AIRBNB) before settling into a new home. Groceries, commuting, phone and internet were also factored in, as was the cost of obtaining a work visa, since that’s a requirement in some of the more international locales considered.
Expensive housing as well as high work visa costs is why Dublin, Ireland, ranked as the second most expensive city to move to, according to this survey. Expensive visas are also the big reason why both Sydney and Melbourne Australia came in ahead of D.C.
But if D.C. is the 14th most expensive city in the world to move to, that means there are a whole lot of cities that are cheaper to move.
For instance, even after you pay for your work visa, you’d have spent less money moving to places like London (No. 15 most expensive city to move to), Paris (No. 21), Barcelona (No. 33) and Rome (No. 52).
Read the full list, including a breakdown of the costs, on Movinga’s website.
