“The City that Never Sleeps” is about 140 percent above the national mean.

The national mean is what the average family pays to live in a given area. The survey, conducted by Wisconsin-based Runzheimer International, a management consultant, uses several criteria for ranking cities. 

Criteria include what a “typical” U.S. family of four earning $60,000 annually spends, plus the cost of maintaining that lifestyle. More than 300 U.S. cities were ranked in the survey. 

New York City ranked highest, with that “typical” family spending over $145,000.

San Francisco, Calif., was the next-highest city, though still under New York’s spending by more than $24,000. 

Rounding out the top five most expensive U.S. cities were Los Angeles, Calif.; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. 

In each of these cities, living costs make up the majority of the family budget.

Also factored into the survey were local and state income taxes, costs of owning two cars (except in Manhattan), public transportation costs, goods and services, sales taxes and costs to own a 2,500-square-foot house.

In Manhattan, the housing costs alone loomed at $100,532, accounting for almost 69 percent of all living costs. 

In San Francisco, similar housing would cost just under $80,000.

A similar study listed five of the least expensive places to live in the United States. Not surprisingly, many of these cities are suburbs to neighboring “big cities.” 

At the top of the list were Kokomo, Ind.; Springfield and Rockford, Ill.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Wilmington, Del.

Though many of these smaller cities suffered from similar problems as their much-larger counterparts, such as high violent crime rates, many citizens see the social downfall as being worth the economic trade off. 

Because the dollar has weakened against the Euro in recent years, the exchange rate has dramatically altered, changing the world’s priciest and least expensive cities to live in. 

A study, conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, found that things had changed as far as both world and U.S. rankings go. For example, the Norwegian Krone moved up from 15th to 10th place in the world.

“Many of the U.S. cities surveyed have fallen in the rankings due to the weakening of the dollar against the Euro, Canadian dollar and Asian Pacific currencies,” said Mercer research manager Marie-Laurence Sepede.

The exchange rate fluctuations have significantly impacted the 2005 cost of living rankings. Countries utilizing the Euro have experienced a rise in relative cost while locations using U.S. dollars and currencies have dropped.

Researchers for the Mercer company found that a bus ride in London cost $3.66 compared to 51 cents in Prague, $1.83 in Dublin and $1.76 in Paris.