A complete ranking of the world's financial centres in terms of how much you can earn and how affordable they are
A caveat: these figures do not apply specifically to financial services. However, following the revelations that a pint of milk costs a small fortune in Hong Kong, we thought you may be interested in them anyway.
UBS has produced some research into the average pay, average price levels and domestic purchasing power in a variety of major cities globally. These are based on net salary levels across 14 (unspecified) professions and on the cost of a weighted shopping basket of goods that has been 'geared to western European consumer habits.'
Unfortunately, UBS's purchasing power figures don't factor in the cost of rent. However, it does provide rent-inclusive price levels elsewhere in its study. Using these, plus net pay levels (ie. taking into consideration income tax) across various cities, we have concocted our own index below. This shows the amount you can expect to earn in each financial centre vs. the cost of living there.
Conclusion: All things being equal, you should be working in Zurich or Luxembourg and steering very clear of Shanghai and Singapore.
The financial wellbeing index (New York=100)
1) Zurich: 141
2) Luxembourg: 140
3) Sydney: 132
4) Geneva: 126
5) Dublin: 123
6) Brussels: 110
7) Chicago: 110
8) Amsterdam: 108
9) Frankfurt: 108
10) London: 103
11) New York: 100
12) Tokyo: 96
13) Milan: 92
14) Paris: 91
15) Johannesburg: 74
16) Dubai: 69
17) Moscow: 61
18) Hong Kong: 58
19) Singapore: 47
20) Shanghai: 36
