Nassau, Suffolk are the most expensive places to live in the U.S., data website says
Commuters waiting on line about to board a bus at the Rosa Parks Transportation Center in Hempstead. Transportation, taxes and housing makes Long Island the most expensive place to live in the country, according to a recent index. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
How far does your dollar go on Long Island? Apparently not as far as anywhere else in the country.
According to a report by data search engine FindTheBest, Nassau and Suffolk counties are the most expensive places to live in America. The two Long Island counties beat out the metro areas in San Francisco, New York City and Washington, D.C., in a cost of living index developed from data at the Economic Policy Institute.
The two counties received an index of 155, meaning Long Island is 55 percent pricier than the average U.S. city, which has an index of 100.
Six factors made up the rankings, including housing, taxes, health care, child care, transportation and "other necessities" like food. Despite Nassau and Suffolk not having nationwide highs in any of these categories, combining them brought Long Island to the top of the list.
The cost of living index was created with 2013 family budget data from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.
Other New York metro areas that ranked close to the top were Westchester County, named the fifth most expensive, and Stamford-Norwalk in Connecticut, the third.
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