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Comment by ryusage | Hacker News Reader

Looking at the methodology [1], I have some doubts about the validity of all these numbers. Apparently they're at least partially user-submitted, which implies to me that there's likely to be some bias, depending on who actually took the time to submit information.

For example, the site claims that residents of Indianapolis, IN have the most (average) purchasing power of anyone in the world, by an incredible margin. Indianapolis is nice enough, but I'd be shocked if that were true.

Still a cool/interesting site, but I would take it with a grain of salt.

[1] http://www.numbeo.com/common/motivation_and_methodology.jsp

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Yeah, you're right, the methodology doesn't really inspire confidence in the results.

As an anecdote though, when I was vacationing there this summer all groceries, restaurants and similar felt incredibly cheap, and although rent on Manhattan was steep, I found a comparable apartment to my own in Williamsburg that had a slightly higher cost than what I am paying now. Maybe what I'm missing is health insurance? How much does it cost a normally fit 21 year old male for full coverage insurance?

Most folks who are fit and 21 just go without health insurance. If you've got a job and aren't contracting, then you usually get insurance through work.

So.. If I got ill, what would happen? In reality I would have insurance by the norwegian government, but assuming I was american. What does the regular student that doesn't get help from his parents do?

High deductible insurance is about 600-1000 dollars a year, and the deductible is 2500-10000 dollars (meaning the first 2500-10000 dollars of your expenses are out of pocket, and then after that everything is covered).

From what I recall, students can be covered by their parents' health insurance until they're 26 as long as they're still in school. That's what most college students do.

If they're not in school, and they don't have their own job that provides health insurance, well...honestly, if they don't have a job that provides it, then they probably don't have a job that pays enough that they can afford to get it independently either. Most of my friends in that situation just gamble and try not to go to a doctor unless absolutely necessary. If they do have to...well, then they're going to be in some serious debt.

It's not a very good system, but it works for the people who have influence.

I would definitely second your suspicion. There is no way Edinburgh (where I live) can even touch the prices in London, and yet they're listed very closely on these results.

Indeed: rents and real estate prices have zero impact on the CPI. That explains why places like Hong Kong and Shanghai seem so reasonable (which they're not)...

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