Moving to Manhattan? Better hope you have a fat paycheck. The cost of living in the heart of New York City is more than twice the national average, according to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, published quarterly by C2ER - The Council for Community and Economic Research.

In fact, the whole metro New York area is expensive. Queens, another of NYC’s five boroughs, Nassau County on Long Island and nearby Stamford, CT all rank in the top 10 most expensive urban areas. Of course, nothing is as expensive as Manhattan, not even San Francisco or Honolulu, the cities that rank second and third on the list, respectively.

The quarterly survey evaluates the after-tax cost for a professional/managerial standard of living in 318 urban areas nationwide. The composite index is based on six components - housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services.

If you’re looking for the least expensive places to live, consider Texas. The Lone Star state is home to four of the nation’s least expensive urban areas. Other options are Pryor Creek, OK and Joplin, MO, where costs average nearly 20 percent lower than the national average.

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