When you take the salary of an average (not wealthy or poor, but middle class) New Yorker living in the heart of the city into account, is it even enough to not only pay rent (on top of a deposit in advance for first time renters) including bills utilities, internet, maintainence fees or muncipality fees & not forgetting food on the table. I’ve heard that NYC has the reputation of being the most expensive in the globe. Is that true?
Yeah, it’s expensive. Any city that’s appealing to live in, has a lot of money sloshing around, and has limited housing is going to be expensive. You use what money you have to compete for housing so you can enjoy the amenities the city offers.
Lists of cities by their cost of living index typically put Swiss cities at the top. New York is #1 in the US, narrowly ahead of Honolulu, San Francisco, and Seattle. (https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp)