The study looked at 80 cities around the world and compared average rent with median income to find out how much of a person’s income is spent on rent.
Published: October 25, 2025 9:04 AM IST
Cities like New York, London, Zurich, and Singapore are often known as some of the most expensive places to live. But when it comes only to rent, the situation looks a bit different. A new study shows that some Asian and Indian cities are actually less affordable to rent in than these global hubs. A report by German asset manager DWS found that the most unaffordable cities for renting are not New York or London but it is Bangkok, Mumbai, and Mexico City.
The study looked at 80 cities around the world and compared average rent with median income to find out how much of a person’s income is spent on rent. On average, people spent about 38 per cent of their income on rent this year, which is higher than the recommended 30 per cent limit.
According to the findings, Bangkok ranked the most expensive in terms of rent, with people spending around 79 per cent of their income just to pay for housing.
Mumbai came next, where residents spend about 66 per cent of their earnings on rent. Mexico City took third place, with people spending over two-thirds of their income on rent.
Other big global cities like Hong Kong (61 per cent), New York (53 per cent), and London (52 per cent) also made the list of top 10 least affordable cities, but their positions were slightly lower because average incomes there are much higher.
Are Indian cities becoming unaffordable?
India’s financial capital has always been known for its extremely high property prices, which naturally make rents very expensive too. What’s more striking is that several other Indian cities also appear on the list. According to the report, four Indian cities, including Mumbai, are among the 29 cities worldwide where residents spend over 40 per cent of their income on rent.
Bengaluru, often called India’s Silicon Valley, is ranked the 19th most expensive city in the world for rent, followed closely by Chennai, which comes in at 20th place.
Even Kolkata, usually seen as one of India’s more affordable metro cities, made it to the list of costly places to rent ahead of major global cities such as San Francisco, Boston, Munich, Stockholm, and Frankfurt.
However, there’s a brighter side too. Among the five Indian cities covered in the study, one stands out for being much more affordable. New Delhi was ranked as the 20th most affordable city in the world and the only Indian city with a “high affordability” rating.
Also Read:
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: india.com
