Entrepreneurs are dreamers and explorers, constantly looking for new opportunities. If you are in the business of creating, it is only natural for you to look outside of your comfort zone and wonder if moving to a new city will give you opportunities that you can’t have at home. After all, smart people huddle together, investors position themselves in “brain
hubs”, and everyone wants to ride the next
Silicon Valley wave.
The Startup Compass put together a comprehensive, data-driven report,ranking the world’s top startup ecosystems. In the first version they released the top 20 startup cities and in the second version they added 5 more cities to the list and removed Waterloo (Canada) from the top 25 list.
Moving to a different city, just because it is a better startup hub, isn’t always realistic. But in any case, spending a week or a month making connections and pitching your startup like crazy to potential investors
is a good idea.
Cost of living in each city for one month
How much will it cost for you to live in each
startup city for one month?
San Francisco (not surprisingly) is the most expensive to live in for one month and Bangalore
is the cheapest.
To get the total monthly living cost for each city we:
- Averaged the first 72 postings on AirBnB to find the monthly rental price
- Assumed you will be eating 3 cheap restaurant meals a day
- Added the average monthly cost of a desk at a co-working space
- Added the price of a monthly metro pass
- Included the price of an orange and a piece of bread you might want to snack on during the day
Cost to visit each city for one week
How much would visiting each start-up city for one week cost you?
To visit for one week, New York is the most expensive, and
Bangalore again is the cheapest.
To get the cost of a one week trip we:
- Assumed you will be eating 3 cheap restaurant meals a day
- Took the average price of one night in a hostel
- Added a daily snack budget that includes oranges and bread
- Included the price of two metro tickets a day
- Added the price of a cappuccino you will have to buy at Starbucks to use Wi-Fi.
How long before you run out of cash?
Let’s say you took the risk. You and your co-founder saved $50k together
and decided to move. What is your runway?
You can live in Bangalore for around 3 years, and in San Francisco for only 7 months on $50k.
Have a look at each one of the 26 start-up cities, listed from the most expensive to the most affordable. Keep reading to find out some interesting facts about each city.
1. San Francisco & Bay Area, USA
Image by [Alain Picard]
- Population: 7 million
- Start-ups on AngelList: 18,649
- Investors on AngelList: 28,358
- San Francisco has the most start-ups and investors registered
on AngelList - San Francisco has the most expensive bottled water, sold for $2.01
on average
2. New York, USA
- Population: 8.406 million (2013)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 11,173
- Investors on AngelList: 12,430
- The only city on the list with a 1 to 1 ratio of investors to startups
registered on Angel List. - If you love your cappuccinos, New York will be the most expensive place for you
indulge your craving. - One night in a hostel is the most expensive, in New York.
- You will pay the most for a desk in a co-working space for one month in New York.
3. Washington D.C., USA
Image by [Nicolas Raymond]
- Population: 7.062 million (2014)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,992
- Investors on AngelList: 9,225
4. London, United Kingdom
Image by [Tony Smith]
- Population: 8.539 million (2014)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 5,514
- Investors on AngelList: 8,402
- The most expensive restaurant meal is in London ($18 per meal)
- London, also has the most expensive one-way metro ride
5. Chicago, USA
Image by [Giuseppe Milo]
- Population: 2.719 million (2013)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 2,214
- Investors on AngelList: 10,477
6. Seattle, USA
Image by [dannymac15_1999]
- Population: 652,405 (2013)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,407
- Investors on AngelList: 10,479
7. Los Angeles, USA
Image by [Neil Kremer]
- Population: 3.884 million (2013)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 6,106
- Investors on AngelList: 14,825
- Los Angeles has the second most investors registered on AngelList, with a
2 to 1 ratio of investors per startup
8. Singapore, Singapore
Image by [Khairul Nizam]
- Population: 5.399 million (2013)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,104
- Investors on AngelList: 11,206
- The ratio of investors to startups is 10 to 1
- Singapore has the most expensive bottle of beer at $4.00
9. Austin, USA
Image by [Earl McGehee]
- Population: 885,400 (2013)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,742
- Investors on AngelList: 10,579
10. Sydney, Australia
Image by [Mertie .]
- Population: 4.293 million
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,037
- Investors on AngelList: 2,649
11. Tel Aviv, Israel
Image by [Robert Brands]
- Population: 411,800 (2012)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 197
- Investors on AngelList: 11,260
- The most expensive McDonalds meal from all of the cities is in
Tel Aviv, at $11.94
12. Paris, France
Image by [Moyan Brenn]
- Population: 2.24 million (2012)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,503
- Investors on AngelList: 5,838
- A bottle of coke is the most expensive here out of all the cities at $3.78
13. Boston, USA
Image by [Trenten Kelley]
- Population: 645,966 (2013)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 2,933
- Investors on AngelList: 11,752
14. Vancouver, Canada
Image by [JamesZ_Flickr]
- Population: 603,500 (2011)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,093
- Investors on AngelList: 4,035
15. Melbourne, Australia
Image by [Steve Davidson]
- Population: 4.087 million (2012)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 738
- Investors on AngelList: 2,522
16. Toronto, Canada
Image by [Robert]
- Population: 2.615 million (2011)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 2,142
- Investors on AngelList: 4,178
17. Moscow, Russia
Image by [Kirill Ξ/Κ Voloshin]
- Population: 11.92 million (2012)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,312
- Investors on AngelList: 13,434
- By population, Moscow is the second largest city in the list, between
Mumbai and Sao Paulo. - Moscow has a 10 to 1 ratio of investors to startups.
18. Montreal, Canada
Image by [Tony Brooks]
- Population: 1.65 million (2011)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 868
- Investors on AngelList: 3,822
19. Berlin, Germany
Image by [Davis Staedtler]
- Population: 3.502 million (2012)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,094
- Investors on AngelList: 6,080
- Berlin is the cheapest place on the list to drink a bottle of water
20. Waterloo, Canada
Image by [Andre Recnik]
- Population: 98,780 (2011)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 170
- Investors on AngelList: 3,737
21. Sao Paulo, Brazil
Image by [Diego Torres Silvestre]
- Population: 11.32 million (2011)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 589
- Investors on AngelList: 2,554
22. Madrid, Spain
Image by [imagea.org]
- Population: 3.16 million (2014)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 447
- Investors on AngelList: 5,527
- The second city on the list, following Bangalore, with the
cheapest monthly AirBnB rental
23. Santiago, Chile
Image by [Gonzalo Baeza]
- Population: 5.128 million (2014)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 579
- Investors on AngelList: 2,067
- You can get the cheapest co-working desk for only $54 a month
24. Warsaw, Poland
Image by [Giuseppe Milo]
- Population: 1.711 million (2012)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 576
- Investors on AngelList: 5,186
- If you like your occasional beer, you can find the cheapest prices
for a bottle of beer in Warsaw
25. Mumbai, India
Image by [Arian Zwegers]
- Population: 20.7 million (2011)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,216
- Investors on AngelList: 11,729
- Mumbai is the largest city on the list, and always in the
top 4 cheapest cities.
26. Bangalore, India
Image by [Masaru Kamikura]
- Population: 8.42 million (2011)
- Start-ups on AngelList: 1,980
- Investors on AngelList: 11,724
- You can get a meal for only $1.58, making this is the cheapest
city for restaurant food on the list
Key takeaways:
- San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and London have
either a 2 to 1 or 1 to 2 ratio of investors to startups.
These cities can be the most competitive to find funding in. - Moscow, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Singapore, Madrid and Warsaw all have over a 9
to 1 ratio of investors to startups. These cities may have the most
funding opportunities available. - A bottle of beer in Moscow, Berlin, Madrid or Warsaw is less
then $1.00. In contrast, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Tel Aviv have
the most expensive alcohol. - If you like your cappuccinos go to Bangalore, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Madrid. Avoid buying fancy
coffee drinks in New York, Washington, Seattle and London.
Assumptions and notes:
- Currency - USD
- AirBnB was used to get the monthly rental prices. We took the first 72
listings for each city, deleted the outliers and the top 10% most
expensive rentals listed. We assumed founders will hunt
for the best deals. - Prices from AirBnB were taken for the month of August. AirBnB is a very
seasonal website and rentals in the summer will be more
expensive than other times of the year. - To expand on this analysis, it might be worthwhile looking at rent
prices on local rental websites. It is certainly cheaper to sign a lease
for 6 months to 1 year or find a place to live outside of the city. - Desk Surfing was used to average the prices of all the co-working
spaces listed for each city. - Data on food, drinks and metro passes was taken from Numbeo
- Hostels.com was used to average the hostel listings on the first page
for each city. - ParseHub was used to collect data from all relevant websites
