Where does the US dollar go furthest in 2026?

The World Bank's International Comparison Program measures each economy's price level as its purchasing power parity divided by its exchange rate. Its latest benchmark covers 2021 and sets the world average at 100.

The United States scored 158, the ninth most expensive economy. A lower score means a dollar buys more. At a score of 50, a dollar buys about three times what it buys at home.

The cheapest economies were Syria at 31, Tajikistan at 36, Sudan at 37, and Suriname and Bhutan at 42. Low prices often come with low incomes, weak services or conflict, so cheap does not mean suitable.

Places movers often consider also scored 50 or below: Vietnam, Georgia, Türkiye, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Nicaragua. Latin America averaged 71, and Uruguay was its most expensive at 102.

These scores cover the whole economy, and exchange rates have moved since 2021. Numbeo's crowd-sourced October 2026 data put one person's monthly costs before rent at about $857 in Panama City and $916 in Madrid. Montevideo was about $987 and San José about $1,006.

Use price levels as a first filter, then price your own basket city by city. An exchange rate alone shows how much local money you get, not what it buys.