the tiebreakBroken 23 September 2026

New York or London?London,
clearly.

London 77.8, New York City 58.6 out of 100: a margin of 19.2 points.

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The scorecard

Six criteria, each worth a fixed share, set before any scoring. Disagree? Try another scorecard and watch the bar tip toward whoever is ahead.

As publishedLondon, clearly.London 77.8, New York City 58.6 out of 100: a margin of 19.2 points.

Set your own
New York City58.6London77.8

Our scorecard. Try another, and watch the bar tip.

Where it was won

The lead, built criterion by criterion, starting with the one that did most to decide it.

Affordability+8.1
Climate+5.9
Safety+5.0
Career and pay+0.2
Social and cultural life0.0
Getting around0.0

LeadLondon +19.2the margin, 19.2 points

Each criterion in turn. Swipe through.

01 / 06

25%

Affordability

Adds 8.1 points to London's lead.

02 / 06

10%

Climate

Adds 5.9 points to London's lead.

03 / 06

15%

Safety

Adds 5.0 points to London's lead.

04 / 06

20%

Career and pay

Adds 0.2 points to London's lead.

05 / 06

15%

Social and cultural life

Moves London's lead by less than 0.1 points.

06 / 06

15%

Getting around

Moves London's lead by less than 0.1 points.

Affordability

Adds 8.1 points to London's lead.

London
32.3 · 45% to 60%
New York City
0.0 · more than 60% of take-home pay

Edge: London +32.3

For London

“Figure 6: Privately renting a property is most expensive in London”

Private rent and house prices, UK: latest (Office for National Statistics) · Regional rents, Figure 6 caption

For New York City

“New York has 1st Most Expensive 1 Bedroom Apartment in City Centre in the World (out of 565 cities).”

Cost of Living in New York, Numbeo (last update 22 September 2026) · Rankings, History and Analysis

More for New York City (1)
The receiptsHow the evidence was gathered, what the judge saw, the two checks, and the run's facts.

How the evidence was gathered

researchers:
0
web searches
0
quotes found word for word
0/0
facts after merging
0

What the judge saw

City A

  • Rent, one-bedroom flat in the city centre: $4,438 a month; average take-home pay: $5,101 a month.
  • Rent takes 87% of average take-home pay.
  • “City A has 1st Most Expensive 1 Bedroom Apartment in City Centre in the World (out of 565 cities).”
  • “City A is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has the highest residential rent costs of any city”

15 quotes, about 440 words. The packet the verdict scored.

City B

  • Rent, one-bedroom flat in the city centre: $2,882 a month; average take-home pay: $4,810 a month (converted at 1.3372 USD per GBP).
  • Rent takes 60% of average take-home pay.
  • “Figure 6: Privately renting a property is most expensive in City B”

15 quotes, about 440 words. The packet the verdict scored.

Two checks that ran alongside

Names shown
−0.5
Change in the margin when the judge sees the names.
A and B swapped
−0.1
Change in the margin when the labels swap. It should sit near zero.

The run

judge
jev-1.13.0
rubric
city-with-persona v1
calls
12
tokens
17,638
wall-clock
3.9 s
packets
New York e3b27a…6818 · London ac2b33…d1f0

Questions about this verdict

How was New York or London scored?
Both sides were scored on our city-with-persona rubric (v1): 6 criteria, with weights declared before the run. For each criterion the judge, jev-1.13.0, picked between worded levels, and plain code turned its answers into a weighted total out of 100 for each side.
What evidence did the judge see?
A blinded evidence packet for each side, labelled City A and City B with the names removed. Every quote was matched word for word against its source by code, and counts, dates and records were computed by code. Nothing outside the packet reached the judge.
What does the margin mean?
London finished 19.2 points ahead of New York City on a 0 to 100 scale. Margins under 3 points are inside our measured noise; this one is outside it.
Can the verdict change?
No. The verdict is settled once published. It is dated as of 23 September 2026, given what was known then, and we move on to the next tie.
How do I vote?
Press Agree or Disagree under the verdict. One vote per device. Once you have voted you see how everyone else called it. Votes are counted and shown; they never change the verdict.
Photo credits