[jpatokal]

Rich expats are pretty much by definition not "immigrants", they're usually visiting for a few years with a fat "expat package" courtesy of the company. But these are increasingly a dying breed, and most expats are neither fat cat expats nor dirt-poor refugees, but somewhere in the middle.

Also, much of the calculator asks for things like a liter of gas or a bottle of Coke, whose price is not going change radically no matter where you shop.

[rmc]

Also, much of the calculator asks for things like a liter of gas or a bottle of Coke, whose price is not going change radically no matter where you shop.

Not necessarily. There is a Big Mac Index[1], that looks at the price of a Big Mac from McDonalds, which shows that the price of a very standard product (a Big Mac) can vary by location.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

[phaer]

The price of a bottle of coke can change quite radically depending on where in a city you are buying it. Venice is one example for such a city.