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Cost of Living thread

Cimarron

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Short version: Please name your city/location and how much cost of living would be. Or at least, let's discuss it.

More info: I am considering moving (basically anywhere in the U.S.) to wherever a job opening may present itself. I'm trying to figure out how much it would cost to hold an apartment by myself in various cities and regions, weighed against my salary. Have to account for all the necessities (food, electricity, communication, transportation), but not much beyond that.

I'm near Atlanta, Georgia, right now. It seems that $400 to $500 income per week would be plenty to survive here...not sure. Don't focus on that statement or assume it to be correct. :unsure:

I know someone looking for apartments here, also, and she's said one trap they sometimes use is to require your salary to be three times the rate of rent. Any other traps like this?

It seems the denser the population, the higher the cost of living. Fairly accurate formula? Looking around, though, I see some cities being cheaper than I'd expect.
 

metaphours

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Location: Never Neverland

Cost of living: Priceless.

There's some things money can buy. But for everything else, there's Metaphours.
 

Fading Dead Star

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Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Cost of Living: A lot, relatively speaking. Ireland is a very expensive place to live- Dublin is in the top 5 I think with regards to cost of living. Belfast isn't as bad but can still be ridiculous. House prices are high, usually £150,000 and up. We rent.
 

Kyrielle

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Location: Savannah, GA.

Cost of Living: Calculated to about $28,000 a year. Maybe a little less if you tighten your belt and live very frugally.

From what I've seen, Atlanta is probably about the same, if not a little less than that.

Denser population is definitely a factor. Other factors:

-Nearby county and city economy
-Number of jobs available
-Number of places to live available
-Types of jobs available (more corporate, high-paying jobs = high cost of living because people in the area have more money to spend)
 

kelric

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I was looking at this a while back - I'm half-not-really thinking of moving. Although it is tempting. I was promptly unenthused when my top choice (San Fransisco) was a LOT more expensive, and only paid slightly more :(. As it turns out, where I live now (St. Louis, MO) came out better than almost anyplace else (except Houston... and... no thanks). The web site I was looking at only included comparisons between U.S. cities, so I didn't get to check Australia or Canada.

But anyway, if you're looking for U.S. information, try salary.com (search on Google for "san fransisco cost of living" and take the link - you can't link to the tool directly from here, unfortunately)- they have a comparison that includes both cost of living and salary, so you can get a better idea of how different areas really compare.

San Fransisco = 71% more expensive than St. Louis... with only 21% more pay... a HUGE hit. Guess that's not likely to happen :cry:
 

01011010

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Scottsdale, Arizona


Median family income
(per year) $84,747
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted) $59,639

Sales tax 7.95%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket) 5.04%*
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket) 2.87%*

Auto insurance premiums
(Average for the state) $2,588
Job growth %
(2000-2005) 8.75%

Housing
Median home price $370,000
Home price gain
(2004-2005) 25.40%

Health
Has health plan
(% of residents) 84.9%
Body mass index
(avg. for residents) 26
Cancer mortality
(per 100,000, age-adjusted) 182.6
Cardiac mortality
(per 100,000) 187.3

Meet the neighbors
Median age 39.9
Completed at least some college
(% of residents) 73.8%
Married 53.7%
Divorced 12.5%
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year) $8,272

MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Scottsdale, AZ snapshot
 

kyuuei

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Houston, TX

The average cost of a 1 bedroom apt. here: $600+, 2 bedroom $700-800 and up. Mine was $570, to be exact, a month.
Groceries: I had carefully thought out meal plans for myself, complete with portion sizes and etc. I made about $400 a month on groceries for two people (plus all the guests lol)
Gas: Currently bobbing between $2.40 - 2.70 per gallon.
My numbers are outdated on electrical, water, and other costs like this.

Going based on the information I had though, it cost me about $1,000 a month to live including all expenses from gas money, groceries, insurances, rent, electricity, water, trash, etc. It's probably gone up a bit since then, but that was the cost to stay afloat in my apartment 2006-2007.
 

Cimarron

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Location: Savannah, GA.

Cost of Living: Calculated to about $28,000 a year. Maybe a little less if you tighten your belt and live very frugally.

From what I've seen, Atlanta is probably about the same, if not a little less than that.
$28,000, are you sure? That's $13.50 per hour, or $540 per week, or $2250 per month.

Houston, TX

The average cost of a 1 bedroom apt. here: $600+, 2 bedroom $700-800 and up. Mine was $570, to be exact, a month.
Groceries: I had carefully thought out meal plans for myself, complete with portion sizes and etc. I made about $400 a month on groceries for two people (plus all the guests lol)
Gas: Currently bobbing between $2.40 - 2.70 per gallon.
My numbers are outdated on electrical, water, and other costs like this.

Going based on the information I had though, it cost me about $1,000 a month to live including all expenses from gas money, groceries, insurances, rent, electricity, water, trash, etc. It's probably gone up a bit since then, but that was the cost to stay afloat in my apartment 2006-2007.
These are numbers I'm used to, it sounds much like where I live now. Though I don't live in the city of Atlanta, I just live near it, so of course I'm no expert.

But anyway, if you're looking for U.S. information, try salary.com...
Thanks, yes, I've been looking at several websites like that. Just doing more checking with people for their "real experiences," in case I can't trust the numbers.
 

millerm277

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Somerset county NJ: "We have the 10th highest income in the nation and the lowest poverty rate for a county with more than 250k people, but you're going to need that income to survive here".

Basically, you'll get paid well here, but figure about 30% more expensive cost of living. The only thing cheap here is the gas.

Housing: Houses are 150-300% above other parts of the country I'd say. For reference: my home is in a quiet neighborhood, on 0.3 acres, about 3200 sq ft, and 40 years old, although updated. If I put it up for sale today, I could get about $400k for it easily.
 

Venom

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i would love to start a thread about what the "minimum but comfortable cost of living is" in the avg american city. like as in, "if i live frugally, almost martial...how much do i need to make for it to be 'comfortable'/'bearable'/sustainable etc...?"
 

FDG

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Treviso-Venice-Feltre, these are the three places I'm familiar with, all 3 in northern Italy (let's say I live split between them).

If you live alone, 800 euros a month are more than enough for Treviso, pretty good in Feltre (you can go out a lot), not enough in Venice (due to transportation problems everything is expensive in there). For comfortable living, if you're single 1500 euros is really good, if you have a family and supposing a single breadwinner it would be around 2500 euros. Let's say that with a 30-33k net salary a year you can live like a king.
 

CzeCze

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Don't move to DC.

Cost of living comaprison

You'll get paid more for the same job but you'll still end up short $10,000 to maintain your standard of living.

DC is very expensive. Housing here is comparable to rates in NYC and the SF bay area.

A "decent" 1 bedroom apartment in a "safe" neighborhood will start out at $1000 but can easily go up to $1400. Car insurance is very high here because of all the break-ins and car thefts.

The good thing is that the food sucks, especially compared to the bay area and NYC - so you will end up saving a lot of money to make your own meals. ;)

If you like DC but it's too expensive, look to Philadelphia. Much cheaper.
 

Littlelostnf

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Do NOT move to Jersey.

I do live in a lovely shore (beach) town so of course the rents are higher, but their not much lower anyplace else and in lots of places higher. (1,100-1600 a month) Gas is cheap, car insurance is the highest in the country. Groceries are not awful in price, toll roads are everywhere. Housing is STUPID CRAZY EXPENSIVE for little to nothing.

Why live in Jersey you say...well I'd like to be in Seattle WA but I actually do like where I am in Jersey and it's very very convenient to NYC, Philly, DC an even Boston. It's in the middle of all the major cities without having to be IN them.

Still I wouldn't tell anyone to move here. It's also (I think I'm right about this) the most crowded state in the nation. Whooo Go Jersey!
 

Cimarron

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i would love to start a thread about what the "minimum but comfortable cost of living is" in the avg american city. like as in, "if i live frugally, almost martial...how much do i need to make for it to be 'comfortable'/'bearable'/sustainable etc...?"
Well that's what I'm talking about. I'm looking to save as much as I can. I'll take "comfort" in my imagination, or a walk around the block or something.

(I guess the crime thing was a good point to bring up. Obviously I don't want to put my life in danger, especially not being used to living in the city at all.)

Little Lost NF, so New Jersey is expensive no matter which part you live in? I saw a job opening just outside of where 78 and 287 cross (looking at a map).

Yes, New York, D.C., California cities are what I'm avoiding. Thank you for confirming, people. :D Just as CzeCze said, I'm afraid I wouldn't be earning enough to make it on my own.

Philadelphia: I saw a job opening outside the Philadelphia area, just past where 276 and 476 cross. I'd figured the area would be expensive like the other metros around the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Cleveland seems cheaper than I thought it would be.

Minneapolis seems more expensive, though.
 

Fluffywolf

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Netherlands, Hulshorst(Nunspeet)

1000-2000 euro a month, depending on family size. :p

PS: Cost of death, around 5000 euro. Depending on wishes. :whistling:
 

Snoopy22

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Location - Waking up in Reno

Estimated living wage - 17.00 + hour
 

millerm277

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Little Lost NF, so New Jersey is expensive no matter which part you live in? I saw a job opening just outside of where 78 and 287 cross (looking at a map).

Car Insurance is high across the state.
Groceries and such are expensive across the state.
Cheap(er) housing can be found, but it's generally either rural and far out of town, tiny, or in a higher crime area. You are not going to find cheap housing in any stereotypical "nice" suburb.

I can give you specific area to look if you'd like, as a general rule...if you're looking at the map of that area: East, North, and Northeast of that intersection, are all very expensive. Cheaper housing is possible in the Southeast to due West (draw a partial arc and you'll get it.) Particularly Somerville, Bound Brook, and Manville.

But yes, in total....costs are above average, in the area you're looking at, crime is way below average for the most part, and you get paid somewhat above average.
 

The Decline

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Chicago.

You could find an apartment for anywhere between $500-1500 depending on how nice of a neighborhood you want. The city is absolutely segregated despite being diverse as a whole. This is true with regards to finding stores that suit your needs. You can easily live off of a dirt cheap salary if you learn to shop in the right places. Public transit is failing, and it's $2 to ride a bus or $2.25 for the train, with an extra $0.25 giving you two transfers. Oh yeah, and the sales tax is the worst (and most complex) in the country- 10.25%, or 11.5% downtown. Gas prices are generally shitty as well, they're around $2.80-$2.90 right now.
 

NewEra

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Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, house prices, home value estimator, recent sales, cost of living, crime, race, income, photos, education, maps, weather, houses, schools, neighborhoods, and more

The above site is great for checking potential housing areas. It gives all kinds of information from housing prices to crime rates to demographics stats, etc.

From my personal experience, New York and New Jersey are terrible if you want to save on housing prices. I'm thinking of moving out of this area myself, I don't even like it. The great thing is job opportunity though. However I'm thinking of moving to the Southwest (Texas area - mainly cities like Houston and San Antonio, and Arizona). Their housing is far more affordable, and there are quite a few jobs available. In fact, Phoenix, AZ is one of the fastest growing cities in America. The negative side is there's no snow, which I love.
 

substitute

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Location: Lincoln, England
Rent for 3 bedroom family home: £495 per month
Wages for full time worker: from £1000 (minimum wage) to £1250 (average wage) all the way up to big professional wages for doctors, etc Full time = 38 hours per week as per EU legislation
Cost of week's groceries for single parent with 2 kids: £50 (average)
Other bills each month: £150
Cost of meal & alcoholic beverage at middle range establishment: £8 (average)
Cost of cheapest takeaway meal: £2 (at the fish & chip shop)
Cost of petrol per litre: £1.03 (currently, fluctuates a lot)

There are roughly 2 US dollars to the UK £
 
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