saintstu

Hello BE USA,

It seems I'll be getting an offer to move to Houston tomorrow morning, and wanted to get some salary advice.

I work in recruitment, and was on £70k in the UK and I am currently on about $120k in Australia.

Both the UK and Australian salaries were excellent, and gave me a decent quality of life.

Ideally, I'd like to know what a comparable salary/package in Houston would be. That is enough to rent a 2/3 bed house in a good area (with a pool of course!), own/rent a decent car, be able to go out 3-4 times a week for social activities, and holiday regularly.

It's just me and a partner, no kids. She also works in recruitment and is currently on about $65k in Australia, so a comparison for that would be very useful too.

I know salary questions are annoying, but any help will be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Stuart

saintstu

We'd both be working in Oil & Gas recruitment, in the Uptown/Galleria area, if that's any help.

Britsimon

Houston is a pretty affordable place to live - you will be able to rent a very nice home (with a private pool) for around $2k a month - or buy for between $200k to $300k.

You'll probably find Houston salaries don't go much over $100k - but even $80/90k there will give you a nice lifestyle. The median household income in Houston is $42k.

christmasoompa

Just checking, but 'partner' usually means unmarried - you are aware that you'll need to be married for her to accompany you on your visa? And that depending on the visa you're getting, she may not be able to work on hers?

I'm sure you're well aware of all that, but thought I'd mention it just in case!

Best of luck.

Michael

The oil and gas industry pays pretty well in Houston and is at the top of the food chain.

Britsimon

This search will give you an idea of Houston salaries - look to the left of the page for the number of jobs in each $20k range.

http://www.indeed.com/q-HR-Recruiter...,-TX-jobs.html

Also checkout your company on Glassdoor.
http://www.glassdoor.co.uk/index.htm

And then Areavibes let's you check out some stats on the area
http://www.areavibes.com/houston-tx/livability/

By the way, I am surprised that a recruiter role qualifies for a visa - what sort of visa are you able to get?

saintstu

She should be getting sponsored by her employer, but yes, we're unmarried. I take it they do not recognise de facto in (god-fearing) Texas?

saintstu

I don't know, I'll let you know tomorrow morning

We've sponsored migrants from NZ and UK to USA before.

Britsimon

OK, I think the USA visa situation is harder than you think - and the difficulties with getting a visa for a "defacto" relationship are not a God fearing Texas thing, they are immigration rules.

Don't quit your job just yet...

saintstu

It's a transfer with my current employer, and they've moved several UK people across, so the visa shouldn't be an issue

Her situation is the same too.

Thanks for the advice though.

Britsimon

Ahhh ok - when you said interview I assumed it would be a new job. Sorted then.

Weeze

Really? I don't agree with any of this. galleria is an expensive place to live. Renting in Houston is expensive. Check out www.har.com for prices. We wanted a house with pool and some yard. We ended up leasing out in Katy to get that on our budget and still paid $4250/month in rent.

Houston is a high money area because of the oil & gas, of which $100k would be a starting salary.

Check out the Houston wiki guide here:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Houston,_TX

Owen778

I think the truth is somewhere between the two. Central Houston is definitely expensive, particularly areas around the Galleria. However, the city is so sprawling that housing in suburbs is cheaper than most English cities, but then you have to put up with the unpleasant traffic.

Britsimon

You should call the police because you got mugged!

I don't think he said he had to live right by Galleria - but then no need to go to as far as Katy either!

This doesn't look awful:-
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/12...84046312_zpid/

Or this:-

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/57...28055838_zpid/


Or this:-
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/19...28510500_zpid/



And if he did go to Katy something like this would be "OK" (rental estimate of $2700)

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/59...52415458_zpid/

Pulaski

You don't live in Houston, or even the US. I'd take Weeze's advice over yours every time.