COSPhil

I've read the recent "Moving to NYC" thread with interest, with many saying Salaries of upwards of $100,000 (approx £65k) required to live there, some a little less at $75,000 (approx £50k), and a couple of mentions for similar in the San Francisco area.

What are people's experiences of reasonable salaries to live a so called "good" lifestyle across the US.

Selfishly, I guess I'm most interested in experiences from the South West (Colorado in particular).

jeffreyhy

Try looking at this calculator at money.cnn.com:
http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/c...F_PF_Highlight

Regards, JEff

Pulaski

A good starting point for much of the country is to think of you had the same number of £ as $. Obviously it is different for the big cities, as much for London as for NY, Boston, and San Francisco, but if your idea of living well in the UK requires £60k, then $60k would probably do for you here.

COSPhil

Wow, although that doesn't convert to the UK it definitely puts in into stark contrast.

$100k mentioned in the NYC thread for a selection of CNN cities;
$43k - Colorado Springs
$48k - Denver, CO
$41k - Houston, TX
$42k - Columbus, OH
$53k - Chicago, IL
$43k - Detroit, MI
$60k - Anchorage, AK
$65k - Washington, DC

In London, I earn £52k, so around the $75k mark very crudely. I find that quite tight in London, but lived well on fairly significantly less in Essex, Yorkshire and the Midlands.

jeffreyhy

Note that there are significant differences among the several boroughs of NYC, Manhattan being the most expensive by far. Just saying "NYC" is not enough, one needs to be more specific.

Regards, JEff

GeoffM

To expand on this, as it doesn't compare non-US cities, compare NYC with 100k (your figures) with Colorado Springs - it says $42,276. Whether that is accurate depends on your lifestyle really. The biggest difference there is housing costs which I can well believe. What is mentioned but can't really be accounted for is your healthcare costs - if you have an employer that pays the bulk of it then you're sorted; if you pay individually then you might need an extra $10k-$25k++ on top of that.

Bink

It's all so dependant on circumstances, exactly where you live in any given area and expectations...!
I would think given my experience of Houston, I'd probably want to be on upwards of $250k to even consider living in NYC, realistically more like $3-400k. Funnily enough that's what the calculator provided came up with too.

For Houston I'd say household of income of $100k+, pushing towards more like $150k is where you can start living a comfortable lifestyle. Don't get me wrong you can live on less but you stated "good" lifestyle and for me, that's where I believe it starts to kick in.

Pulaski

I'd agree with that - it's probably true for most mid-sized cities, and I agree with the estimate of $3-400k for NYC, I've always said you'd have to offer me $500k to get me to go back there, fairly safe in the knowledge that that isn't gonna happen!

Speedwell

I know this is a naive question, but how can there be whole major world-class cities where it's not possible to even escape living in poverty unless you make five to ten times the average salary in the country? Because, yes, I consider a 300 square foot flat in Manhattan poverty, even if it costs 2500 dollars a month. I love New York City as much as the next guy, but I just don't get it. I don't like poverty.

COSPhil

I agree, I have lived in London and I think someone would need to offer me a King's Ransom to live/work in NYC or other similar MegaCity. I like Colorado Springs, Salt Lake, Denver - nice medium sized cities. (Although I will say I like Chicago).

I get a feeling we should be seeking $120k household income to live quite comfortably. Houston & COS are similar on CNN's spectrum, assuming that holds true.

Bob

Something like salary.com and glassdoor would be good sites to check out.

As for cost of living and quality of life, all depends on if you're looking to be a home owner or not, have a family or not and what interests you have outside of work.

There's a massive difference between having a salary that's survivable and keeping your head on or above the breadline compared to enjoying life. I'd say if you're anything from within a few months salary from sinking if you lost your job, you're probably not doing great once you've cut through the gloss :/

Pumba NI

seriously? What is your lifestyle, cavier & champagne?

Being serious though do you have kids and what style of car etc, i.e where have pulled that figure from?


Also I'm living on much less than £52k in London and i'm certainly not scraping the barrel. Or do you consider comfortable living owning your home?

Bink

Not at all. I added the caveat that it's up to personal expectation. Living here is not as cheap as is often made out. There are a lot of hidden costs.

I own my house (circa $300k), drive a GMC Acadia and a Hyundai Elantra and support my wife (SAHM) and 16 month old.

I don't live an oppulent life but neither do I struggle; I live within my means. Like I said what one considers a "good" life is subjective.

COSPhil

No, renting is the big cost in London. I'm aware it's possible on less.

We will not have children and be a double income couple household.

Bob

I find it hard to believe that moving from Boston to CA, only San Fran, San Jose and Truckee County were the only ones to have a cost increase and that was only marginal but for San Fran.

That just seems wrong....oh well, who knew California, not as expensive as expected then.