sallysimmons

Federal income tax is totally dependent on how many deductions you can take, but as a general guideline at that income, figure about 28%. That may change in a year and a half as taxes for anyone making more than $250K are slated to rise. We'll see if that happens.

State income tax is around 6% I think.

Sales tax in NYC is 8%.

Property taxes in my town are between $11,000 and $50,000 a year depending on the house - the nicer the house, the higher the taxes.

My town also has a local income tax in top of the state tax and a commuter tax but I couldn't tell you how much they are.

Out-of-pocket health care costs can add up so factor those in too once you know your plan.

Utilities are excessively expensive here, so check those out with the utility company.

Vicky88

Have you thought about schooling? A lot of people complain about the education system in the US. I would imagine that Hong Kong would have a better education system.

Cmabbo

Hi Brat1 - Thanks for your post seems very similar to us. DH's office is on 125 W 55th Street so he would probably be better walking to Grand Central and commuting from there. I have too be looking at Connecticut mainly Greenwich, Old Greewnwich, Westport etc.. it all looks lovely.
We too like to be out of town but able to hope on a train when we want some action, but like to have some restaurants and amenities close by.
We have high utility bills here so there won't be a chage there. The public school system here is awful I'm not joking even die hard atheists are sending their children to Catholic schools as they are better and cheaper then private! We currently have all three down for private so to me paying the same if not cheaper for property tax that actually goes towards a good public school system that we will use seems fine to me.
We only have two major supermarkets here and they over charge and don't compete that is why ALDI have done really well here in Australia as people are fed up of being ripped off. There is still this nationalistic culture of be proud buy aussie only but it is wearing thin on people now. I wouldn't mind but the produce are rubbish too they export all the good fruit and veg overseas.

Sallysimons - thanks for those figures.

Vicky88 - I have heard good things about the public schools in Westchester and Connecticut. Hong Kong is very difficult to get your children into schools and is very very expensive but yes they do have some very good schools.

Thanks again all.
T

Jerseygirl

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Brat1

Best place to have a look about certain cities is Citydata. That's where I got a lot of my information about Bethel etc and it all seems to have been pretty accurate. We have a very low crime rate here, Walmart, Xpects and Big Y are all in the town as is The Bethel Food Market and yet where our house is, is quite spread out so we have been very lucky in the best of both worlds!! And as I said before, I can't fault the school system here from what I've seen, they push the kids pretty hard, give them a lot more homework than back home but for my kids, it's payed off so far. Can't comment on Greenwich, although I've heard its very nice, or Westport either. I still think you should come over for a couple of weeks and have a good look about, get a feel for the places you've mentioned, it's the best way forward I would think

Philklae

Hi. I am in the process of moving my family to NY from the UK, (wife, 14 year old daughter, 17 year old son and dog), I came over last September to work and lived here in a small apartment while the family stayed home until I found somewhere to live. I gave up looking for a house after about 3 months. Anything half decent is $5k+. We have rented in a community apartment complex in Mamaroneck, it has an outdoor pool and gym and is walking distance to the station, 40 mins into Grand Central, supermarket across the road and a nice main street with plenty of shops and restaurants. Good schools in the area which was the main focus when looking. £2,600 per month for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment + $50 per month for the dog. They do have loft apartments here that have space for what could be a 3rd bed. www.avaloncommunities.com They have several of these scattered around New York and they all seem close to train stations and amenities. I would say that the COL is slightly lower here than in the UK and you get a little more take home pay but I have been put off even thinking about buying as the property tax is very expensive. I have heard that Connecticut and New Jersey are cheaper. Wrap up to keep warm in the winter though. The cold here in the winter takes some getting used to. Also ref the dog. there is a leash law. There are only certain places that you can go and let the dog run free. Good luck.

fatbrit

You need to be proactive on this one, not just leave it to a menagerie of fools who really couldn't give a toss whether they mess up your US immigration prospects or not. Anything less than paying full attention to this vital but boring aspect could turn out to be very foolish.

IPM

I'm from London and re-located to the US last year. We have two children; 4 and 18 months. We also know Sydney fairly well and almost bought a house in the Clovelly/Bronte area a few years back when I thought we would re-locate out there. Hence, I can empathize with your decision.

I had the choice between NYC and Washington DC and looked at quite a few neighbourhoods in areas like White Plains and Scarsdale. Nice houses out there and a decent commute into GCS for Mid-town Manhattan. Thing I didn't like was the fact that you tend to have to drive everywhere. In London, we were used to walking everywhere.

If we had gone for NYC, we would have focused on Park Slope, Brooklyn, really near Prospect Park. I think this is a fanstastic neighbourhood, where you can get a nice brownstone house, have green space, reasonable commute and nice nehighbourhood feel.

In the end, we went for DC and really like it.

Good luck.

Cmabbo

Thanks IPM, how did you find it after Sydney? was it easier to settle in ?

katybluewater

Hi IPM

Whereabouts did you move to in DC. we are currently renting in Vienna Northern Virginia, and looking to buy later this year - and we cant decide on the right area - any insight would be useful.