dylan101

we are in the process of moving to the states probably east to mid usa. I know usa is a big country! But can anyone tell me their honest opinions about the standard/cost of living and lifestyle in the usa in comparison to England.

All comments appreciated

sibsie

Can you at least try to narrow it down to a couple of states? It really is too big a field to give proper answers.

TRPardoe

How far into the process are you if you don't even know within 1,500 miles where you are going to live ?

Lynne

You really need to narrow it down. I live in the South and love it and certainly have a better standard of living that I did in the UK. You have to balance what you will earn with your expenses. I have friends that earn megga bucks in New York but pay per month in property tax what I pay a year. It's not really an easy question to answer. Before coming you need to decide where you would like to live and then find out the availability of jobs in your field, wages and the cost of living. Some people just look at the wage side and not the overall picture.

vegas

The Average wage in Florida seems to be around the $35k range I have found that the following items seem to be a lot more expensive here:

Property Tax (which is paid every year like the British Rates I paid $8000
last year on a house worth about $450k)

Insurance (car insurance is very expensive when you first start I paid
$2400 for six months insurance on a dodge durrango now
after 2 years it is down to $1200 per six months.
Property insurance is $1300 per annum but this includes a
$500 dollar hurricane element.)

Utilities. ( Gas , water and Electric are more expensive here. My gas bill
averages $50 per month. My electric goes from $50 per
Month in the winter to $300 per month in the summer due to
air conditioning. When I have my garden sprinklers on for 2
nights per week the bill for water is normally $150 per month)

Telephones ( Cell phones can be more expensive as you pay the same per
minute for received calls as made calls. Normal telephones
can be more expensive but all local calls within you area are
free so you can chat for nothing after paying the monthly
charge )

Health ( unless you are covered by your employer then this can be
unbelieveably expensive also people without insurance pay
twice as much per procedure than people with insurance. As
the insurance companies expect a discount)

I think that everything else here is a lot cheaper apart from the above.

ImHere

You sure? What about groceries?

Our income is twice what it was in the UK but so are our outgoings, and our lifestyle is similar.

Just Jenney

Ditto on narrowing it down... I used to live in Northern Virginia (outside DC) but after my divorce could not afford to live there anymore. Moved two hours south down I-95 to Richmond and I can afford a lot more on the same salary. So, it really is important to be specific!

~ Jenney

Dimsie

Hi -
If you have property to sell in the UK, unless you move to high-cost city areas or tourist traps, you will probably be able to afford a much better/bigger/nicer house in the USA. It would be well worth doing some research on the net to find comparative property prices for various states.

I've found that it's very much a swings and roundabouts situation - you can gain some on property but what you gain is balanced out by things like medical necessities (don't forget there is no NHS!), higher priced utilities and insurance. Food prices vary from state to state it seems. I find them very reasonable in Oklahoma. Eating out is cheap, if unimaginative- in this area. Alcohol is cheap in liquor stores here - I can buy a litre of Scotch of a decent brand for as little as $9 (about 5 pounds sterling!) But there are no pubs around here and one cannot buy alcohol in most restaurants, or supermarkets - this varies from state to state. Here in Oklahoma it's the Bible Belt - watch for this when you choose your location, it can intensify the culture shock unless you're that way inclined!

As others have said above, there are such big differences from state to state that it's just not possible to give a helpful reply, other than to relate our own individual experiences.

sibsie

About the same here. Our lifestyle is better but from talking to our friends, we reckon on $100k to have a decent home and social life.

Bob

That's so true...especially for anything fresh....well expensive...only things cheap in this state are spuds and blueberries....and when it's winter, the selection of fresh fruit/veg drops to almost nil.

vegas

It surprises me that you say that. In the UK I used to shop at ASDA and my shopping bill for a family of 4 was around £200 without alcohol which was usually a further £40. Here I shop at Wal Mart and for a similar shopping trolley (I wish) the bill is normally around the $200-$250 mark and the alcohol is about half the price.

ImHere

Funny thing is we used to shop at Asda and spend about 100-150 quid on a shop for the 3 of us per week, here we spend about $300 per week on pretty much the same stuff, but then both my wife and I are intolerant to wheat and dairy and the cost of Soya products and wheat free (if you can find them) here is astronomical compared to the UK.

Elvira

Crap food is cheap, real/fresh food is expensive...

And don't forget all the hormones and antibiotics in the meat and milk :scared:

Holidays/vacation allowance anyone? 2 weeks versus 5+ weeks

College fees???

anotherlimey

I'll second that healthy food here is more expensive. I only eat non-processed food (apart from Sundays) and most of my food budget goes on fresh chicken breast which I have to trim the fat off when I get home anyway.

Lion in Winter

Is London Pride non-processed?