cautiousjon

I've run a few numbers.

The OP mentioned that he is earning £45,000 in the UK at the moment. If the $70,000 figure is true, that means that he's gaining another £11,427 per year in his salary, or $14,176 (minus bonuses, if applicable).

At $500 /month for medical cover for your family and $1,500 calendar year deductible and $6,000 out of pocket deductible max PCY, with some moderate medical expenses, you're looking at maybe $6,500 - $7,000 of health costs per year ($500 x 12 month premium + $1,500 health expenses). This might take your gross salary increase down to $7,676.

Let's say you stayed for three years, and bought three cars. Let's ignore depreciation on those, as you'll have depreciation in the UK as well. You're unfortunately not likely going to get car insurance with good coverage for the three cars for less than $2,500 - $3,000, for at least for the first year or two. Let's say that this is a premium of 50% more than what you're paying right now in the UK, given your no claims discounts and any other discounts that you currently get with your UK insurance provider(s). That means extra car insurance costs might come to another $1,250. This takes your gross salary increase down to $6,426.

Let's say that you want to have three mobile phones with LTE data. Unfortunately, T-Mobile (cheapest, decent network provider in the USA, IMO, as long as you are within their coverage area) does not offer LTE data service in Bozeman, MT, nor does AT&T, so let's say that you went with Verizon. The cheapest Verizon plan is $35 /month for 2 GB data. Given that Verizon does not work on GSM, you would need new compatible mobile phones. Let's say that you buy 3 $400 phones, pre-owned or new, that you keep for 3 years. That's $1,200, or $400 per year. Add in the $35 /month for line rental, and you're looking at $1,620 per year for mobile service. In the UK, I imagine that you can get coverage with the Three network. The Three network offers a SIM-only monthly plan with unlimited talk and text and 4 GB data for £11 /month. Three SIMs for that price is roughly $40 /month. If you already have UK mobile phones, this means that your extra mobile service costs might come to $1,140 per year. This takes your gross salary increase down to $5,286.

I could continue this exercise and work out additional costs for household/renter's insurance, energy bills, home Internet access, home TV package, and many other things (all of which are more expensive than the UK in my experience), but I will stop there. Those additional costs could come to a few thousand dollars more. Although my numbers are very rough, if they're even close to what your costs might be in the end, monetarily, you might only gain a few thousand dollars more per year by moving to the USA. Whilst money isn't everything, life in the USA seems to me to be much more money-centered, and life here without money can be very miserable. If you're comfortable with your life in the UK right now, I am not sure why you would put that aside to move to the USA, other than for the experience. It's ultimately up to you as to whether that is worth it or not. Many would say that it is.

Pulaski

TL,DNR

I would argue that your premise is flawed by taking the spot exchange rate, the pound has been up and down in value over the past decade or so, from over $2 to less than $1.20, and this clearly hasn't affected day to day living expenses by anywhere neare as much. .... Therefore I believe such cost of living analyses should be performed at the long term average exchange rate of around $1.60, which is right around $70k for a salary of £45k. ...IOW he has not "gained" anything by taking $70k salary, v £45k salary.

cautiousjon

Good point. Even more reason for the OP to need to fully consider whether the non-monetary reasons for moving the OP's family many thousands of miles away from their home will be worth it.

The Moose

Personally, I think your numbers are flawed.

You say that you discount depreciation from your calculations, however in my experience, vehicles depreciate less than back in the UK.

There are also plenty of things that are cheaper in the US than the UK that you aren't allowing for.

cautiousjon

Sure. It wasn't supposed to be a super comprehensive list, but the things that I mentioned are some of the big ticket items that I found were more expensive in the USA than I was used to paying for in the UK.

I am curious to know what sort of things that you find cheaper in the US than in the UK. Electronics and gasoline are probably the two main things that I have found cheaper in the USA, but I don't buy many electronics, and I drive much, much more in the USA than the UK, which seems to more than make up for the gasoline price difference.

The Moose

As you say, electronics and gas are cheaper. Vehicles tend to be cheaper and depreciate more slowly. Property tends to be cheaper to buy but slightly more expensive to run. If you’re renting you certainly get more for your money comparing my UK/USA areas. Dining out tends to be cheaper. I don’t know about the supermarket stuff - that’s my wife’s department. Cigarettes tend to be cheaper if you smoke. My local gym is cheaper if that’s your thing. Clothes tend to be cheaper. We bought a couple of bicycles out here the other day - they were much cheaper than their comparison in the UK. Same with my office furniture, VoIP connection for business calls etc.

Oh and most importantly, beer in my local watering hole certainly is cheaper!!!

In all seriousness, I have no idea which country is cheaper or more expensive overall (regardless of the exchange rate!) - that wasn’t a driver for my move. I personally feel the quality of life we will have here in the US will exceed that of the UK.

One thing I really didn’t enjoy about the UK for a long time is the depressing down-treading attitude of the majority of the people - it was almost as if positivity was sucked out of people at school…and I skipped that class! That, for me, is rather an expensive cost for being in the UK.

Do you think we’ve gone a touch off topic?!

cautiousjon

General living expenses is something for the OP to take into consideration, so I think that your reply adds color to the conversation.

AdobePinon

One aspect not mentioned is that there are a lot of people who would like to live in Bozeman. Might be a surprise to a lot of folks here, but true. Which means that Bozeman salaries have a significant chance of being below market average.

Steve_

You don't use much AC in Bozeman.

Bozeman is sort of the "posh" town in Montana, although arguably Kalispell is moving more in that direction. A lot of the Californians who retire to Montana move to Bozeman. It's popular because it's the nearest town of any consequence to Yellowstone.

Montana is a relatively cheap place to live once you get past the cost of the housing because there's no sales tax.

Bozeman is pretty small though. You've got to drive to Spokane if you want to get to a city of any size and that's hard to do during the winter. Which lasts about 5 months.

People in Montana generally are really conservative, like super duper right-wing. The reason the Governor is a Democrat is because the Republicans and the Libertarians split the vote. Coming from the UK I guarantee it will be a bit of a culture shock. I've met plenty of people there who think Albertans are left-wing and it's the most right-wing place in Canada.

Bone up on hunting and fishing so you have something to talk about.

The economy of Montana is basically, military (mostly in the north of the State), mining and tourism.

You won't be far from Butte though so at least you can get a Cornish pasty.

The thing in Montana is that there isn't much of a selection of car dealers, all the upmarket ones are in Bozeman, like Volvo and Audi. But no-one knows how to fix them out of town. I'd go with Subaru personally, more dealers about.

Steve_

I think the main question the OP needs to answer is whether he plans on staying in the US permanently, because how you approach moving to the US varies based on that answer.

I would say the main question to ask the employer is whether they're going to file an I-140 and if so, what category, e.g. EB-3. It's a hell of a long way to move for just three years.

Bozeman is a town full of tourists during the summer but I've been all over Montana, it's very rural, coming from somewhere like the UK it will be a bit of a shock.

You have a totally different impression of the place during the summer when it's fantastically beautiful and covered in tourists and the middle of the winter when it's -20. It's not as bad as Calgary, but still.

Teanmontana

SOooooooooooo

Here is an update on my situation.

I have been back in touch with the company and have secured the following.

Trip to the area to see the factory and areas to live in.
Increased salary to help with relocation and also re-location fund to help with set up.
18 Days holiday plus standard bank holidays.
Repatriation back the UK if I stay with the company but return to the UK.
Our daughter is swaying on staying in the UK to attend University.
Green card application sponsorship should we stay in the US.
We have found a house close to the shopping off 27th - North Bozeman.
Bus route 2 minutes walk away will a reasonable timetable.


All looking good for a move to Montana

LouisB

Hey. Tricky isn't it, making these big decisions?

Just to check, have you been there before?

Ah just saw your above saying you will visit first. Very wise.

We're moving soon too (NYC) - best way to work out income is using online tax calc for the location because the layers of tax is a bit messy imho, easy to slip up and miss something anyway.

Steve_

I would just emphasize the point that Montana during the summer and Montana during the winter are totally different.

Like I said, Bozeman is more upmarket than most of the rest of the State, but during the winter a lot of people go south and the remainder seem to suffer from a high rate of alcoholism and insomnia.

If you go now, i.e. tail-end of the winter, you're going to see it from a more realistic perspective than in a couple of months when all the tourists going to Yellowstone show up.

SanDiegogirl

Not all companies will offer the following, but there is no harm in trying:

2 months accommodation costs when you first arrive
2 months of car rental

Good luck

LouisB

Times change, it used to be the travel was such a big deal and reasons for moving so compelling it was a one way trip no question quite often.

However now with places a flight away, why not have a look before committing a big step in your life.

I've I think been to all the main cities in Montana, I love it in the summer as a tourist, mainly because Glacier NP is amazing. Access to Yellowstone is a big plus too, also amazing.

Would there be a minor bear risk if you're out exploring in some parts of Montana or are they pretty localised in the parks etc?

To live, realy it depends, as someone else said, not so cosmopolitan. Depends what you want really I guess. Also depends where you're moving from, could be a step up or down.

I've not experienced winter there, some areas get pretty chilly right.