Cost of Living
 

We've touched on it in a bunch of other threads, and I was curious, so I figured I'd create a new thread.

What is the cost of living like in your area?
How much is say -
1. a 1br apartment
2. a starter home?
3. What's the average salary (across occupations)?

I've noticed some of you in NY or Cali have 1brs that cost more than what I make in a month! I have to wonder if salaries are proportionate.. you know... I'm a secretary and I make X amount in Wisconsin... if a secretary in NY would make 2X.

Here in Milwaukee:

1. A 1br in an "average" part of town (not sleazy, but not super-trendy) will run you about $450/month
2. A starter home is about $90k - 120k
3. Average salary is about $37,000 (here is a link that lists avg. incomes for most major cities, even if it is a little outdated)

i'm not sure about the exact numbers in sd....but it is high.
a 1 bedroom apartment in sd can range from 800-1500 a month
an average family home can start at 300,000
and i have no idea how much people make....

1. 1 bedroom apt...... about $750 per month
2. A starter house goes for about 200k.
3. Average income according to your link was 55k in 1997.



Note. 1 and 2 are guestimates

Canadian estimates
 

I live downtown Ottawa, which is the 3rd most expensive city in Canada to live in.

In my area, the average 1 br. would run around 900/month.

A starter house would probably start in the low 200s...i'm not sure where to find some statistics on incomes related to region.

This is pretty much the same in DC. I believe that San Diego has the most expensive cost of living with DC in 2nd. But I don't think you can find a 1 BR apt here for under $1,000 (at least not that I'm aware of)

Where did you get that info? The only city to make it onto the world survey of costliest cities is NYC at number 10.

"New York remains the costliest city in North America, occupying 10th position in the rankings. Other expensive cities include Los Angeles, ranked at 22 (score 85.6), Chicago ranked at 25, (83.9), Miami in 27th place (83.7), and San Francisco at position 30 (83). "

-Rudey
--The only thing that might make DC that expensive to live in is the rising cost of crack rock.

I live in Chicago.

I'd say a 1 bedroom runs around 850+.

I have no idea about homes because there are the poor sections of the southside right next to the expensive neighborhoods but I don't think a small home in a not so crappy neighborhood would run more than 250K.

And I don't know what average salary is so I'll just say 45K until someone figures out what it'd be.

-Rudey

1 bedrooms in ATL can run from 400 to 1200 depending on the area.

A small starter home around 100k but that also depends on the area.

In the Annapolis/Baltimore area, the costs vary wildly depending on two things: the quality of the schools and/or whether the property is near the water. Here are the stats for my little town, which is right outside of Annapolis:

One Bedroom Apartment: Around $1,000 - $1,200 a month

Starter Home: Not sure what a starter home would run, but the average home sold for $325,880 last year.

Average Income: $81,565

according to census information , it looks like Median household income for San Diego was about $39,500 and Chicago was $40,100

Fairfield County, CT:

1-bedroom apartment goes for around $1300-$1500/mo.
A modest starter home goes for around $200K.
Median household income (according to the link you posted) was $56,872 in 1997.

I know a lot of families where the wife is a stay at home mom. I have no idea how they can pay the bills every month on one income, unless they all have rich dead uncles...

ETA: Those housing numbers are for northern Fairfield County. Go to southern Fairfield County (locations commutable to NYC) and the cost of a house doubles or more.

Well, after looking at the census data, it proved what I already knew: I live in the best place possible in Louisiana (St. Tammany Parish).

I'm not really sure what an apartment rents for around here; mostly everyone owns their home.

A starter home runs about 120K or so. FI and I just bought a condo for 118,500. It's tiny (2 br), but in a really nice (read: gated, golf club) neighborhood. The units rent for 1200-1500 a month in our group.

Median income (according to the census data) was around 43,000; the highest in Louisiana. It's like being the smartest kid on the short bus. Yeah, we're better than the rest, but what do we have to compare to?

Ginger already posted the numbers for Milwaukee, which are pretty accurate.

I'm originally from a far west suburb of Milwaukee, and the numbers there:

One-bedroom apt: $650ish
Starter home: $175k
Average income: $61k

Denver got pretty expensive while it started to grow rapidly during the tech boom. I think it's going back down slowly.

Rent: I'd say $600-$700 to live anywhere decent/marginally trendy
Starter home: An okay townhouse or condo will start at $150 with a nice house running more like $200
Average income: I don't know what average is.

a nice 1 bedroom apt in Austin is 850-1100$ per month depending on area you live in.
don't know what the average salary is
the houses in my neiborhood go from 265,000-500,000$ or more
I am not sure what a "starter" home would go for (or what your definition of a starter home is)

In St. Louis:
1 - a decent 1 BR runs $400 to $900 depending on area ... i.e. South City vs. Central West End. (A 1 BR loft downtown goes for $630 if you make less than 26K. My 1 BR goes for $375, its 3 rooms, decorative fireplace, hw floors.)

2 - a starter home can be from $85K (city) to $150K (county)

3 - 35K is my best bet for avg. salary in city

(IMO, its a fairly decent cost of living here and it all depends on how you look for it. Martinis run about $6 as do glasses of wine, dinners can run the gamut, but overall its pretty nice. In Chicago, I shelled out $625 for a studio apt. and could blow $6 on one beer)

Here in Appalacia.....
 

.....the cost of living is REALLY low, but it's a pretty poor area.

One bedroom--between $250 and $500. My place is $400.

Starter home--around 50K.

Average salary--I'm not too sure, but I'm guessing in the mid-20s.

I have no solid proof. Just something I've been told.

Re: Canadian estimates
 

My one bedroom in Downtown Ottawa cost me $625 - but it was a freaken closest.

There are statistics on incoming somewhere... probably the StatsCan pages... I saw them once - Oakville is the richest for income...

Where I am: I bedroom is about $500, and a starter house is about $150.

Re: Re: Canadian estimates
 

I thought Oakville is second now, with West Van in first place (I think it's West Van...it's somewhere in Vancouver, anyway)

My city in Iowa:

1 BR Apartment: $300-500 (mine was $385 and fairly decent-sized)
Starter home $80-120K (we bought ours for $90K but it's also 90 years old)
Average income: $44K according to that link

Denver prices run the gamut from very expensive lofts in LoDo to maybe $750 for a nice 2br in the burbs.

Starter home probably $100-120K.

Don't have time to check average income right now, sorry.

Here's DA's first law of "Cost of Living..."

"No matter how much you make...that's how much you will spend."

Colorado Springs is like that too... HUGE range of prices, depending on where you live

In Boston...

1. A 1br varies greatly by the area, but if you stay within the city & Cambridge/Brookline area you probably wouldn't find one under $1000, and the more upscale easily near/top $2k.

2. Forget homes. A starter condo in the city (1br) doesn't get much cheaper than $175k; they start at around $275k in the nicer areas.

3. Couldn't tell you what the average salary is, although I imagine it's significantly higher than the national average.

Re: Re: Canadian estimates
 

was this recently? 4-5 years ago rent prices were substantially cheaper.

The great thing about New York City is that there are many different neighborhoods with different price ranges. These are prices for neighborhoods in Manhattan in 2003.

Upper East Side: An average studio monthly rent is $1,700, while an average one-bedroom goes for $2,500.

Upper West Side: The average studio went for $1,800 in 2003 and a one-bedroom for $2,900

Midtown between 34th and 58th Streets: a one-bedroom rented for $2,600 and a studio rented for $1,800.

There are neighborhoods outside of Manhattan that are less expensive.

I don't know the price of the average starter home or average salary. I know people who have paid over $500,000 for a house in White Plains in Westchester.

One thing that surprized me in Manhattan is that often heat and water are included. That's probably because, at least in the pre-war buildings, they are still steam heat and it would be very difficult to pro-rate the total costs for the entire building. At least that's my guess.

I've seen houses not too dissimilar from mine listed at over $1M in White Plains. :eek:

Location, location, location!

Water, heat, and electric are included for me. Where I live we have to pay a small fee for the refrigerator depending on the size. I think it's $9 a month for a refrigerator over 16 cubic feet. We also have to pay an annual fee for the air conditioners. They keep threatening to submeter the co-op for electricity, but that hasn't happened yet.

Damn, and I bitch about my $350/month utilities included one bedroom (that my dad calls a college palace)

Of course I live in a rural college town where the only people who make real money are college professors/admin and bar owners...other then that everyone else is either college students, farmers, or unskilled labor: walmart, waitresses, etc with the occasionaly doctor and whatever else to keep the town running...

You can get a fairly decent starter home (possibly a little fixing involved as many houses around here are old) for $60K

Like I metioned there are pretty much 3 salaries, university employees & doctors, farmers, and unskilled labor...

I know! It is crazy! That house in White Plains is a normal house, nothing spectacular. Forget about buying a townhouse in Manhattan! You need to win the lottery for that.

a lot of places in boston have heat and water included. i have heat, water, and gas included in my rent.

Me too - I just pay my electric.

See, this is what I was wondering though, and why I was asking about salary in with the question. What you pay for a studio is more than I make in a month, and I have a fairly decent job. Are the salaries in NY just that much higher ie. does an entry level job pay 50k in NY that would pay 25k in Wisconsin? Or are you just suppoed to "make do" and devote 90% of your paycheck to rent?

Come over to 5 towns area or Great Neck/Manhasset/Kings point sections or the gold coast of long island. That's nothing.

As for heat and all that being included in rent, it happens in almost every city in the more modern apartment buildings. Or it's a sign of the fact that they can't attract enough tenants and do it to bring in new ones.

-Rudey

No.

The highest paying entry-level job would probably be in finance (investment banking areas). In NYC those jobs pay a base salary of 55K and probably a bonus of 20+. In Chicago where the rent is much less, the same job would never pay less than 45 and usually runs between 45-55 base where the ones that pay 45 give larger bonuses at the end.

It's about the fact that more higher paying jobs exist in these areas more than anything else. They don't pay you so you can live nicely. They pay you because you need to be there to do the job and to entice you to be there and bring talent over the pay is high enough to cover your costs.

And lots of those entry level analysts still live paycheck to paycheck because they insist on having a certain lifestyle and usually end up being comfortable a couple years after grad school only.

-Rudey
--The rasmus - in the shadows is a catchy little song.

Okay, I think I get it now... thanks Rudey!

Ya All are ijots. Move to Kansas City Area! Lot Cheaper, DA!:)

Oh, no dont on second thought, we get to many people, the cost will go up!:(

But the average salary of anybody who lives in one of those expensive places is obviously going to be higher. As an example, if you work in Milwaukee and make $55k, you live in the west or north suburbs or on the east side or in the new trendy lofts down on Wisconsin. The other people live in Avenues West with all us broke Marquette kids or south of the freeway. I could have an apartment the same size and condition as mine 7 blocks the other way from campus and pay twice as much.

The salary is really dictating where people live. For example, I don't think anybody lives in my hometown who makes less than $30k a year because they couldn't afford anywhere to live. And I don't think anybody would willingly live in my apt building if they weren't a student.

I get it now. I was thinking about it the wrong way... that (for example) the only way you could have a roof over your head in PrettyCity was to pay $1000/month, whether you made 20k or 200k. I wasn't thinking about it neighbourhood-wise. It makes much more sense now!

Still.. how are all you college kids affording $1000/ month apartments?!?!?!