Is $55000 enugh for a family of four? (Chicago, Buffalo Grove: real estate, rental)

[George_Sully]

Hi all,
I am a British citizen, married with 2 young kids; age 4 and 9. Due to my work relocation, I've been given the opportunity to move to Chicago suburbs (My company's office is located in NorthField and they are taking care of all the visa requirements); I am not sure where would be the best place to live ( I don't mind travelling for 30 - 45 min each way to and from work) or even if my annual salary which is about $55000 a year would be sufficient? I was wondering if anyone could tell me in their opinion could I have a decent living on $55K?
Could anyone point me towards a good book or website on the subject?
Can anyone tell me about the costs for kid’s school?
I would be grateful for your comments.
Many thanks.
George

[LIS123]

That salary would limit your options in the Northern Suburbs. I'm not too familiar with the area, but you should be fine when it comes to renting. When you look to purchasing a home, though, your salary will be a major impediment. Housing tends to be very expensive in the Northern suburbs and the amount/quality of house per dollar spent is very low (though many other areas in the country are a lot worse).

I'd recommend living North of Northfield, perhaps in Lake County. If you live a bit further West (i.e. away from Lake Michigan), your cost of living should go down in general. Some of the towns like Libertyville and Vernon Hills might be a bit pricey.
Of course, there are families of that size making a similar amount of money and surviving, but things will definitely be tight. The schools should not cost much if you're a resident of a given town and your children attend public school. It's unlikely you'll be able to afford to send them to private school unless you have a lot of savings (which you plan on tapping to pay for the school expenses).

There will be postings from others who know a lot more about the area than I, so that should be useful.

Check out this site:

Lake County, IL Local Government Home

[Anthera]

The "public" schools in the US are free(the opposite of the UK "public" schools). Just about anywhere around Northfield would have good to very good public schools.

$55k is kinda tight, but if you look around you could probably find a cute townhouse in Buffalo Grove to rent. Try to get you employers to give you a good moving package, and that should cushion the blow.

[George_Sully]

That was my first impression too; i have been over 4-5 times in the last couple of years and I thought 55K wasn't enough. We were thinking of putting the kids in private( paid) school. In any case I like to thank you both for the info; the more replies I get the better understanding I will have so please keep the coming!Thanks again!

[gardener34]

Is there anyway your wife can documentation to work there too? It makes a big difference if you have 2 incomes. Public schools are free, but you have to pay yearly fees that cover other things, supplies, etc. These are sometimes hundreds of dollars a year here.
The thing that gets us mostly is medical expenses, dental expenses, kids shoes and clothes, and if your kids want to do any extracurricular activities. (piano lessons, etc) Are you looking to rent or buy?
I can't say too much about the northern suburban area though.

[LIS123]

I highly doubt you'll be able to put two children in Private school on an income of $55K. Two children in Private school will cost several thousand dollars per year. Prices vary, but it could be anywhere from $15-$30K.

As the previous poster mentioned, it would be great if your wife could find employment. That would make a big difference.

[chet everett]

If $55K is going to be your household income it will really be a challenge.


This is under the median for some of the more affordable towns in Lake Co:

Beach Park, Illinois (IL) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders
Mundelein, Illinois (IL) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders
Gurnee, Illinois (IL) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

I am not recommending that you should live in any of the above towns, just giving you some data points.

Living anywhere in near Northfield with a family of four is going to do be a real challenge; I would expect even a modest rental to consume about half your income.

No idea what sort of potential boost this will give to your career/long term income but based just on cost of housing as a percentage of income my recommendation would be against relocation to the Chicago area at that salary level.

[IbeDavid]

Originally Posted by George_Sully

Hi all,
I am a British citizen, married with 2 young kids; age 4 and 9. Due to my work relocation, I've been given the opportunity to move to Chicago suburbs (My company's office is located in NorthField and they are taking care of all the visa requirements); I am not sure where would be the best place to live ( I don't mind travelling for 30 - 45 min each way to and from work) or even if my annual salary which is about $55000 a year would be sufficient? I was wondering if anyone could tell me in their opinion could I have a decent living on $55K?
Could anyone point me towards a good book or website on the subject?
Can anyone tell me about the costs for kid’s school?
I would be grateful for your comments.
Many thanks.
George

REPLY: Youd need to move much further out than Northfield area in order to swing it on $55 k , even if you ate Spam alot ! he he... Another $20 k. might do it and even at that, youd need to live conservatively . If youre willing to drive between 1-1.5 hours each way, consider the Antioch/Lake Villa/Round Lake area where housing is far cheaper , more of a country atmosphere, and not so over-crowded either.

[myrc60]

Originally Posted by Anthera

The "public" schools in the US are free(the opposite of the UK "public" schools). Just about anywhere around Northfield would have good to very good public schools.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the public schools in our country are FREE; they are paid for through property taxes. In Cook County property taxes are very high and getting higher. It is one reason we left Chicago.

[Anthera]

"Free public education" is what is in the state constitution.