How much should a family make? (Chicago, Media: apartment, credit card, daycare)

[Vantia]

We are currently looking to relocate; how much income do you think, for a family of four, would be appropriate to live in Chicago or near there?

[Vlajos]

Way too wide open a question. More details needed.

[MannheimMadman]

I'm going to bid $1, Bob.

[oakparkdude]

Half a million would do the trick!

[emathias]

Anything over about $15 million per year would be inappropriate for a family smaller than about 300.

Seriously, though, the "global standard" would say about $300,000/year to live in the nice parts of Chicago, send your kids to very good private schools, live in a nice but not outrageously so house in a safe location well-served by local businesses, with a couple nice cars, enough money to save for retirement and kids college and to have good vacations.

A "typical white-collar" American family would do well on half that much here - around $150,000 year.

I suspect the "average" family with two school-aged kids in the Chicago area gets by fine on between $75,000 and $100,000 per year.

I think it would be hard but possible to do it successfully on around $50k/year. Less than that and the choices can get quite hard.

[Vantia]

My husband is having some interviews from there. We are not sure about the salary yet, but people said they've heard around $70k. We were hoping to buy a house wherever we moved to next. I'm not sure if this would be enough to live "comfortably" in the Chicago areas. I don't want to be stuck in a townhouse or apartment either.

[nana053]

This is by state. The median income in Illinois is $68.117 a bit higher than the US median

Median Income for 4-Person Families, by State - U.S Census Bureau

There is a pdf for 2009 that gives it as a bit less.

http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/Navi...IAN_INCOME.pdf

City data has a graphic for Chicago here:

http://www.city-data.com/income/inco...llinois.html#b

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Vantia

My husband is having some interviews from there. We are not sure about the salary yet, but people said they've heard around $70k. We were hoping to buy a house wherever we moved to next. I'm not sure if this would be enough to live "comfortably" in the Chicago areas. I don't want to be stuck in a townhouse or apartment either.

Will you work as well, or only one salary?

You can live ok on that. If you want a single family home, you'll be living either in a smaller home, or a less popular neighborhood or far from the main part of the urban area. But you can definitely buy with that income. The best school districts tend to be more expensive, but there are still decent ones that aren't terribly expensive.

The $300,000 figure is about not having to make any real trade-offs.

The $150,000 figure is about still having real choices available.

The $75-$100,000 figures are about being able to still afford some luxuries.

At $70,000 you'll be able to have a solid life, but it won't be luxurious. But you won't feel like you're about to fall down the rabbit hole or anything.

[Vantia]

Originally Posted by emathias

Will you work as well, or only one salary?

You can live ok on that. If you want a single family home, you'll be living either in a smaller home, or a less popular neighborhood or far from the main part of the urban area. But you can definitely buy with that income. The best school districts tend to be more expensive, but there are still decent ones that aren't terribly expensive.

The $300,000 figure is about not having to make any real trade-offs.

The $150,000 figure is about still having real choices available.

The $75-$100,000 figures are about being able to still afford some luxuries.

At $70,000 you'll be able to have a solid life, but it won't be luxurious. But you won't feel like you're about to fall down the rabbit hole or anything.

I would like to try to find a job or return back to school. Our children are both young, and are not in school yet, so I would need daycare or a trusted sitter. (they are 4 and 3) My husband is in the military but is getting out, so right now we are willing to move anywhere. We wanted a house with 3+ bedrooms and a decent sized yard, I wasn't/not sure if that is doable in Chicago. I just don't want us to be living in a bad neighborhood or a nasty house. I'd say right now our income is around $52, we live in military housing and get free healthcare. I know that will be something to add into expenses, from going into the civilian world. Also, we both have student loan payments. We have one car paid off and the other one is soon to be paid off too, and no credit card debt.

[knitgirl]

I would suggest suburbs, we'll need to know where he'll be working and what your housing budget is to make meaningful recommendations.