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Old 05-26-2018, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Taipei
7,773 posts, read 10,059,682 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl View Post
The costs of living in NYC isn't just housing. Taxes kick your butt and most everything else is high. In the city you pay both state and city taxes. For $100,000, the total state and city tax burden is over 10%. Calculators suggest that the total tax burden for someone in that salary range is approaching 40%. So, let's say that someone nets $60,000 a year that they can actually spend. That's 5 grand a month. Now, I've been in my fare share of $2500 a month apartments in Manhattan and can tell that none of them have been places that I'd choose to live. They are teeny-tiny, without central A/C or elevators. Look out onto dumpy side/back yards and don't have kitchens that you'd actually want to (or could) use. You'd probably cut off the gas to your oven and use it to store something because you don't have enough closet space. Of your $2500 left over after rent, you'll pay about $125 for your monthly metro card, and God knows how much in monthly uber rides because you won't always be able to use the subway. An average of just one $10 uber ride a day will set you back another $300. You'll spend $15 bucks a day to eat a healthy fast lunch near your job for a total of another $300 a month. You'll have monthly internet and cable bills from $100-$200. Now, because you live in NYC and you're single, you'll belong to gym that will set you back another $200+/month. So far, your $2500 has evaporated down to under $1400, or $350 weekly, and we haven't even talked about utilities, laundry, groceries, evenings out on weekends with friends, vacations, savings/IRA, clothes, etc. It's just not enough money. Now, don't tell me that you could live without this and live without that. That's unrealistic, especially since living in NYC means taking advantage of all the things that the city has to offer. You're not just going to sit at home on evenings and twiddle your thumbs. If you were going to do that, you could just live anywhere that's cheap. Oh, and forget about EVER owning a piece of real estate at that salary.
Now that I've outlined the scenario above, I'd like to revise my previous post and say that I wouldn't consider NYC as the single person that I am without at least $250,000 a year.
Median household income is $67500 in Manhattan. Not that you are wrong for wanting the lifestyle that you want, but in reality most people live on far less.
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Old 05-26-2018, 10:55 AM
 
91,968 posts, read 122,044,192 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marie Joseph View Post
You can do well in many place on that salary; just likely not large cities

You can live like a king on that salary in low COL areas.

I'm right around that salary and I live really well here as sole breadwinner. I would probably need to make double that to live well in NYC or other high COL cities.
Yes, Interior Northeastern cities would work in this regard, when considering urbanity. I say that the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area is a smaller/mid sized area that has appealing urban neighborhoods where you could live off of that income. I’m thinking of the Stockade in Schenectady, Center Square in Albany and around RPI in Troy. You also have small cities in the area like Cohoes, Watervliet and Rensselaer with a pretty strong urban character.

There are others as well like the neighborhoods west of Main Street in Buffalo(Parkside, Park Meadow, Central Park, North Park/North Buffalo and Elmwood Village), pretty much all of SE Rochester, Westcott/University, Franklin Square(condos/apartments)and a few others in Syracuse and parts of PA metros like Harrisburg and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton.

Population criteria will likely come into play.
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Old 05-26-2018, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Brooklyn, NY
9,860 posts, read 14,183,605 times
Reputation: 10888
Quote:
Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl View Post
The costs of living in NYC isn't just housing. Taxes kick your butt and most everything else is high. In the city you pay both state and city taxes. For $100,000, the total state and city tax burden is over 10%. Calculators suggest that the total tax burden for someone in that salary range is approaching 40%. So, let's say that someone nets $60,000 a year that they can actually spend. That's 5 grand a month. Now, I've been in my fare share of $2500 a month apartments in Manhattan and can tell that none of them have been places that I'd choose to live. They are teeny-tiny, without central A/C or elevators. Look out onto dumpy side/back yards and don't have kitchens that you'd actually want to (or could) use. You'd probably cut off the gas to your oven and use it to store something because you don't have enough closet space. Of your $2500 left over after rent, you'll pay about $125 for your monthly metro card, and God knows how much in monthly uber rides because you won't always be able to use the subway. An average of just one $10 uber ride a day will set you back another $300. You'll spend $15 bucks a day to eat a healthy fast lunch near your job for a total of another $300 a month. You'll have monthly internet and cable bills from $100-$200. Now, because you live in NYC and you're single, you'll belong to gym that will set you back another $200+/month. So far, your $2500 has evaporated down to under $1400, or $350 weekly, and we haven't even talked about utilities, laundry, groceries, evenings out on weekends with friends, vacations, savings/IRA, clothes, etc. It's just not enough money. Now, don't tell me that you could live without this and live without that. That's unrealistic, especially since living in NYC means taking advantage of all the things that the city has to offer. You're not just going to sit at home on evenings and twiddle your thumbs. If you were going to do that, you could just live anywhere that's cheap. Oh, and forget about EVER owning a piece of real estate at that salary.
Now that I've outlined the scenario above, I'd like to revise my previous post and say that I wouldn't consider NYC as the single person that I am without at least $250,000 a year.
Yep, this is true. To live a lifestyle in NYC as a single person, in a nice neighborhood (think Upper West Side), as you would in upper middle class suburbia USA, you'd have to rent an apartment for at least $2,500/month for a 1 bedroom-and that may even only be a large studio for the prime area of the UWS--high 60s to high 80s.

And in NYC it's hard to be there (millions do it though--UGH) when poor, because NYC is all about "buy buy buy" and "spend spend spend," nonstop in your face, with everything, everyday. You can easily live paycheck to paycheck, credit card to credit card in NYC, on $100k/annually.
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Old 05-26-2018, 02:11 PM
 
8,090 posts, read 6,889,666 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc View Post
Yep, this is true. To live a lifestyle in NYC as a single person, in a nice neighborhood (think Upper West Side), as you would in upper middle class suburbia USA, you'd have to rent an apartment for at least $2,500/month for a 1 bedroom-and that may even only be a large studio for the prime area of the UWS--high 60s to high 80s.

And in NYC it's hard to be there (millions do it though--UGH) when poor, because NYC is all about "buy buy buy" and "spend spend spend," nonstop in your face, with everything, everyday. You can easily live paycheck to paycheck, credit card to credit card in NYC, on $100k/annually.
Why would a single Taylor’s person want to live in an upper middle-class suburban? Truthfully, I probably wouldn’t even want to live on the upper West side single and childless. New York isn’t the kind of city where there are one or two desirable neighborhoods. There are tons of neighborhoods for every type of lifestyle. We could play this game where we fixate on three of the four of the most expensive to make the city look less attainable than it is, or we could be realistic.
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Old 05-28-2018, 11:10 PM
 
1,012 posts, read 764,604 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc View Post
Yep, this is true. To live a lifestyle in NYC as a single person, in a nice neighborhood (think Upper West Side), as you would in upper middle class suburbia USA, you'd have to rent an apartment for at least $2,500/month for a 1 bedroom-and that may even only be a large studio for the prime area of the UWS--high 60s to high 80s.

And in NYC it's hard to be there (millions do it though--UGH) when poor, because NYC is all about "buy buy buy" and "spend spend spend," nonstop in your face, with everything, everyday. You can easily live paycheck to paycheck, credit card to credit card in NYC, on $100k/annually.
I lived in Manhattan on the inflation adjusted equivalent of $14-28,000 and my rent was from $7-11,000. So my first year in Manhattan I lived on $7,000 after rent. Barely squeaked by but it was doable.

When I lived in NY there was a saying: "Living in NYC is like eating a sh-t sandwich, the more bread you got, the less sh-t you taste." Basically alluding to the high cost of living but also the generally harsh living environment.
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Old 05-29-2018, 02:47 AM
 
11,610 posts, read 10,282,114 times
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If your definition of urbanity includes high culture (superb art museums, orchestras, etc.), world renown medical facilities, pro sports, great theater district, great park systems, a somewhat robust mass transit system, foodie scene, etc., definitely check out Cleveland. It offers much lower housing prices and cost of living than any comparable city in the U.S.

Start with post 15 in this thread.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/cleve...ctivities.html
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Old 05-29-2018, 10:14 PM
 
Location: South Beach and DT Raleigh
13,966 posts, read 24,000,674 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gladhands View Post
This isn’t a pole, because I’m interested in input for three different criteria; best city for a single person earning 100k, best city for a childless couple earning a combined 100k, and best city for a family with 100k household income.

Single: NYC
Couple: Chicago
Family: ?

I prefer urban cities, so I’m leaning towards Pittsburgh, but if I didn’t care about urbanity, DFW would probably be a pretty clear number one.
Can you get by on 100K in NYC as a single person. Obviously you can. However, per the OP, the question was which city is best. On 100K a year, NYC isn't the best because of the experience would be too limited on that income, but one could make a stronger argument for Chicago.
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Old 05-30-2018, 09:22 AM
 
8,090 posts, read 6,889,666 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl View Post
Can you get by on 100K in NYC as a single person. Obviously you can. However, per the OP, the question was which city is best. On 100K a year, NYC isn't the best because of the experience would be too limited on that income, but one could make a stronger argument for Chicago.
One could indeed make a stronger argument for Chicago. One would definitely have a higher housing standard in Chicago. I'm a HUGE Chicago booster, and I personally, would rather live in NYC single and childless on 100k. Whether others agree, I couldn't care less. To each his own, but I categorically reject the notion that a single person can't live comfortably in NYC on 100k.

I would HAPPILY live in any of these apartments, and have enough money left save, and enjoy a fun city lifestyle.

https://streeteasy.com/building/62-7...e-manhattan/5n
https://streeteasy.com/building/110-...et-brooklyn/3l
https://streeteasy.com/building/454-...manhattan/5rww
https://streeteasy.com/building/95-p...et-manhattan/3
https://streeteasy.com/building/388-...ace-brooklyn/c
https://streeteasy.com/building/180-...st-brooklyn/12
https://streeteasy.com/building/345-...ue-brooklyn/8b
https://streeteasy.com/building/9-el...et-new_york/8a


I understand that these apartments aren't for everyone, but I grew up in NYC, so these are perfectly acceptable to me. FYI; I am the OP.
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:30 PM
 
Location: Brooklyn, New York
5,425 posts, read 5,646,128 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by projectmaximus View Post
Median household income is $67500 in Manhattan. Not that you are wrong for wanting the lifestyle that you want, but in reality most people live on far less.
Those people do not pay for market rate housing and most don't even pay utility bills.

With that said, you can most definitely live on 100k comfortably in NYC as a single person. Outside of housing cost, with the advent of warehouse automation and online shopping everything else is not that much different $ wise from place to place. You also ain't using Uber on a daily basis if you have unlimited metrocard and use the subway... come on now. If you live in Manhattan and ride share, there are other ride sharing services like Via and others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gladhands View Post
That may seem extreme if you’re comparing it to the Sunbelt, but most of the places I’ve lived have had similar tax burdens. What you won’t have a New York is a car payment, auto insurance or weekly gas fill ups. You also won’t pay for heat in your apartment. Renting, in Chicago and Boston, I’ve paid as much as $300/mo for heat.
Besides heat, you also wouldn't pay that much for AC in the summer either. Realistically it would be running for maybe 2 months out of the year, maybe 3 if you really don't like warm weather. Also, if you ever decide to own property, NYC has very low property taxes in city limits.

Last edited by Gantz; 05-30-2018 at 12:45 PM..
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Taipei
7,773 posts, read 10,059,682 times
Reputation: 4974
Quote:
Originally Posted by gladhands View Post
One could indeed make a stronger argument for Chicago. One would definitely have a higher housing standard in Chicago. I'm a HUGE Chicago booster, and I personally, would rather live in NYC single and childless on 100k. Whether others agree, I couldn't care less. To each his own, but I categorically reject the notion that a single person can't live comfortably in NYC on 100k.
I agree, but actually I am reconsidering my initial reply as I think I might go with Chicago for 100k as well. The primary issue is that for my pursuits NYC would be much better for me, so it kinda tips the scales unfairly despite the better living in Chitown. I'm torn but Chicago is probably the right answer since this isnt necessarily supposed to be about "me" but more about the general population.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gantz View Post
Those people do not pay for market rate housing and most don't even pay utility bills.
I'm not going to refute your statement. But with a population of over 1.6M in Manhattan, that means that ~800k people are part of households at or below the median household income listed. Presumably the larger households will have higher income so likely the number is proportionately lower than 800k but that's still a vast number of people and a very large percentage of the population. If there is subsidized housing and rent control for close to half of the population then that's a tremendous testament to the NYC housing authority's ability to provide for and protect its residents.
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