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I saw that Houston was above San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Miami and Boston, and I had to go back to make sure I wasn't looking at an article in The Onion.
I saw that Houston was above San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Miami and Boston, and I had to go back to make sure I wasn't looking at an article in The Onion.
Yeah, i thought the economist was suppposed to be better than american mags? Something broke in their intelligence unit if they think houston costs more than sf...
In all the states Hawai'i ranked last for value for dollar earned vs cost of living. For each dollar a Hawai'i employee earns he or she only gets a .50 cent value for it. Dead last in America. Though somethings are visually more expensive on the islands like milk, rents and some goods. The real expense on the islands is the low wages, taxes vs cost of living. I can't speak for other countries and cities outside of the U.S because I've never lived in then. But comparing them maybe like comparing apples to oranges?
From MN, lived in Minneapolis a good long time. The many many times I have been to Hawaii I didn't think it was that much more expensive than what I spend at home. It was bit more but not awful. Course I did not live in HI just vacationed so I can't comment on taxes and real estate. I tell friend and relatives here that it's not that expensive to go to Hawaii. I done it many times. I'm not surprised at the article.
In all the states Hawai'i ranked last for value for dollar earned vs cost of living. For each dollar a Hawai'i employee earns he or she only gets a .50 cent value for it. Dead last in America. Though somethings are visually more expensive on the islands like milk, rents and some goods. The real expense on the islands is the low wages, taxes vs cost of living. I can't speak for other countries and cities outside of the U.S because I've never lived in then. But comparing them maybe like comparing apples to oranges?
Oahu has, by far, the highest paid blue collar workforce in the nation. Virtually all fields related to construction here eclipse salaries in the mainland. This includes white collar workers in all fields of engineering, architecture, planning, etc. We have a high proportion of white and blue collar federal workers (incl military) on Oahu too... which get paid very well and are compensated quite generously for COL.
Teachers, cops, firefighters, etc are paid less than what they do in mainland states. As are many white collar professionals in industries like finance, medicine, IT, etc. But to put a blanket statement that every dollar earned here only goes HALF the distance as it would in an average US mainland city is just pure silliness.
With the exception of our high housing cost (which will never change as it is a result of high construction/permitting/material/labor cost and limited land), Honolulu is only marginally more expensive than most other big cities in the US.
Considering we are a tiny island smack in the middle of the world's largest ocean yet are more affordable than places like San Francisco and New York is shocking in itself.
Oahu has, by far, the highest paid blue collar workforce in the nation. Virtually all fields related to construction here eclipse salaries in the mainland. This includes white collar workers in all fields of engineering, architecture, planning, etc. We have a high proportion of white and blue collar federal workers (incl military) on Oahu too... which get paid very well and are compensated quite generously for COL.
Teachers, cops, firefighters, etc are paid less than what they do in mainland states. As are many white collar professionals in industries like finance, medicine, IT, etc. But to put a blanket statement that every dollar earned here only goes HALF the distance as it would in an average US mainland city is just pure silliness.
With the exception of our high housing cost (which will never change as it is a result of high construction/permitting/material/labor cost and limited land), Honolulu is only marginally more expensive than most other big cities in the US.
Considering we are a tiny island smack in the middle of the world's largest ocean yet are more affordable than places like San Francisco and New York is shocking in itself.
Don't take my word for it pj. Here's a few sources and there are others when I have more time to hunt them down.
Had you actually read pj's post - you'd note he was referring to cities.
Quite frankly, any survey that so broadly attacks this at a state level is going to be seriously flawed.
Pj's original premise that Honolulu is less expensive than San Francisco or New York City is correct and its also correct that the statement is amazing considering Honolulu is in one of the most remote locations in the world.
The median single family home in San Francisco is a staggering $1.3 Million - even a condo in San Francisco has a median of over $1.1 Million
By comparison, the median home price in Honolulu is $730K and a condo is $370K
Lastly, this thread stated as a city thread not a state by state comparison.
Had you actually read pj's post - you'd note he was referring to cities.
Quite frankly, any survey that so broadly attacks this at a state level is going to be seriously flawed.
Pj's original premise that Honolulu is less expensive than San Francisco or New York City is correct and its also correct that the statement is amazing considering Honolulu is in one of the most remote locations in the world.
The median single family home in San Francisco is a staggering $1.3 Million - even a condo in San Francisco has a median of over $1.1 Million
By comparison, the median home price in Honolulu is $730K and a condo is $370K
Lastly, this thread stated as a city thread not a state by state comparison.
Ok let's compare city to city. Sf has higher rents and price for homes. Honolulu is higher for food and utilities and transportation. SF pays higher wages on average. Sf has higher sales tax but the GET tax is really not a sales tax per sa and is applied to almost everything and on average Honolulu residents pay more taxes per capita. Again it's like comparing apples to oranges.
Of course I can always be wrong I am making my opinions on my experience and from memory of past stats.
Here's a fun stat for you. Did you know Honolulu/Waikiki hotels rates are higher then S.F and N.Y.C too? Mahalo for the correction on city compression vs state. It was my bad
Ok let's compare city to city. Sf has higher rents and price for homes. Honolulu is higher for food and utilities and transportation. SF pays higher wages on average. Sf has higher sales tax but the GET tax is really not a sales tax per sa and is applied to almost everything and on average Honolulu residents pay more taxes per capita. Again it's like comparing apples to oranges.
Lets do some apples to apples on a city by city basis.
The median single family home in San Francisco is $1.3 Million - a condo in San Francisco has a median of over $1.1 Million
By comparison, the median home price in Honolulu is $730K and a condo is $370K
Household income is $78,378 in SF vs. $73,581 in Honolulu
Property tax in SF is over 1% of the value of the home - Honolulu is .35% (that makes a condo at the median at least $13,000/year in property tax vs. $2,000 or less for a median condo in Honolulu)
Those differences buy you a lot of electricity and food
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