Cost of living in Knoxville comparing with other cities (Johnson City: apartment, house)

[hoosier07]

Hi y'all....I'm back in town....

You thought you were "gonna get rid of me huh".... not that easy

Anyway, I received the first job offer yesterday and of course it's lower than my current paycheck....I do not want to get a pay cut and I'm looking for a reply to the company with data to back me up. The company says the current salary for others doing the same job is much lower than my current pay.....

I went into several websites with cost of living comparison and there is an interesting patern.....half of those show K'ville being 10% less expensive than Indianapolis and the other half....exactly the same....I would need the same salary to maintain my standard of living.

Would you that live in Knoxville or in the area would have some data that is more realistic ?

Thanks....I'm negotiating now and if we reach an agreement....I will be visiting with my family seriously considering the move to TN....

[hiknapster]

Well, I still think that the cost of living is about the same in Indiana and Knoxville, but I don't think that matters when negotiating your salary. In fact, I know it doesn't.

What you need are stats that prove that you should be paid x amount of dollars.

Sliverbox gave us this website, and it is the only one that I have found to be accurate. It's the fed's stats.

http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm

My husband had the same problem. He kept hearing, "You won't get paid THAT in Knoxville."

He took a job where he was paid THEIR rate for the first month, and if they liked him, they would pay him HIS rate after that. Instead, they liked him so much, they gave him his salary after three weeks.

I hope this helps you!

[hoosier07]

Thank you hiknapster !

I checked the website you suggested and there is a $10,000 gap between IN and TN on the same job.....which basically the offer makes sense if you follow this .gov website. However, considering the real life cost of living being the same, which I believe it is, a major reduction like that will be a direct impact on my lifestyle. I will continue to negotiate.....:-)

[hiknapster]

DEFINITELY! I would tell them with all your experience and accomplishments, that they NEED to pay you what you are worth.

Remember, they aren't going to care about cost of living. That has nothing to do with their organization. What does matter is your contribution to them, and how they cannot do without you!

Go for it!

[hoosier07]

Got it, I'll focus on the accomplishments and added value for their organization and drop the cost of living issue....I agree....next week will be crucial in the negotiations....if everything works fine I will be moving to Knoxville.

[hiknapster]

Yes! I KNOW you can do this!

Even if you are not a salesperson by trade, everyone has to be a salesman during negotiations.

If you have to, write down every positive thing that you have ever done in your career. Most of us are not very good at remembering those things, or do them so often that we don't give them a second thought.

Write down your problem-solving skills. How you handled a crisis. Just wrack your brain. It is really hard to do, but you will be prepared for the negotiations!

Companies don't care about how you will feed your kids or your car payment, but if they think that you will positively affect their bottom line they will do what it takes to hire you at your requirements, or close to it.

[sliverbox]

As far as comparing TN to other states, this can vary with several factors: comparing a lower cost area to another low cost area such as IN to TN versus say CA to TN where the cost difference is around 4:1. Secondly, most lower to middle income jobs across the country pay at about the same level. So if you are a school teacher in SF making 65k a year, then you'll be making 40-45k a year in TN. Not exactly a difference. The difference between a teacher in CA compared to a teacher in TN is that despite the lower income, the TN one would be able to afford home payments versus the CA teacher who cannot. But in IN, there would probably not be such a difference as teachers in both areas have about the same buying power.
Where I see the advantage between TN and say CA,FL, NY, etc etc is if you have cash and savings in hand that you can 'convert' to a higher standard of living. For example, if a couple in CA sells their crappy 2 bedroom house in San Jose for $650,000, they could convert that money into a nicer home in TN with savings leftover. I'm not a huge fan of people doing this, but I can also see there advantage they would have. Many people are doing just that- lots of retirees who cashed out and want to retire here.

I'd venture to say that if you're coming from a lower cost area like IN and plan to move to TN, the swing in cost of living isn't going to be that dramatic.

[TedTAce]

All I know is that the apartment I'm paying for in Florida is about 1000 Sq feet, two bedrooms, and NORMALLY $930/month. My 'new' apartment (just north of the airport) is about the same sq feet, but 3 bedrooms and $420/month. The gas is cheaper too, but just about everything else is the same. I am still looking for a job, but the pay rate has been lower or higher depending on the institution/position. IE the same job will pay diferently depending on where you apply. I am looking forward to finnishing my move at the end of this month and hopefully I will have a job by then too.

[sillygal]

Wow Ted, that is cheap.........North of the airport ? Does Knoxville have an airport? or are u talking about the one outside of Maryville?

[mbmouse]

The airport outside of Maryville IS the Knoxville airport.
Kinda strange,it is actually in the town of Alcoa.
Same goes for the Tri-Cities airport, everyone says "The Johnson City airport" but it is really in Bluntville. I guess everyone uses the name of the largest, nearest town????