Cost of living help. (Philadelphia, Allentown: middle-class, apartments, rent)

[thelazyone]

I've been trying to compare the difference of cost of living between my currently location town of Montgomery NY & west end of Allentown, Emmaus and Macungie area. Every website I've used to compare the differences recorded a plus difference. Is this true? In other words; if I made 65k in NY, I would have to make 76k in ABE. With the exception of pay rate, I assumed the cost of living would be considerably less in ABE than in the lower Hudson Valley.

[loose cannon]

pay low and expenses high. People are cheap here. They do not pay what you are worth. People who are qualified to make $15 an hr will get $10.

[18060]

The cost of living may be lower, but the pay you make will also be lower. But the cost of living here has jumped in the past decade, and it will soon reach the point someday where you won't be able to tell where PA ends and NJ begins.

[thelazyone]

Groceries & car insurance seem equal to what I pay in the hudson valley. Rent is about equal as well in some of the locations I visited yesterday. I'm not sure what utilities run for and I know my pay will not be the same unless maybe I commute down into Philly which doesn't really guarantee anything.

[dobbsart]

I have found the cost of living here to far exceed what people seem to think it should be...in other words, wages are still matching the cost of living in the Lehigh Valley before the great emigration of NY and NJ into the area. I've only been here 4 months but my family and I are barely getting by on what I thought would be a fairly generous, middle-class salary.

[toobusytoday]

I think it's less expensive area then NYC or Philadelphia, but the Lehigh Valley is not some rural, isolated area and it's not known to be a low cost area. I am surprised that it's not the same as the Hudson Valley.

[farmerk]

It's all relative!

Moved from NYC and everything here seems amazingly reasonable
(mainly housing)

Can't say that car insurance, groceries, etc. are that meaningfully cheaper, just a little bit.

Difference in state tax rate is a biggie (but keep in mind the city-specific earned income tax when doing your budgeting)

[thelazyone]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I think it's less expensive area then NYC or Philadelphia, but the Lehigh Valley is not some rural, isolated area and it's not known to be a low cost area. I am surprised that it's not the same as the Hudson Valley.

My wife and I settled on an apartment @ ********** Apartments. $1000 for a 2br, 1 1/2 bathroom, kitchen, dinning room, central air, and plenty of closet spaces in Emmaus. Two bedrooms on my side of the river in the Hudson Valley is going for slightly less, but no where near the condition of the apt. we are looking to move into. Central air will definitely jack up my electric bill, but not having to pay $15 a day to commute to work will offset the difference in electric bilsl. RCN has a triple pay package going for $109 for the first year. I'm currently paying close to $200 for Time Warner. As farmerk mentioned, it truly is all relative.

[farmerk]

The little things do add up,

I am saving about 20 a month on car insurance

Gas is definitely cheaper here, sometimes by as much as 40-50 cents per gal.

The per kwH cost of electricity is lower (of course I offset that by moving to much more sq ft house)

Health insurance rates are lower than NY

Highway tolls negligible comparatively

[thelazyone]

Originally Posted by farmerk

The little things do add up,

I am saving about 20 a month on car insurance

Gas is definitely cheaper here, sometimes by as much as 40-50 cents per gal.

The per kwH cost of electricity is lower (of course I offset that by moving to much more sq ft house)

Health insurance rates are lower than NY

Highway tolls negligible comparatively

Where did you move from and where are you currently living? I'm originally from NYC, but lived up in Slatington for a few years when I was a kid. I never thought I would be moving back to PA, but I am no longer in a NY state of mind. My wife and I looked looked at area's in NC & NM, but decided PA is good enough for us.