What kind of salary justifies the LIRR commute? (Ronkonkoma, Accord: house, school)
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I did it for $272 a mo on $54k but that was years ago. I also worked close to Penn and didnt need subway (wouldnt take it anyway). I justified it bc I would have made way less $ on the island so for me it was worth it. I think if u can get equal pay on LI then the train isnt worth it but for the fields where the city pays infinitely better than I would say it is.
7 posts in and not one person has given a number, so I'll give you what it would take me to commute.
My current salary plus AT LEAST $25k.
That number is going to be different for everyone, so there is no way to answer it for the OP. Only the OP can answer that. We can just point out other factors, as I did. I would not take a job in NYC for $25k more than what I am making. I wouldn't even take one for double my salary. But that's just me.
If you're commuting on LI, your commuting costs are gas + increased wear & tear on your car + potentially increased insurance (my insurance company charges slightly more for higher-mileage drivers).
If you're commuting to NYC, your commuting costs are monthly train pass + parking fees (if your local station has a pay lot) + Metrocard (if you need one). These costs are off-set, though, by savings in gas, wear & tear on your car, and possibly lower car insurance, since you will be driving significantly less. So add up your NYC costs, subtract car-related savings, and that's the actual cost of your NYC commute.
Once you've figured out your commuting costs, you definitely need the NYC job to pay at least enough more than the LI job to cover increased commuting costs, otherwise you're losing money. In addition, if you're going to spend more time commuting going to NYC, you need to figure out how much that extra time is worth to you. An easy way to do this is as follows:
1. Figure out how much time you spend, door-to-door, on a typical LI work day (i.e. you leave your driveway at 8am, work from 8:45-5:45, and are home by 6:30, so total time spent is about 10.5 hours).
2. Divide your current weekly salary by hours spent, door-to-door, on work (so if you make $1,000/week, you divide that by 52.5 (10.5 x 5), and you get a true hourly wage of $19.05).
3. Do the same math for the NYC job.
If the NYC job pays enough more that you're still making more money after factoring in the commute, then, for me, that meets the test of being "worth it," but I'm also biased because in general, career opportunities/trajectories are far, far superior in NYC in my industry, compared with the opportunities on LI. This may not be the case for you.
Not everybody is going to see it as a simple salary per hour basis. Again, it depends on what is important to you. As I have said many times on this forum, the most important part of my day is having dinner with my wife (and kids, once we have them), so I would never voluntarily take any job that would make that difficult or impossible, no matter how much it pays per hour. But that's just me.
That is definitely true, and the point that I keep trying to make! I would personally find your lifestyle unacceptable, but you are happy with it, which is all that matters. But it is frustrating when people try to force their lifestyle on me.
That number is going to be different for everyone, so there is no way to answer it for the OP. Only the OP can answer that. We can just point out other factors, as I did. I would not take a job in NYC for $25k more than what I am making. I wouldn't even take one for double my salary. But that's just me.
yep there is no answer.
I wouldn't take 25k more for a daily commute to work by Route 110. I was offered to work in Greenwich CT again for a quite a bump in salary...that is a really tough sell also.
7 posts in and not one person has given a number, so I'll give you what it would take me to commute.
My current salary plus AT LEAST $25k.
This is me. I've actually turned down a job that offered 25k more. Would have been a 100 minute commute each way and with that lost time from my life, cost of commuting (plus all the LIRR and subway headaches and delays), starting at square one with vacation time and benefits, it wasn't enough for me. 25k more would get me to listen and think hard about it, but I'd probably need even more.
The salary required to make the LIRR commute worthwhile is not a linear calculation. Sure, there's a break-even after paying the ridiculously high fares, but how do you compensate for all those hours you'll miss your family, while the trains are late (which is fairly often depending on the line you're on)? How do you account for the annoyances of fellow riders who leave food all over or talk on their cell phones like they're the only ones in the car? And heaven forbid you have an irregular schedule, you'll end up waiting for the next train and again, depending on the line, it could be a long, long wait.
On the other hand, you have the LI traffic when you're driving...
Not everybody is going to see it as a simple salary per hour basis. Again, it depends on what is important to you. As I have said many times on this forum, the most important part of my day is having dinner with my wife (and kids, once we have them), so I would never voluntarily take any job that would make that difficult or impossible, no matter how much it pays per hour. But that's just me.
Which is why I specifically indicated in my post repeatedly that this was my point of view, and how I would do the math. Not really clear on how that's so very different from your post that it requires you to obsessively refute me, but I know that's one of your favorite things to do around here, so hey, have at it.
(Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, unless that opinion contradicts yours or challenges your worldview in any way, right?)
Depends... if you make 60k at a LI job then I'd say 85k+ minimum to even begin to consider going out there. 100k on LI you better be offered 130k imo. Of course there's also the factor of whether you could climb a ladder at the new job.
Last edited by ovi8; 05-13-2014 at 10:15 AM..
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