Cost of Living In El Segundo CA vs Hartford CT (Los Angeles: for sale, real estate)

[Ajeck]

I'm currently debating between a job offer near Hartford,CT and El Segundo, CA. One factor I've been considering in my decision is cost of living. I took a quick look at some online Cost of Living calculators to see what numbers it would generate.

I used a base salary (just the default amount that was already in the calculator) of $50,000 in CT and calculated the equivalent salary in CA

1)Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed $100,380
2) http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costo...tofliving.html 60,030

I understand that CA is generally more expensive than CT but needing a salary that is double seems kind of ridiculous. The 60,030 sounds a bit more reasonable. Is it really that much more expensive to live around El Segundo, CA compared to Hartford, CT?

Also, the El, Segundo offer is only 4% high than Hardford, CT. Would it be possible to reduce the difference between the two areas so that El Segundo is only about 5-10% more expensive than CT? Do you think it would be worth it?

[uptown_urbanist]

I did a quick input of "Los Angeles" instead of "El Segundo," and the cost wasn't as drastically different (still significant, though). One thought is that it appears that the calculators compare cities themselves, not metro areas; from the little I know about Hartford it seems that it's highly segregated, with housing in the city perhaps being far cheaper than the immediately adjacent suburbs. That might skew some of the direct comparisons. Another thing to think about is whether or not you're intending to buy a house, whether now or down the road. If so, then yes, I think (although haven't compared the prices recently) that buying a place in El Segundo or the LA area in general is going to cost more than a similar place in the Hartford area. And, admittedly totally unscientific, and I didn't live in El Segundo, but my friends in West Hartford pay significantly less in rent than I did in LA. I don't think there's any way around the fact that housing in LA is going to cost more. Whether or not it's worth it is a differerent matter. Good luck with your decision (and congratulations on TWO job offers!); I'll be curious to hear what others have to say.

[esmith143]

Notice the 5x difference in housing in your first calculator.

El Segundo is a prestigious coastal city with cutthroat competition for real estate. (Suffice to say that the cheapest 3-bedroom house for sale right now in El Segundo proper is listed for $849,000.) Hartford is a major ghetto and it would do you good to stay out of Hartford at night. As you see, it's not a particularly fair comparison. Substitute Greenwich for Hartford and your salary ratio is immediately reversed.

Which one should you choose, depends on your family situation and your income. If you're single and the offer is high enough that you won't feel stifled by a $1200 to $1500 rent payment, you'll enjoy El Segundo area much more than CT. If you have a family and kids, it will be difficult to find anything comfortable with good schools within reasonable commute distance from El Segundo (unless the offer is for something like 200k/year), I'd go with CT.

[Charles]

Besides the Best Places tool, try going on to real estate websites (if you plan on buying) or using housing rent tools to get an idea what you'd get for an expected price to pay. These would be real, street level, data points. Also compare other quality of life indicators such as traffic, crime, and demographics.

Finally, if you need a tiebreaker, there's no substitute for the Southern California weather.

[JTGJR]

I have a friend who lives in Glastonbury, just outside of Hartford. They custom-built their 2700 sqft home on a 25-acre property in 1996. My home in El Segundo is roughly the same size on about 1/4 acre. According to Zillow, my home is worth twice that of my friend's. So, as far as cost of living, it's all about real estate. The tax rates are about the same, but property taxes are much higher in CT. I can't speak to rental rates, but probably considerably higher here for an equivalent apartment.

If it helps, the median household income in El Segundo is around $75K-80K per year.

[SouthBayStuff]

I am a Realtor in Beach Cities which covers El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach in general. Median home price in El Segundo is $787,000 and $242,700 in Hartford CT. It's very difficult to do a comparison since:

1) Different State. California has 1/8 of US population. There must be a reason why 1 out of 8 people is here.

2) El Segundo is considered premium real estate. Anything close to the beach will be a premium for it - like it or not.

3) Looking back 10 years, real estate in Beach Cities (including El Segundo) are UP average 100% or even more in some areas. Yes, you can buy a piece of property in El Segundo in 2000 for about $350,000.

Cost of living here is NOT reasonable due to the price of our real estate and related cost. However, the quality of life is what you pay for.

Hope that help!!