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You've basically listed all the pros of NYC for yourself. Also, you listed no real pros for Raleigh except it may be cheaper.
You can't put a price on being miserable where you live. If you are young, attractive and, paid well enough to support your own lifestyle AND save, then NYC has every advantage over (insert generic American municipality here: Raleigh).
Most of the US, in my not-so-humble opinion, is total drive thru territory, unless you own infrastructure or have many family members there.
If you have a hankering to live in NYC then go for it. According to the paycheck calculator, a salary of $116,000 per year would give you monthly take home pay of $6,042 in NYC vs $6,432 in Raleigh. Not much of a difference.
You could easily afford the average rent of a 1 bedroom apartment in the city of $2,682 with plenty left over for other expenses, plus restaurants, clubs, dating, etc.
Please note that NYC can be a lonely place especially if you have no close friends or relatives already living there. And unlike folks in the south, New Yorkers are not known for their native friendliness.
Having lived in both Manhattan and Raleigh, I advise you to consider your needs and preferences.
I guess you know what it costs to get housing in NYC. If not, get that info right away. We had a rent stabilized apt but those are not easy to find. Raleigh housing is getting more expensive recently because of transplants moving in. Still much less than NYC and a Raleigh apt such as mine come with lots of amenities. Be aware than many NYC landlords want you to earn an annual income of 40 times the rent.
Do you want good public transit? Not in Raleigh.
Raleigh has great diversity.
Raleigh schools are good but fighting the burden of large increases in students.
Crime is up in Raleigh, but far from NYC.
Not very much to do nearby. You need to travel on horribly designed, unlighted roads.
I'm currently grappling with making a major decision. Should I move to NYC or Raleigh, NC? My employer offered me two transfer opportunities and I have to make a decision soon, as to where I will be relocating.
I'm black/mid 30s, w/out children and single. My income is around ~116k/year. Needless to say, I'm very excited, but at the same time very nervous. I attended college in NYC. I was happy to graduate and move on, but now I'm feeling a bit elated about possibly returning to the "rotten apple."
My optimism is high, but even on my income, NYC is very costly. Overall, I'm wondering if it's truly worth it. Please share your thoughts.
Background: I grew up in NYC and lived in the Triangle for 30+ years. Now live in Philly.
I wouldn't live in NYC regardless how much you paid me. But that's me - my preferences, my stage of life, etc. Having said that: chose NYC. For better or worse (and better outweighs worse), there's nowhere like it in the US, and few like it in the world. You have the opportunity, so take it. You've been offered a transfer there, so it sort of stands to reason that in a couple of years another transfer opportunity might be presented to you. If at that point you want out of The City, go. Unless the decision is purely economics/COL, for someone w/ your demographics there's no way Raleigh or the Triangle wins this race.
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