Salaries Generally Less in NC (Charlotte: rent, HOA fees, car insurance)

[JamesT]

I am new to this forum, but have been interviewing for several jobs in NC. I wanted to get a consensus and see if people were generally making less for the same job they did elsewhere (other states)? If so, do you feel that the lower cost of living makes up for the lower salary? I would appreciate any input.
JamesT

[BigHouse9]

Depends on where you are looking for. Most of the jobs I have looked at in IT paid less than up North.

And I don't know where you are coming from but the cost of living in NC being lower is only relative. I came from CT and with me lower salary and the higher cost of utilities here not to mention monthly water bills, HOA fees, higher car insurance and having to drive a lot more, cost of living is much higher than where we were.

[NCHomeFinder]

^ I agree that a lot depends on what type of job, where you are looking (coast? mountains?), and where you are coming from. There has been some similar discussion on the cost of living in this thread:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...-carolina.html
Here is a copy of my post on that thread:
It's great to see people researching the details of the cost of living before moving to a new area - that's why this is such a vital forum. My own personal experience, for what it's worth, coming from Florida:

housing: cheaper in NC
insurance, home and auto: dramatically cheaper in NC
food/household: more expensive in NC
utilities: probably a wash. we pay more now, but our family has grown!
gas: about the same, meaning more expensive everywhere
real property taxes: much cheaper in NC
personal property taxes: the biggest surprise when we moved to NC and registered the cars!
state income tax: didn't have one in Florida, so a big factor for us.

quality of life: This is the one that no one on this board can answer for you. For our family, it was about the weather and seasons, the people, the proximity to the ocean and the mountains, and all the great things to do - NC hands down.

(Oh, and the fact that we were unemployed in Florida, and employed here. That helps quality of life wherever you are.)

Do your research, crunch the numbers, but nothing takes the place of visiting to really experience the area first-hand to decide if it is right for you.

Good luck as you decide whether NC is right for you!

[Markh]

Look on salary dot com, you can poke around at the free reports and you can get a good idea of salary differences. I found that IT jobs paid about 7% less than the northeast but depending on how close you were to a city. The further away from the city, the more of a difference the salary was.

[JamesT]

Thanks for the feedback. We are coming from Orange County and looking in the Western North Carolina Region. We are trying to get all the information we can about economics, knowing that we will not truly know intangible's like what it is like to actually live there until we move. We have made a couple of trips and like the people and landscape. The "differences" we have seen from California are refreshing. Once again comments of any kind are helpful.
James

[clodhopper]

I probably get a little less money and A LOT less rat race. Worth it to me for certain. Hey if you've got your health you've got everything anyway! LOL! Enjoy each day and welcome to NC.

[he's so hott]

For my area of work, the starting pay based on the salary range was 8k less than it was in AZ. However, I negotiated to the point where I was 500 dollars less than what I was making in AZ. By doing that, the job in NC had to pay me 10k more than the starting salary. Generally, I've found that the salaries do tend to be lower in the South. Don't know why, but that's what I've been seeing for the last 2 years.

[sweattea]

Originally Posted by he's so hott

For my area of work, the starting pay based on the salary range was 8k less than it was in AZ. However, I negotiated to the point where I was 500 dollars less than what I was making in AZ. By doing that, the job in NC had to pay me 10k more than the starting salary. Generally, I've found that the salaries do tend to be lower in the South. Don't know why, but that's what I've been seeing for the last 2 years.

I went to salary dot.com and out my job title in with a Phx zip and then a Charlotte zip and got the same figures. Well I am making the same because I'm getting transferred but it would be same anyway.

[liveInNC]

Originally Posted by JamesT

Thanks for the feedback. We are coming from Orange County and looking in the Western North Carolina Region. We are trying to get all the information we can about economics, knowing that we will not truly know intangible's like what it is like to actually live there until we move. We have made a couple of trips and like the people and landscape. The "differences" we have seen from California are refreshing. Once again comments of any kind are helpful.
James

I work in IT and make 5K less per year than in SoCal. My car insurance is less than half here (with two brand new cars, and one older car vs two older cars) and that saves me more than $1,000 right there. Where I live, my monthy electic bill is 175/mo whereas it was 290/mo in SoCal, and the house here is twice as large, and it has air conditioning (house in So Cal didn't) and our heat and water is electric (it was gas in SoCal). This may not be a really fair comparison tho, since my current house is designed from the ground up to be energy efficient. Gasoline is typically 20-30 cents cheaper. You WILL drive farther, but probably not spend more time driving. My commute in SoCal was about 30-35 mins to 12 miles, my commute here is 30-35 mins, but I go about 25miles. For most people this would result in a small gas savings since highway mileage is usally better than city driving. For me it's probably opposite since I'm a gadget freak and bought a Prius.


However, the biggest factor in your decision SHOULD NOT BE FINANCIAL. Are you are looking to assimilate into a slower paced friendlier lifestyle? Or do you want to live the same lifestyle you have now but just make more money? Your decision needs to be driven on what kind of life you want to live, not on how much more money you can make.

[lehmanlion]

yeah, i've been interveiwing in the western region as well and the salaries are about 2 to 4 thousand less that what i made in upstate ny doing the same thing but the rent is less in nc and most impotantly people actually slow down to live life and i've never been one for a rat race.