ND Math: Cost of Living Comparison (Fargo, Bismarck: apartment, condo, credit)

[dutchinnd]

Nemmert--
You actually forgot to mention the best reason to live in NJ--you have the very real chance of running into Bruce Springsteen in/around Rumson.

[Stephanie P]

Originally Posted by ChrisC

I don't live in ND. But it is one of the few places that I am considering moving to. For me personally, it has little to do with cost of living. I just desperately want to remove myself from the urban/suburban environment. It's driving me insane. Now, granted, there are other rural areas (a few that I am considering), but my main motivation, really, is climate. I hate long, ridiculously hot summers. I don't mind an occasional hot day, but I'm a cold weather person for the most part. So my criteria is cool/cold average temps and rural/small town setting. North Dakota is the first place I researched. I've since looked into northern Maine, UP Michigan, upper LP Michigan, Montana, northeastern Washington, and coastal Oregon/Washington. Right now, Michigan and North Dakota are tops on my list.

The main negative comments I read about ND is the cold and that there is nothing to do. Well, I actually like the cold, so that is not a problem. And I've never really understood the 'nothing to do' thing. I live in a metro area right now and I hate it. The main things I enjoy take me out of the city.I love to hike, jog, xc-ski, and just wander around or drive around in the wilderness/countryside. Other things I enjoy are not dependent on where I live--like to read, write, paint/art, music, study, hobbies, etc. I can do all these things in ND just as easily or more easily than where I am now. I'll bet I won't see gridlock up there and wall-to-wall people either. And I don't need ten dozen stores to choose from. A basic grocery store and other basic shops are fine by me.

I think where a person wants to live is very dependent on their temperament and preferred climate. One man's chunk of coal is another man's gold nugget. If you offered me a two million dollar a year job in the heavily populated east coast states, I would refuse it outright and without question. My sanity is more important to me than is money. If you offered me a job in central ND with a meager but livable wage, I'd take it tomorrow.

Chris, I just wanted to give you a suggestion.
My ex-husband moved to North Dakota about a year and 1/2 ago. My son, who was 14 at the time, wanted to go stay with him for awhile, because he hated living in the Houston area (where I currently am.) They live in Larimore, ND. My son LOVES it there! He has made so many friends, is doing better in school because he is happy, and he says he is hardly ever bored. He loves the small town atmosphere, and all the friendly people there. He is now 16, and does not want to leave.
Which is terrible for me, but if he is happy, then I am happy.
Anyway, just a suggestion if you are looking for a small town.
Good luck to you!
Steph

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by Stephanie P

Chris, I just wanted to give you a suggestion.
My ex-husband moved to North Dakota about a year and 1/2 ago. My son, who was 14 at the time, wanted to go stay with him for awhile, because he hated living in the Houston area (where I currently am.) They live in Larimore, ND. My son LOVES it there! He has made so many friends, is doing better in school because he is happy, and he says he is hardly ever bored. He loves the small town atmosphere, and all the friendly people there. He is now 16, and does not want to leave.
Which is terrible for me, but if he is happy, then I am happy.
Anyway, just a suggestion if you are looking for a small town.
Good luck to you!
Steph

Larimore is a nice small town. close enough to Grand Forks for shopping. It is also near Turtle River state park which has great cross country skiiing and camping with trees.

[northbound74]

To the OP, you leave out the fact that 180k a year, even if it's combined income, is far more than the average American family makes. Sure, with that kind of money, you can make the argument that NJ is just as affordable to you as ND. So what. With that kind of money, one can live in any state of any region in the country, and do just fine.
I make 40k a year. Right now, that's the total income for the family. We get by ok, drive a late-model vehicle, live in a clean, safe, suburb with good schools. Our house was less than 90k four years ago.
If I lived in New Jersey, in my line of work, I'd only make about 10k more, leaving me in basically the same price range on a house.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that in New Jersey, very few houses for less than 90k are worth living in, much less their neighborhoods. I don't even want to think about what kind of school district that affords.

If I cared about living in a so-called nationally ranked school district, I just have to go across the state line and add 20-30k to my house. I guarantee you that those schools rival anything you'll ever find in New Jersey. At one point in time, one of the high-schools over there was ranked #1 in the nation if I'm not mistaken.
I don't live in North Dakota, I live in Kansas City. My guess is that they're not that much different in terms of cost. Probably more similar to each other than either is to New Jersey. My guess is that in North Dakota, one probably doesn't have to spend 200k just to get into a good area. I don't know how much lower than that you can go in New Jersey and be in a good area.
As far as schools are concerned, I don't know where anybody gets that ND schools are among the worst. I've mostly heard the opposite. Want bad schools? Go to Arkansas. West Virginia. Mississippi. NOT North Dakota. You don't know what bad schools look like.

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by northbound74

To the OP, you leave out the fact that 180k a year, even if it's combined income, is far more than the average American family makes. Sure, with that kind of money, you can make the argument that NJ is just as affordable to you as ND. So what. With that kind of money, one can live in any state of any region in the country, and do just fine.
I make 40k a year. Right now, that's the total income for the family. We get by ok, drive a late-model vehicle, live in a clean, safe, suburb with good schools. Our house was less than 90k four years ago.
If I lived in New Jersey, in my line of work, I'd only make about 10k more, leaving me in basically the same price range on a house.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that in New Jersey, very few houses for less than 90k are worth living in, much less their neighborhoods. I don't even want to think about what kind of school district that affords.

If I cared about living in a so-called nationally ranked school district, I just have to go across the state line and add 20-30k to my house. I guarantee you that those schools rival anything you'll ever find in New Jersey. At one point in time, one of the high-schools over there was ranked #1 in the nation if I'm not mistaken.
I don't live in North Dakota, I live in Kansas City. My guess is that they're not that much different in terms of cost. Probably more similar to each other than either is to New Jersey. My guess is that in North Dakota, one probably doesn't have to spend 200k just to get into a good area. I don't know how much lower than that you can go in New Jersey and be in a good area.
As far as schools are concerned, I don't know where anybody gets that ND schools are among the worst. I've mostly heard the opposite. Want bad schools? Go to Arkansas. West Virginia. Mississippi. NOT North Dakota. You don't know what bad schools look like.

excellent points.....wanted to give you rep point but couldn't.

Dan

[HighPlainsDrifter73]

Originally Posted by DaninEGF

excellent points.....wanted to give you rep point but couldn't.

Dan

I just gave him a rep point...

[3-Oaks]

Originally Posted by HighPlainsDrifter73

I just gave him a rep point...

LOL! So did I!

[Corbay]

YouTube - Corzine on North Dakoka Unemployment

[pnutsmom00]

One reason...work. I live in an area that is based on tourist and construction. Homes are going into foreclosure and there are 50 applicants for a job at McDonalds. My husband has been looking for work for months(and he has applied to multiple jobs in a 400 mile radius) with no luck. He was in ND for 1 week and had multiple job offers. I know ND may sound silly to some people but my family needs what ND has to offer. That's why we are moving there. Thanks!

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by nemmert

NJ does have killer property taxes but that's to be expected at the higher home prices. Most cities and counties have property taxes in the 2.5% range which I believe is inline with what people are paying in the cities in ND (I think I read 2.2% in another thread here??). That's all rolled into the housing cost in NJ being twice what it is in ND, mortgage is double as are property taxes for a total payment of double.

Not entirely true Nemmert. Here's a map with corresponding mil rates, by zip code, that I created about a year ago: