DC vs. Atlanta (Richmond, Fairfax: apartment, renting, house)

[mississippimagnolia]

Quote:
Originally Posted by JfromReston
I lived in Atlanta for 20 years (1982-2002) before moving to NOVA (Reston). Though I like it here I really liked Atlanta too. The cost of living difference is substantial! The "brutally hot, humid summers" in Atlanta far surpass any weather issues that DC may have. DC traffic is MUCH worse than anything that Atlanta can dish up.

When you say surpass, do you mean that in a bad way as in, the summers are terrible in Atlanta? Also, I was hoping you'd say traffic was equally bad. I was in Atlanta in 2006 and saw how bad the traffic was. IT WAS BAD!!!

Traffic has gotten substantially worse in Atlanta. In 2002, it had started to get bad. It's much, much worse now. Not quite as bad as the DC area. But getting pretty close.

[South Jersey Styx]

OP, you can always just try out the DC-area and then decide whether you like it or not. However . . . give it a chance to get adjusted to things. The opportunities are indeed here and friends/colleagues that I know in the IT field work in all kinds a variety or places --the government, corporations, international organizations, nonprofits, education, museums, etc. As several have mentioned, if you don't like your job, there are other opportunities. As you gain better experience and rise up the ranks, your salary should increase.

There are plenty of people who moved to the DC area in "financially-challenged situations" (i.e. a single-working parent with children, etc.) and found a way to "make it" work and do quite well.

Best of luck to you! I hope things work out well for you.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by EastBay-NowDCarea

Your biggest issue will be the cost of living - but the career opportunities and career advancement will offset it. Good luck.

I think so too. I know what I can make in my current city. But it's hard to know how much I'll make for the equivalent job in DC. If I knew that it would be a proportionate increase in pay, I'd feel better about making the move.

[adk060]

Hello Danny,

Did you compare salary structure between DC and Atlanta?

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

I think so too. I know what I can make in my current city. But it's hard to know how much I'll make for the equivalent job in DC. If I knew that it would be a proportionate increase in pay, I'd feel better about making the move.

Why don't you interview and see what kind of salary offers you get? That should give you a ballpark range. Or go look at one of those websites that shows you what an employee in a certain city makes--I've found a few of them to be very accurate (especially for large companies where these sorts of things are standardized)

[info781]

I have lived in both places. Since you are a single guy, I think you have to compare the women as well. Atlanta area women, while very charming, tend to eat a lot of greasy deep fried food. This takes it toll after a while, they get heavier younger and have to wear more makeup. I think the girls in DC metro area tend to eat healthier and exercise more.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by info781

I have lived in both places. Since you are a single guy, I think you have to compare the women as well. Atlanta area women, while very charming, tend to eat a lot of greasy deep fried food. This takes it toll after a while, they get heavier younger and have to wear more makeup. I think the girls in DC metro area tend to eat healthier and exercise more.

Hmm. I tend to pay more attention to things like personality and common interests. One thing I hear about the women in DC is that they tend to be more liberal, more educated, and more cultured. If they exercise and take good care of themselves too, that's a huge plus. I also hear the male-to-female ratio is better in DC. But then, this just what I hear. I have no idea how accurate any of it is.

[DennyCrane]

Since people here keep saying DC traffic is worse than Atlanta's, I thought I would post this article I found. Rather than rate the DC area as a whole, they chose to break it up into Montgomery and Fairfax counties and Arlington, Alexandria and Washington, D.C.

30 worst cities for traffic in America

I guess they wanted to show the MD traffic is significantly different than NOVA. But according to this, Atlanta traffic isn't any better than DC unless you factor in Montgomery county. One thing's for sure. I'm never moving to Seattle.

[DennyCrane]

Instead of relying just on word of mouth or talking to recruiters, I decided to look at Salary.com which collects salary data reported by HR departments to the Department of Labor (I think). I looked specifically at my job instead of just general data and looked only at base salary data. It looks like a Bell curve and shows salary figures for the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles. I compared the figures for DC and Atlanta to my current city and here's what I found.

Atlanta:

10th% - 7% less
25th% - 7% less
75th% - 7% less
90th% - 7% less

DC:

10th% - 1% more
25th% - 1% more
75th% - 1% more
90th% - 1% more

What's clear, at least according to their data, is that Atlanta pays 7% less than my city and DC pays only 1% more. What's remarkable is just how consistent the pay difference is even when you look at specific percentiles.

There are various cost-of-living indexes out there. Salary.com has one. I looked at four others and averaged the five. Atlanta's COL is 9% lower and DC's is 21% higher.

So it looks like I shouldn't expect to get a salary in DC that makes up for the cost of living. If anything, I'll probably have to take a pay cut, at least in relative terms. In Atlanta, I'd make less money, but it looks like the cost of living will, at worst, even out. So now I have to decide whether it's still worth moving to DC given that my I'll probably have to lower my standard of living.

[Tone509]

I don't recall what your career is but, as you may already know, NOVA/DC's job market is resilient in tough times and booming in better times. In contrast, I believe Atlanta is more of a boom-and-bust town. Nothing against the ATL of course; it's a place I've considered moving to in the past.