COL of NYC vs Seattle? (Index, Starbuck: best city, apartment, rent)

[flyingsaucermom]

Has anyone moved here from NYC (or moved to NYC from here)? I assume it would take more $$$ to live there than here, but how much more? To keep a somewhat similar savings rate (which is important to me), would an increase of $50k or $75k be enough??? I'm just looking at numbers... putting a price on quality of life is a whole other (extremely important) discussion. THANKS.

[flyingsaucermom]

excuse me, would a 50k or 75k increase in BASE SALARY be enough....

[GatsbyGatz]

This website may be of use to you:
Cost of Living Comparison Between Seattle, WA, United States And New York, NY, United States

Indexes Difference
Consumer Prices in New York, NY are 8.38% higher than in Seattle, WA
Consumer Prices Including Rent in New York, NY are 33.89% higher than in Seattle, WA
Rent Prices in New York, NY are 79.55% higher than in Seattle, WA
Restaurant Prices in New York, NY are 28.55% higher than in Seattle, WA
Groceries Prices in New York, NY are 4.75% higher than in Seattle, WA
Local Purchasing Power in New York, NY is 20.40% lower than in Seattle, WA

Rent Per Month

Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre:
Seattle, 1,400.00 $ / NYC, 2,750.00 $

Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre:
Seattle, 1,000.00 $ / NYC, 1,500.00 $

Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre:
Seattle, 2,500.00 $ / NYC, 5,000.00 $

Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre:
Seattle, 1,700.00 $ / NYC, 2,600.00 $

[bxtx]

I live in Seattle but have lived in Connecticut and spent a great deal of time in NYC.

NYC is a whole different ballgame. In NYC you don't need (or want) a car. In NYC you can find super cheap pizza and drinks at any hour. Also, in NYC they have cheaper things like Dunkin Donuts instead of Starbucks and independent coffee shops, and knock off luggage in Chinatown. Also, they have all you can drink brunch for 12.99 at every restaurant in the Village and Chelsea.

That being said, NYC is clearly more expensive than Seattle. NYC is the best city on Earth though. NYC is FAR more diverse, FAR more commutable, and much MUCH bigger than Seattle. In fact, Seattle has about a third as many people as Queens and the racial makeup is similar to Staten Island.

Seattle does have a layout similar to NYC (in regards to squared off blocks that are numbered) but when comparing on just population, Seattle has 8% the amount of people as NYC. I love both Seattle and NYC but that is like comparing apples to oranges. I don't think that the cost of living is really a factor, it is just how do you want to live? They are very different places.

[jjinla]

Are you actually going to live in the city itself? Rent? Buy? What kind of house? What percentage increase is it? Going from $100k to $150k is different than going from $400 to $450.

We're moving to Seattle from the NYC suburbs (right near CT) and the biggest difference here is taxes. A fairly high income tax, coupled with the absolute highest property taxes in the nation (3% give or take on a bare minimum $700k house, which won't buy anything over 1600 sq ft or built before 1915).

We originally moved from CA and absolutely love our town, but would never come back unless it were the opportunity of a lifetime. You spend half your income on taxes and the rest to stay afloat. The seasons are incredibly harsh, nobody does a thing outdoors (besides tennis and golf) unless you drive for an hour or more. Every spring and fall I fall back in love with it, but half the year I hate it. Because of city hours and train schedules, most husbands never see their kids M-F either, and most women have to stay home by default. It's a totally different world.

If this is a huge career move or you are young and carefree, there is nowhere more fun to live than in NYC if you can afford it. But with kids? Never again...at least not for us.

If you need any more specifics feel free to PM me.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by jjinla

Are you actually going to live in the city itself? Rent? Buy? What kind of house? What percentage increase is it? Going from $100k to $150k is different than going from $400 to $450.

We're moving to Seattle from the NYC suburbs (right near CT) and the biggest difference here is taxes. A fairly high income tax, coupled with the absolute highest property taxes in the nation (3% give or take on a bare minimum $700k house, which won't buy anything over 1600 sq ft or built before 1915).

We originally moved from CA and absolutely love our town, but would never come back unless it were the opportunity of a lifetime. You spend half your income on taxes and the rest to stay afloat. The seasons are incredibly harsh, nobody does a thing outdoors (besides tennis and golf) unless you drive for an hour or more. Every spring and fall I fall back in love with it, but half the year I hate it. Because of city hours and train schedules, most husbands never see their kids M-F either, and most women have to stay home by default. It's a totally different world.

If this is a huge career move or you are young and carefree, there is nowhere more fun to live than in NYC if you can afford it. But with kids? Never again...at least not for us.

If you need any more specifics feel free to PM me.

Thanks! Great info. This is just speculation. We LOVE Seattle and have never had any interest in NYC. A recruiter is showing considerable interest and says he could pull up dh's salary from 150k-ish to 200-215k-ish. The work itself would be pretty interesting for him too. We do have kids and they've been moved around the country a lot. We came oh so close to moving to San Jose a couple months ago, so I know exactly what you are saying about CA. Life is really sweet at the moment and the increase in salary would have to be something impressive to offset the loss in quality of life... I just don't know what dollar amount that would equate to. I'm half done with prereqs for nursing school and moving would set me back considerably, if not permanently... I would probably end up being a miserable SAHM in the suburbs because I couldn't do anything more.... a slave to my husband's city job... I hear you loud and clear on that one!

[kaday]

Originally Posted by jjinla

Are you actually going to live in the city itself? Rent? Buy? What kind of house? What percentage increase is it? Going from $100k to $150k is different than going from $400 to $450.

We're moving to Seattle from the NYC suburbs (right near CT) and the biggest difference here is taxes. A fairly high income tax, coupled with the absolute highest property taxes in the nation (3% give or take on a bare minimum $700k house, which won't buy anything over 1600 sq ft or built before 1915).

We originally moved from CA and absolutely love our town, but would never come back unless it were the opportunity of a lifetime. You spend half your income on taxes and the rest to stay afloat. The seasons are incredibly harsh, nobody does a thing outdoors (besides tennis and golf) unless you drive for an hour or more. Every spring and fall I fall back in love with it, but half the year I hate it. Because of city hours and train schedules, most husbands never see their kids M-F either, and most women have to stay home by default. It's a totally different world.

If this is a huge career move or you are young and carefree, there is nowhere more fun to live than in NYC if you can afford it. But with kids? Never again...at least not for us.

If you need any more specifics feel free to PM me.

I'd have to totally agree with this poster. We had a home in a popular NYC suburb (a "train town"). Our home had 3 BR 1.5 BA and was a bit of a fixer upper. In 2002 we pain $15,000 in property taxes. I can't even imagine what the taxes would be now. Prior to that we were in NYC. Our running joke was you spend $40 just to step out the front door.

[Bronxguyanese]

Great info, thanks!

[OleSchoolFool]

Originally Posted by GatsbyGatz

This website may be of use to you:
Cost of Living Comparison Between Seattle, WA, United States And New York, NY, United States

Indexes Difference
Consumer Prices in New York, NY are 8.38% higher than in Seattle, WA
Consumer Prices Including Rent in New York, NY are 33.89% higher than in Seattle, WA
Rent Prices in New York, NY are 79.55% higher than in Seattle, WA
Restaurant Prices in New York, NY are 28.55% higher than in Seattle, WA
Groceries Prices in New York, NY are 4.75% higher than in Seattle, WA
Local Purchasing Power in New York, NY is 20.40% lower than in Seattle, WA

Rent Per Month

Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre:
Seattle, 1,400.00 $ / NYC, 2,750.00 $

Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre:
Seattle, 1,000.00 $ / NYC, 1,500.00 $

Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre:
Seattle, 2,500.00 $ / NYC, 5,000.00 $

Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre:
Seattle, 1,700.00 $ / NYC, 2,600.00 $

manhattan is mad overpriced so i wont even touch it, but speakin on anyth else outside it, including close-in burbs, i suspect the housing quality for the same price is gon be way better in seattle
like u not gon find a newer, decent apt by seattle standards in a good nhood in nyc/nj for $1500, and if u want things like washer and dryer and parking, which are prolly standard in the seattle area, faaaaawwget about it. $1800+

[OleSchoolFool]

btw, is 1k/month an average price for a 1 bd in seattle? like what does it get you exactly and where?