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Old 03-07-2016, 11:35 AM
 
1,145 posts, read 4,194,784 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flamadiddle View Post
^ True, the only real COL difference between Atlanta and Chicago are the lower taxes in Atlanta/Georgia. Home prices are very similar.
The main real estate differences come in the nice suburbs. Houses are super expensive in the tony suburbs like Winnetka, Wilmette, Evanstan, etc. Since Atlanta doesn't have any exclusive suburbs, you don't get the high prices.
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Old 03-07-2016, 11:44 AM
 
Location: Orange Blossom Trail
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bahiabrazil View Post
Atlanta may have cheap rents but arent wages lower? Its funny how these things even out from city to city no matter how cheap or expensive. I have been looking into moving to Atlanta from Chicago. Mostly because of location and affordability but i find this observation interesting. I am a manager at a retail store with a decent pay in Chicago but this same store in Atlanta pays less. Is this correct on most jobs?
Yes
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Old 03-07-2016, 12:26 PM
 
7,132 posts, read 9,084,548 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Go Blue 99 View Post
The main real estate differences come in the nice suburbs. Houses are super expensive in the tony suburbs like Winnetka, Wilmette, Evanstan, etc. Since Atlanta doesn't have any exclusive suburbs, you don't get the high prices.
Uh, Alpharetta, Johns Creek and areas around there are pretty expensive.
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Old 03-07-2016, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
2,862 posts, read 3,798,801 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brownhornet View Post
How the hell are you going to tell me what I had lol. And yes, you could get a nice apartment here for $650 easily if you moved in at the right time. I mean i've only been in this area for 10 years now. The same unit I lived in is now going for almost a grand a month. Even those cheap apartments over off of Village Parkway, which were at one point going for $550, are now close to a grand. Even complexes like Belmont Crossing where you could get a one bedroom on a move in special for $499 are now 800+. And for the record, the complex where I lived is STILL ranked as one of the top 5 nicest complexes on Zillow.

I know exactly where you live. The job I took when I moved here was in the office complex next door and believe me that was a while ago. It was a Post property then and around $900 for a one bedroom. It also doesn't change the fact there are at least five sketchy properties nearby that are a lot less expensive. That does not mean I think the area is less nice, but they are there.

You mention renting at the right time, and I had already stated only if you caught one during a really good special but the average nice apartment was not going market rate $650 two years ago. Unless there have some significant changes, I'd put Belmont Crossing on the iffy list.

I didn't ask or say anything about where you live. I didn't even ask if you lived in Smyrna. I just said good and bad complexes reside side by side, and the price generally reflects that. Also, two years ago you would not get a good complex in Smyrna for $650 without a serious special.
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Old 03-07-2016, 12:47 PM
 
37,804 posts, read 41,562,761 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Plokivos View Post
Atlanta isn't welcoming anymore losers. Atlanta is becoming the central core for UX/UI, coders, and desigers, and on top of that, we already have really nice people doing retails.
This was condescending and SO uncalled for.
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Old 03-07-2016, 01:43 PM
 
16,212 posts, read 10,752,703 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD View Post
This is exactly what I noticed. I also read a study that found that similar houses in comparable neighborhoods in Chicago and Atlanta, the house in Atlanta was a higher price.

Someone moving from Chicago to Atlanta will quickly find that they will be paying the same or even more for housing in Atlanta while earning less money.

People in blue collar jobs in Chicago like the OP should take Atlanta off their radar. They will make considerably less money in Atlanta. A high paying blue collar job in Chicago will get minimum or a low wage in Atlanta.

For example, a maintenance worker in Chicago will easily earn $20 in but will make minimum wage in Atlanta. Housekeepers for major hotel chains in Chicago can make up to $17 an hour and their jobs are union, but they will be non-union minimum wage workers in Atlanta. MARTA bus drivers make $13 an hour. CTA bus drivers make $26-$27 an hour starting out. Atlanta police start at $35k a year and often moonlight as security guards to make ends meet. Chicago cops start at around $62k.

Overall, many blue collar jobs in Chicago are union. You aren't going to get that in the south.

If you are not going into Atlanta as a high-paid, white collar professional, the move is not worth it--especially if you know out of the gate the move means a decrease in pay.
I agree on this with the OP moving from Chicago to Atlanta.

Atlanta is not cheap compared to Chicago and you will get paid less doing management in retail.

FWIW, I have an aunt who is an RN who has lived in Atlanta (moved from Detroit) almost 10 years ago and she has never made the same money she made in Detroit in Atlanta because the pay is less than what she made in Detroit.

I agree with other posters that it depends on your field of work. I would think IT and some other fields may make you obtain higher or equal wages to larger metropolitan areas. Someone else mentioned government but government in some positions also factors in a "COL" wage and will decrease wages in Atlanta based on this.

FWIW, I feel that people should stop saying that Atlanta is "cheap." It really isn't all that cheap unless you're coming from Boston, NYC, DC, or certain cities on the West Coast. It is average in cost and above average in comparison to the Midwest and other parts of the south. And you will get paid less in Atlanta versus the more expensive locations mentioned earlier. IMO if people would stop saying Atlanta is "cheap" wages may go up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Plokivos View Post
Chicago is actually cheaper to live, because nobody wants to freeze to death for six month out of the year.

I worked in DC, and some of the programmers make more money in Atlanta than DC, with slightly cheaper living expense.

So, you should take stay in Chicago. Because, the location isn't like 10 years ago anymore.

Also, if you're managing a retail store, I already know you're either in Union in Chicago, and that's why it's better pay for Atlanta, and you should just stay in Chicago. We've been fine in Atlanta for a number of years without people coming down from NYC, NH, NJ, Chicago, and any other states.

Atlanta isn't welcoming anymore losers. Atlanta is becoming the central core for UX/UI, coders, and desigers, and on top of that, we already have really nice people doing retails.
This was a really snarky, insulting, uncalled for comment....you are the one who seems like a "loser." Atlanta would be better off without you.
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Old 03-07-2016, 01:50 PM
 
994 posts, read 1,533,115 times
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Even management-level roles pay less in Atlanta than they do in, say, Charlotte or Nashville (and certainly Northern or Western counterparts). Atlanta is just a low-balling kind of place. I really do not understand the justification for it, as the COL in the nicer parts of the city or in the quality suburbs still costs higher than an average middle-class wage affords. So you need to be in the six-figures if you have kids and at the average national household income as a singleton to make any headway here.
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Old 03-07-2016, 01:53 PM
 
16,212 posts, read 10,752,703 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hautemomma View Post
Even management-level roles pay less in Atlanta than they do in, say, Charlotte or Nashville (and certainly Northern or Western counterparts). Atlanta is just a low-balling kind of place. I really do not understand the justification for it, as the COL in the nicer parts of the city or in the quality suburbs still costs higher than an average middle-class wage affords. So you need to be in the six-figures if you have kids and at the average national household income as a singleton to make any headway here.
ITA with this.

I also don't understand it. I don't think Atlanta has been "cheap" since 2002 lol. And I have worked for many companies that use this as an excuse to offer lower wages.

I was shocked when I received a job offer outside of Atlanta nearly $15K more in a lessor, non-management position per year. That job didn't work out and I easily obtained a new management position, a similar job to what I had in Atlanta and I make $20K more per year now than I did then and the COL in Ohio is WAY cheaper than Atlanta. Anyone moving from the Great Lakes in particular shouldn't think that the COL will be low in Atlanta at all.
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Old 03-07-2016, 02:07 PM
 
37,804 posts, read 41,562,761 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by residinghere2007 View Post
Someone else mentioned government but government in some positions also factors in a "COL" wage and will decrease wages in Atlanta based on this.
Federal government jobs have a cost of living adjustment (COLA) as a percentage of base pay which is dependent on the metropolitan area (CSA). Locality pay is set by comparing General Schedule (GS) and non-Federal pay in each locality pay area, based on salary surveys conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Atlanta's COLA is 19.58%; here are the rates for a few other metros:

Charlotte: 14.44%
Chicago: 25.44%
Cleveland: 18.87%
Dallas-Fort Worth: 21.04%
Detroit: 24.40%
Houston: 29.11%
Miami: 21.05%
Philadelphia: 22.22%
Phoenix: 17.12%
Seattle: 22.26%
St. Louis: 14.49%
DC-Baltimore: 24.78%

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-over...016/saltbl.pdf
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Old 03-07-2016, 02:08 PM
 
994 posts, read 1,533,115 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by residinghere2007 View Post
ITA with this.

I also don't understand it. I don't think Atlanta has been "cheap" since 2002 lol. And I have worked for many companies that use this as an excuse to offer lower wages.

I was shocked when I received a job offer outside of Atlanta nearly $15K more in a lessor, non-management position per year. That job didn't work out and I easily obtained a new management position, a similar job to what I had in Atlanta and I make $20K more per year now than I did then and the COL in Ohio is WAY cheaper than Atlanta. Anyone moving from the Great Lakes in particular shouldn't think that the COL will be low in Atlanta at all.
Yep. I know people who experienced what you have as well. My husband's job would probably pay $30K more in a different city in the South and perhaps $50-60K more on the West Coast. It pays well by Atlanta standards, but it's not the right market rate.
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