Rents in Florida seem amazingly cheap. Do salaries keep up at all? (Miami: short sale, 2014)

[ryanthegoldengod]

If you live in Boston these days and rent an apartment, $50K make you lower middle class at best. A huge chunk of your salary will just go towards shelter every month.

But in Florida? Wow. I see nice 1 bedrooms online for $1,000 or less in many areas. You would almost be rich on $50K!

But.....are salaries too often in the 30's instead of the 50's and beyond?

[chopchop0]

What is your job

[tothehilt]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

If you live in Boston these days and rent an apartment, $50K make you lower middle class at best. A huge chunk of your salary will just go towards shelter every month.

But in Florida? Wow. I see nice 1 bedrooms online for $1,000 or less in many areas. You would almost be rich on $50K!

But.....are salaries too often in the 30's instead of the 50's and beyond?

Where are you looking? Since this thread is posted under the Brevard county section, I assume you're looking in Brevard county. Which explains a lot. Brevard county has taken a bath of the past few years with the recession and with NASA discontinuing the shuttle program. Jobs are starting to come back, but are nowhere near the numbers from pre-recession days. In fact, in my opinion, the counties I recommend newbies stay away from is Flagler, Volusia & Brevard counties. Want higher rent? Look in Ft. Lauderdale, Maimi, The Keys & parts of the Tampa bay and Orlando metro areas.

Salaries in those counties are low. Last I checked, Volusia had an average income of $28,000. And Flagler and Brevard counties where in the same range. Which explains the cheaper rent. Although with an average income of $28k, I doubt paying $1,000 a month on rent is affordable.

[Nypafl4u]

Brevard as compared to Boston (or Metro NY for that matter) is going to be a lot cheaper as the job market and reduced salaries (for the most part) dictate what rents and housing can go for. You will find that the case almost anywhere in the U.S. Supply and Demand in a capitalist based society, simply put. There will be exceptions but I still feel Brevard, with its varied neighborhoods, offers so much for so many economic levels. Need inexpensive housing, you got it. Need an ocean front million plus dollar view, you can find that too. Something for everyone and that seems to attract many people down here. Add in decent schools, great restaurants, outdoor activities, the beaches and close proximity to Orlando and you have the making of a very desirable area in my opinion.

[clu77er]

Florida tends to be one of the lowest paid states in a lot of fields. You can check for yourself here OES Maps

Florida overall has lower salaries, and Brevard has lower average salaries for Florida. That may not be true if you're an aersospace engineer for instance, but otherwise it's generally so.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by clu77er

Florida tends to be one of the lowest paid states in a lot of fields. You can check for yourself here OES Maps

Florida overall has lower salaries, and Brevard has lower average salaries for Florida. That may not be true if you're an aersospace engineer for instance, but otherwise it's generally so.

With much lower costs. I've talked to plenty of people from cali, N.Y., etc who are clear that the increased salaries in those areas do NOT compensate for the higher costs and taxes when doing the same job.

In addition to no income tax, FL has lower property and sales taxes than places like ca, ny and tx

[JoeWaiian]

quote=tothehilt;40571141]Where are you looking?
Salaries in those counties are low. Last I checked, Volusia had an average income of $28,000. And Flagler and Brevard counties where in the same range. Which explains the cheaper rent. Although with an average income of $28k, I doubt paying $1,000 a month on rent is affordable.[/quote]

I doubt that report is accurate. I just moved to Brevard County and based on the comps in my neighborhood, average home value is 350k, one just sold 2 homes down for 500k. Its a 4 Block tract of homes, newly built with ave value at 350k so I doubt some of them make 28k per year or any.

The lower taxes, lower home prices, no State Income tax is definitely attracting moving to Florida. Your hard earned $$ will go along ways here. And as far as salaries ... my coworker (NOT ME) let me emphasize, my coworker not me is making $300k per year. So to say average people in Brevard County make 28k is not a true statement.


Mahalo-

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by JoeWaiian

quote=tothehilt;40571141]Where are you looking?
Salaries in those counties are low. Last I checked, Volusia had an average income of $28,000. And Flagler and Brevard counties where in the same range. Which explains the cheaper rent. Although with an average income of $28k, I doubt paying $1,000 a month on rent is affordable.

I doubt that report is accurate. I just moved to Brevard County and based on the comps in my neighborhood, average home value is 350k, one just sold 2 homes down for 500k. Its a 4 Block tract of homes, newly built with ave value at 350k so I doubt some of them make 28k per year or any.

The lower taxes, lower home prices, no State Income tax is definitely attracting moving to Florida. Your hard earned $$ will go along ways here. And as far as salaries ... my coworker (NOT ME) let me emphasize, my coworker not me is making $300k per year. So to say average people in Brevard County make 28k is not a true statement.


Mahalo-[/quote]

Maybe he is quoting per capita income which is different than the average or mean income in a region. Per capita divides total money earned in an area by every man,woman, child over 15 in a region and we all know teens do not all work, nor do stay at home moms or dads, and most of the seniors.
Mean income in the county for 2013 was closer to $48,000 which also is skewed because of the super rich like Al Neuharth etc.

From the Office of Economic and Demographics chart the average in 2014 was $44,500 taking in all industries. Then add in that most households have 2 people working. We also have a lot of people who worked up North, have big 401s, pensions, and SS checks so we are all not dirt poor southerners like some areas of the country like to think.
Even looking at the number of foreclosures we had in the downturn, most of them were not homes that people who lived here actually lived in. Most were 2nd homes people bought to rent out or to do a quick resale to get rich quick and they got stuck holding the house. I personally do not know 1 person who lost their house here who bought what they could afford. Most of us did not lose jobs. Even the end of the space shuttle era was an expected shut down so wise people prepared. Mostly people who don't live here talked the doom and gloom. Maybe it actually has helped us catch up-------instead of 5000 homes being built every year there are now less than 2000. The number of houses for rent or sale right now is way down compared to 10 years ago. Prices are going up pretty quickly though. I think I read 20% increase since last year. When I look at the estimates on my house it has nearly doubled what I paid(it was a short sale). You definitely can't go by zillow estimates because theirs are way high. Would be nice, though.
http://edr.state.fl.us/content/area-...ty/brevard.pdf

One thing about numbers you can always find statistics to fit your goal

[high_plains_drifter]

Well there is Florida then there is South Florida and rents here are not "cheap" and salaries are often not high enough for many to offset the high cost of living. I have been looking at moving out of South Florida for a few years, but have been stuck and turned down three jobs elsewhere in the state due to the salary drop, most recent one happened to be in Melbourne with Embraer Aerospace, I interviewed for a Engineering position and all went well, I got the offer but it was $15K below what I'm making now and what I'm making now is way below what I could earn elsewhere. I looked around at rentals and home prices and based on my research everything came out to be relative. The only thing I could probably save on is car insurance which is absurdly high in Fort Lauderdale.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are all expensive, I even interviewed with a company in Stuart (Martin County) and the salary was not enough to justify moving after doing the numbers.

I was hoping Melbourne would have been it, though there isn't much there compared to here and it's kinda isolated, not what were use to in terms of culture, restaurants and food options, but it seems to be up and coming and read of a lot of stores and places moving in and a lot of hiring is going on, Embraer is expanding and hiring a lot of people, but it could all fizzle out if the economy tanks.

[high_plains_drifter]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

With much lower costs. I've talked to plenty of people from cali, N.Y., etc who are clear that the increased salaries in those areas do NOT compensate for the higher costs and taxes when doing the same job.

In addition to no income tax, FL has lower property and sales taxes than places like ca, ny and tx

All relative, read my post. Salaries are not great here, rents and car insurance are way too high. I thought Melbourne would have been it but the offer I got was a joke, after doing the math I might as well stay put. Like here, Melbourne seems to be attracting people who made their money elsewhere and a handful who are working in Aerospace/Defense who get better offers.