Level of comfortability? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News: daycare, how much, house)

[allnaturalkiki]

I want to know about how much should a family of four in this area need to make to live a comfortable middle class life. I have family down there who are struggling and family who is doing very well. However, I feel like they are telling me the bare minimum needed to survive (instead of decent living) just to persuade me to come down there (currently live in nyc).
p.s I have to move but I am looking to see if this is the place for me.

[Coconut1]

Comfortable? Around $104-$120K. Acceptable? $85-$100K. Struggling? Anything less than $75K.

The only thing cheap in HR are employers.

[randomlikeme]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Comfortable? Around $104-$120K. Acceptable? $85-$100K. Struggling? Anything less than $75K.

The only thing cheap in HR are employers.

That is all dependent on many things, though.

As someone who is single, no children, I have been able to live just fine on what you consider struggling. If I had two or three kids, then yeah... it'd be a problem....

[lunetunelover]

Originally Posted by randomlikeme

That is all dependent on many things, though.

As someone who is single, no children, I have been able to live just fine on what you consider struggling. If I had two or three kids, then yeah... it'd be a problem....

Agreed.

It's much more expensive to live in Virginia Beach or Williamsburg than it is to live in Hampton, Newport News, and probably Norfolk.

Although for a family of four, I would say $100k is a minimum.

[allnaturalkiki]

Right now we are a family of 3 struggling in nyc on 120K; however, if we move down there we would both lose about 20-25k on our income so im not sure if it is worth it.

[Lindsey1151]

Originally Posted by allnaturalkiki

Right now we are a family of 3 struggling in nyc on 120K; however, if we move down there we would both lose about 20-25k on our income so im not sure if it is worth it.

I dont think its worth it here it would take years to get welfare but in NYC they have lots of services so I think you should stay in NYC for awhile.

[jillybean720]

I think you'd be fine at about $100k in Virginia Beach. We're looking to move our family of 4 with gross income of about $120k, and we're being super picky about the house we want to buy, so we're looking at likely $300-350k homes, but there are certainly nice homes in good areas that cost less (we've actually looked at some that were closer to $250k that still draw into really good elementary schools). My husband is a SAHD now, but I've looked into daycare prices anyway, and it's WAY cheaper in Virginia Beach than where we are now, and I'd assume the same when comparing to NYC. Looking at cost of living info online, groceries and gas should both be a bit cheaper than where we are now, plus we'll be driving less in general (I'll actually be working from home), so there are a lot of potential factors to consider. We actually went over it a bit with a financial advisor who thinks we'll be better off there

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by randomlikeme

That is all dependent on many things, though.

As someone who is single, no children, I have been able to live just fine on what you consider struggling. If I had two or three kids, then yeah... it'd be a problem....

But in the OP they said "family of four."

[lady757]

It really depends on how YOU define "comfortable." I will say it seems like a lot of people from NY have moved here, so there must be something to it. Also, sure your pay will be less but the cost of living here in comparison to NYC is a lot more affordable so it should more than even out. Dip a little further south to NC Tri Cities area and you'll do even better. Maybe I'm misinterpreting, but I get the sense you are not really into the idea of living in VB? ?

[serenitybreeze]

You wouldn't starve, but you'd need to live on a budget. Be careful where. Housing is way less than in NY. Taxes are lower, most of it is probably safer.