The Cities Where People Earn the Biggest and Smallest Paychecks (Houston: rent, mortgage)

[nervouslaughter]

Houston is number 5, on the biggest side, and this time it's not about being overweight.

The Cities Where People Earn the Biggest and Smallest Paychecks - Yahoo! Finance

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by nervouslaughter

Houston is number 5, on the biggest side, and this time it's not about being overweight.

The Cities Where People Earn the Biggest and Smallest Paychecks - Yahoo! Finance

Look at that... San Francisco and San Jose (both in the bay area) are the winners

[predatorprey]

I ran some quick cost of living comparable against Houston median income. Comparable incomes need to be about 40% higher to have a lifestyle equal to one in Houston. Apple to apples. I'm not counting potential views or weather only incomes.

Also what is interesting according to the COL calculator at CNN money. The cost of transportation in each city is on average about 20% higher than in Houston. I thought (as we are told) if there is a lot of public transportation the public would see a reduction in their cost to the home budget. Not so apparently.

[DejaBlue]

Yep. Big paychecks but COL doesn't even make it amazing for a check. Houston you can live pretty comfortably off $60k and still have some cushion. In SanFran you have zilch left over really.

[jek74]

Originally Posted by predatorprey

I ran some quick cost of living comparable against Houston median income. Comparable incomes need to be about 40% higher to have a lifestyle equal to one in Houston. Apple to apples.

Also what is interesting according to the COL calculator at CNN money. The cost of transportation in each city is on average about 20% higher than in Houston. I thought they had a lot of public transportation there to reduce this cost.

Cost of living and TAXES! The top state income tax bracket there is 12%!!!!!! And I think your income has to be a lot more then 40% higher. Home prices are almost triple in SF what they are in Houston. Well, that means your mortgage is three times as much. If your mortgage payment is 35% of your adjusted gross income like it's suppose to be that would mean you would need to earn double in SF to have the same cost of living in Houston and that does not even take taxes into account.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by jek74

Cost of living and TAXES! The top state income tax bracket there is 12%!!!!!! And I think your income has to be a lot more then 40% higher. Home prices are almost triple in SF what they are in Houston. Well, that means your mortgage is three times as much. If your mortgage payment is 35% of your adjusted gross income like it's suppose to be that would mean you would need to earn double in SF to have the same cost of living in Houston and that does not even take taxes into account.

Depends on how you live, obviously. Yes, in a direct comparison, COL is much higher for what you make. The lifestyle of sharing a living space, though, is a foreign concept to Texans and Houstonians, for that matter. Many people in San Francisco don't buy homes, and I don't expect they want the burden of one in a state like California.

My friend, in her 30s, lives in Duboce Triangle, works at Lush and shares a very nice 1 bedroom and she loves it; she's right at the bottom of Buena Vista Park. In these kinds of cities, coupled with the fact that they are astronomically expensive, you live outside of your home and your car, so owning a home is not as important.

Originally Posted by predatorprey

I ran some quick cost of living comparable against Houston median income. Comparable incomes need to be about 40% higher to have a lifestyle equal to one in Houston. Apple to apples. I'm not counting potential views or weather only incomes.

Also what is interesting according to the COL calculator at CNN money. The cost of transportation in each city is on average about 20% higher than in Houston. I thought (as we are told) if there is a lot of public transportation the public would see a reduction in their cost to the home budget. Not so apparently.

Pretty simple explanation. The data set takes the entire metro area into account. The San Francisco and San Jose Metropolitan Areas also cover many counties and terrains than a flat area like Houston; many of these areas are not accessible by public transportation, especially in the San Jose area. These areas are large and, most people still do drive, even if there is public transportation. Like most, people are willing to live farther out for cheaper if they can still get to work. If we were to focus on city propers, Houston would lose on public transportation ground without a doubt.

[nervouslaughter]

Using this COLA calculator: Cost of Living Calculator: Compare prices in two cities - CNNMoney

The $66,700 Houston median would be equivalent to $120,847 in San Francisco after COLA. In other words, to keep up the same Houston lifestyle in San Francisco, you'd almost have to double your salary in San Francisco.

[Johnhw2]

Very interesting article.... dont tell Dallas they think Houston is a blue collar town which we know isnt the case and this article seems to verify its not all about minimum wages in Tx either as some on the coast seem to think

[jek74]

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

Very interesting article.... dont tell Dallas they think Houston is a blue collar town which we know isnt the case and this article seems to verify its not all about minimum wages in Tx either as some on the coast seem to think

Yeah I have no idea where all this minimum wage talk comes from. The first I heard about it was during the election cycle where people were trying to attack TX. I never saw any data that backed that up nor did I even understand the logic behind it. In fact, to take it one step further, TX is one of the worst states to move to for a minimum wage job. CA, IL and NY have higher minimum wages and they have a better welfare system. TX is the last place I'm going to move if I want to make minimum wage. In fact, I would haul my butt up to Williston, ND where fast food employees are making close to $20 an hour to start.

[jek74]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

Depends on how you live, obviously. Yes, in a direct comparison, COL is much higher for what you make. The lifestyle of sharing a living space is a foreign concept to Texans and Houstonians, for that matter. Many people in San Francisco don't buy homes, and I don't expect they want the burden of one in a state like California.

My friend, in her 30s, lives in Duboce Circle, works at Lush and shares a very nice 1 bedroom and she loves it; she's right at the bottom of Buena Vista Park. In these kinds of cities, coupled with the fact that they are astronomically expensive, you live outside of your home and your car, so owning a home is not as important.

Sorry, I have to bust you for the apples to apples thing again. If we are going to compare some chic who has roommates in SF then we have to calculate how cheap one can live in Houston if I bunk up with one or two roommates as well. I bet I can get my rent down to $300 to $500 if I wanted to live with one or two people. In SF with roommates you are going to pay 1000 to 1500. So the math works out the same. Come on people, keep the comparisons equal. Either we make the same comparison of living alone or everyone has roommates. There is no way around the math.