Starting postdoc in Indianapolis hopefully! Need help! (Carmel, Marion: apartment complex, rentals)

[Silverlining56]

Hello everyone,

-I am going to start postdoc in indianapolis. My salary, hopefully, will be 50000 per year. How much tax will be cut? Can u tell me my net monthly salary?

-I am married and have 5 year old child. Could you tell me if I am able to live on there with this money?

-Should I buy a car? or find places where is closer to my jobplace?

-And the schoolgrades in center of indianapolis are very low points. Should I send my child there or not?

-And should I rent a house or apartment? And should I rent with furnished or not? If I try to buy furniture myself, how much cost it for me? Can I afford it? My countries currency is very very lower when compared US. I cannot change my countries money to US, it means nothing.

Thank you for help in advance!

[sheerbliss]

Google Indiana tax estimator to figure out about how much you'll take home. A lot of households live on less than $50k per year, so I assume your family can live on that.

I'm not up on schools or renting, but if you could tell us what part of town you'll be working in, it'll help us offer input on the rest of your questions.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by Silverlining56

Hello everyone,

-I am going to start postdoc in indianapolis. My salary, hopefully, will be 50000 per year. How much tax will be cut? Can u tell me my net monthly salary?

-I am married and have 5 year old child. Could you tell me if I am able to live on there with this money?

-Should I buy a car? or find places where is closer to my jobplace?

-And the schoolgrades in center of indianapolis are very low points. Should I send my child there or not?

-And should I rent a house or apartment? And should I rent with furnished or not? If I try to buy furniture myself, how much cost it for me? Can I afford it? My countries currency is very very lower when compared US. I cannot change my countries money to US, it means nothing.

Thank you for help in advance!

As far as IPS is concerned, I send my kids to an IPS school. We love our school. It is a magnet school, so we had to enter through the lottery. Whether or not that is for you, is really up to you. IPS has some great schools, and some not so great schools. You'll need to do your research on that and decide if IPS is for you. There are other districts within Marion County, and of course, the suburbs.

That salary is going to be fine, but you may be cutting it close depending on your lifestyle.

Most people own at least one car around here. If your workplace is along a bus line, you can plan your living arrangements and make it work without a car. Pre-covid, I've taken the bus around town, but I live right along one of the city's main bus lines. It works for me, but won't for everyone.

[Silverlining56]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

Google Indiana tax estimator to figure out about how much you'll take home. A lot of households live on less than $50k per year, so I assume your family can live on that.

I'm not up on schools or renting, but if you could tell us what part of town you'll be working in, it'll help us offer input on the rest of your questions.

Hello Sheerbliss,

Thank you. I have checked it out, the place is "Upper Canal" .

[Silverlining56]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

As far as IPS is concerned, I send my kids to an IPS school. We love our school. It is a magnet school, so we had to enter through the lottery. Whether or not that is for you, is really up to you. IPS has some great schools, and some not so great schools. You'll need to do your research on that and decide if IPS is for you. There are other districts within Marion County, and of course, the suburbs.

That salary is going to be fine, but you may be cutting it close depending on your lifestyle.

Most people own at least one car around here. If your workplace is along a bus line, you can plan your living arrangements and make it work without a car. Pre-covid, I've taken the bus around town, but I live right along one of the city's main bus lines. It works for me, but won't for everyone.

Thank you Toxic Toast!

My place is near Upper Canal. We tried to find place to live near Upper Canal. But pre-school ratings (greatschool) were 1 out of 10. WE start to look for the places around. We found some places in Carmen (district or city Idk) where pre-school ratings were 7 out of 10!. Unfortunately, this place is not that close my workplace. I don't wanna live distant places coz my driver licence acquirement will prolong at least 1 month. (I search it). I have not encountered such a school name. IPS schools? Is there any IPS schools near Upper Canal? I think if these schools so good then it must be very difficult to be selected! I do not have any bit of idea what the bus lines are but I will check it after. As far as I know, Covid cases decreased in US, did not it? Is not it safe enough to use buses? If not, Of course I will try to find somewhere so that I can walk to work. Thank you again!

[sheerbliss]

OP, I think you mean Carmel, not Carmen. At least, I've never heard of a Carmen area around here.

IPS is Indianapolis Public Schools. Looks like the closest elementary schools are Riverside and Hawthorne. I believe there should be a school bus that will take your child to school. As to school quality, I'm not sure if it makes much difference at the kindergarten level. In my lifetime, not all kids even attended kindergarten.

The bus line here is called IndyGo. The only thing I didn't like about IndyGo when I rode it some years ago was that they strapped in every passenger in a wheel chair, which took several minutes.

The Indiana coronavirus page is here. Look up Marion County for Indianapolis info (Hamilton County for Carmel).

[Silverlining56]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

OP, I think you mean Carmel, not Carmen. At least, I've never heard of a Carmen area around here.

IPS is Indianapolis Public Schools. Looks like the closest elementary schools are Riverside and Hawthorne. I believe there should be a school bus that will take your child to school. As to school quality, I'm not sure if it makes much difference at the kindergarten level. In my lifetime, not all kids even attended kindergarten.

The bus line here is called IndyGo. The only thing I didn't like about IndyGo when I rode it some years ago was that they strapped in every passenger in a wheel chair, which took several minutes.

The Indiana coronavirus page is here. Look up Marion County for Indianapolis info (Hamilton County for Carmel).

Yep, Exactly It is Carmel! Sorry. IPS is just a general name or abbreviation. I got it now. Dear sheerbliss, given that my son does not know anything about English language, the school can matter. I am not sure but I think so. I will check out the websites you shared “Indygo” and “coronavirus tally” . Thank you, you guys help mean a lot for us!

[sheerbliss]

I agree your son should attend kindergarten since he doesn't speak English, especially if your spouse doesn't speak much English, either. IPS has English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction, but most of participants will be Spanish speakers. Not sure if that's your native language.

[sweetana3]

There is an elementary school on the south side, I think it is Winchester Village(Perry Township School district), that specializes in students with English as a second language and it was highly rated. There is a large Burmese/Myanmar population right there and education is considered very important to them. Personally, I would investigate that area. Easy access downtown via car or the red line which runs up and down Madison Ave. and which passes extremely close to the Upper Canal area. My mother in law lives farther south and we are in that area a lot and enjoy the shopping and easy access. It is older and maybe not as fancy as the north side but a little quieter. There are a variety of apartment complexs right along the Red Line bus line.

I do not have a great opinion of IPS schools since a lottery is used for the most desirable schools and you need to be able to navigate the system. Not all schools have great reputations.

You will really need a car in Indy. It is a huge city with fairly limited transportation options. If you are careful, you can try to find a place on a bus line but the times and convenience are limited especially with a child or groceries, etc. i live downtown and even with a variety of things close, the car is needed for access.

So decide on the school, check the area it draws from and then locate housing.

I would rent. Housing is totally crazy right now. Rentals are not with furniture usually however, there are a lot of places that have used furniture and prices are really low. I would go that route myself. Husband moved here decades ago with nothing and gradually got our furniture. I have many sites for you to go to for used furniture. Habitat for Humanity has four resale shops in this city and does a huge business in donated furniture. This would keep your costs down over the long run. But someone on this site may know of a furnished apartment available. I could furnish an apartment for right around $1,000 or much less. Couch, dining room set, two beds to start with and the necessary things like sheets, cooking, etc.

I dont know what country you are coming from but various countries have groups here to help. India, Burma, Mexico and others have groups to help newcomers.

Covid is fairly restrained here in Indianapolis. Statistics are showing a good drop. Almost everyone I know is vaccinated and we are still in a masking time. Our health system is excellent with 8+ various hospitals right around your work area. Lots of doctors, specialists of all kinds, and services. Our vaccines are free (not sure how they are handling visa holders.

[sweetana3]

Here is one example of an apartment located on the red line bus, next to a nice grocery store which we use(no crossing streets), around the corner from a library branch and very new. I only looked up 2 bedrooms but they had one bedrooms also. Keep in mind when looking that utilities are not usually included.

https://www.apartments.com/5700-madi...is-in/c7e1s0f/

If you come to town and need a place right away for a temp stay, here is a place that has furnished studios. They rent month to month and looks like most things are included. Might be somewhat tight for the three of you, but if temporary it would be safe. I live in the same neighborhood. A big plus is that it is a walk to your job area. Walk to grocery and other amenities.

Renaissance Tower

There are many options and I just thought I would send you a couple to get you started. There are apartment review sites online that are helpful.