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I work in Farmingdale (in HR). We had an applicant take "public transportation" to our facility for an interview. She was an hour and 1/2 late because she didn't realize that public transportation meant a train station that is 10 miles away from our building and a bus station with the closest bus stop 5 miles away.
I don't know what public transportation in TN is like but do not compare LI public transportation to NYC's. You can't even compare. You'll wait 1/2 hour (sometimes up to an hour) for a taxi here (they don't just drive around, you have to call a station) and train/bus stations are miles away from businesses (unless your future employer is located on Route 110). If you drive, be prepared for a messy commute. Depending on which direction you come from, traffic on the main road (Route 110) is very stop and go.
Farmingdale is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where the majority of the places with the community name as part of their mailing address are not in the community:
Places that have a "Farmingdale, NY 11735" mailing address that are not in the Village of Farmingdale are in the Hamlet of South Farmingdale and the Hamlet of Plainedge, as well as in the Hamlet of Old Bethpage in the Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County and in the Hamlet of East Farmingdale and the Hamlet of Wyandanch in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County.
CarmineDaMedici, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) your job is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that place's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP, or Census Designated Place, is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.)
-----------Thx everyone for the input--------
@LegalDiva - ( my bad on the SP error) Not sure about the health insurance being covered. I don't take a lower crime rate for granted in TN (I grew up in East S.Louis--due respect, New York isn't that bad) but I would prefer not moving back to the hood. I assumed that it would be better to not have a car and use the public trans, what do you think?
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As someone posted above, mass transit in Long Island - for part of a better term - stinks. Seriously.
There are no trains in Long Island unless you rely on the LIRR which runs mostly for the purpose of commuters parking their cars in the lots and hopping a ride into Manhattan. The buses in Farmingdale don't run every minute like they do in NYC. You will have to walk a long distance because the office buildings in Farmingdale are spaced very far apart (I actually work very close to Farmingdale so I know what its like commuting there every day). You need a car, plain and simple.
50K is not going to be easy for holding down rent, a car, and car insurance (which keeps going up every year, a single man pays a higher rate than a married man and if you're under 30 years of age, the rates are through the roof). Car insurance will also be higher depending on where you live. When I was in NYC, I paid around $1200/year to GEICO (as a single woman, first time auto owner). Once I got married and dropped full coverage, my ins dropped to around $700/year but mostly because the area I live in now is considered "safer" than say, downtown Brooklyn where auto thefts risks are higher.
So I would say, do a budget and see where you can cut corners. The bottom line is - for Farmingdale, a car is practically necessary. If I were you, I would target areas for housing in Suffolk County like South Huntington, Amityville, Copiague, Lindenhurst, Selden, Ridge, Bay Shore where housing is very affordable. I know a guy in his 50s who is making around $ 62K working for a Post Office in the Hamptons and he has a gorgeous 3 bedroom home in Centereach. He drives a motorcycle and keeps his expenses low by not blowing his income on luxury items like most others do.
If possible - there's nothing wrong with working a 2nd part time job (nights / weekends)... You're not spending money when you're working, so it's a double whammy on the positive side and it's a great way to meet people when you're new to the area.
50K is totally fine for a single person on the Island. Hell - its fine for a couple as well, seeing how rent will dwarf all other costs (my wife and I got by for 2 years on around that salary, and we were still saving money).
Find a one bedroom apartment for 800-1200 a month, stick to basic cable, take vacations to the local beaches instead of flying somewhere, and brown bag your lunch. Voila - you've eliminated thousands in potential expenses.
Oh - and you'll definitely need a car. Public Transport is fine for commuting to the city, and some major destinations... but its a major pain in the ass for anything else.
$36k take-home, not counting hc + retirement... how do you figure? After deductions, he'd be taking home $40k+. If he bought a condo (or co-op) (like a friend of mine just bought and he makes $60k-ish), OP would be taking home even closer to the full $50k after deductions.
Simple Math:
50k x 28% single tax bracket = 14K in tx
- 14
___________
36K
50k x 28% single tax bracket = 14K in tx
- 14
___________
36K
You are both right and wrong on some issues.
Now considering the OP is likely to rent and is single, it will likely be the personal exemption and standard deduction. So that is $3,700 and $5,800, the NY State deduction would be $7,500.
So that would put the Taxable income at $40,500 federally and $42,500 for NY state. Taxes would be $6,250 federal, $2,514 state, $2,100 S.S, and $725 for medicare. Overall take home would be $38,411 or just over $3,200 a month. Now the actual monthly take home would be slightly less than that due to more taxes generally taken out than needed and then refunded, but that is a general idea.
Now that doesn't include health care benefits which the OP would likely have to pay some of, and any 401k. For arguments sake lets say $125 a month comes out for benefits and the OP puts 5% into a 401k plan ($2,500 for the year)
So that is $4,000 less that he would get paid, but also reduces taxable income by $4,000, reducing federal taxes by $1,000 and state taxes by $274, and a small reduction in Medicare and social security taxes. Overall take home would be $35,733, or slightly under $3,000 a month. Again, slightly more than that likely would get taken out because typically more is taken out than needed, and then gets refunded.
Regardless, as a single person who rents with an income of $50,000, depending on health benefits, and what you would like to put away for 401k, etc, you can expect a take home of somewhere between $2,900 and $3,200 a month. Even in high cost of living LI that is more than enough for someone renting a 1 bedroom apartment to live comfortably off of and have the extras for making trips back and forth to TN, having your girl come up here, etc.
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