Salary Calculator to calculate equivalent salaries between Denver CO and Montreal QC ?? (sales)

[HarborEastGuy]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could point me to a website that calculates
equivalent salaries between the US and Canada. In my case, between
Denver CO and Montreal QC?

Most of the ones I found online only calculated cities within the same
country only. If such a salary calculator does not exist, does anyone
know what US city would be approximately equivalent (cost of living wise)
to Montreal??

Thanks for reading this message!

[jambo101]

Cant find a comparison chart putting the two cities side by side but heres a site that gives pertinent salary info for the Montreal side of the equation

.PayScale Canada - Montreal City Salary, Average Salaries

[KickAssArmyChick]

Denver is actually one of them. I am from Colorado Springs and I am in Montreal with my family for the summer ( they are from up here ).

Buffalo and Pittsburgh are also comparable to Montreal.

Food is much more expensive here though. You would be surprised. I went into a grocery store the other day to buy cream cheese and the thing was almost 5 dollars. I used to buy that at Walmart in the Springs for 2 bucks lol

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by KickAssArmyChick

Denver is actually one of them. I am from Colorado Springs and I am in Montreal with my family for the summer ( they are from up here ).

Buffalo and Pittsburgh are also comparable to Montreal.

Food is much more expensive here though. You would be surprised. I went into a grocery store the other day to buy cream cheese and the thing was almost 5 dollars. I used to buy that at Walmart in the Springs for 2 bucks lol

How so? I'm just curious because I live in Pittsburgh and do find a Pittsburgh-esque feeling when I've traveled through Ontario and Quebec.

[avironneur]

Salaries in Montreal are low for Canada but so is the cost of housing -- food, cars, electronics etc are all 20% more on average than in the US -- also factor in the much higher sales tax (13%) -- if you are debt-free go for it...it's a great city with crumbling infrastructure but it is a unique place and has wonderful work-life balance I find.....now if you have debt back in the US, trying to pay this and live in Montreal will be a challenge.

[cvenczel]

Is there a calclator to compare the cost of living (after taxes) between Montreal and Philadelphia ?

[kothrush]

I moved here couple of years ago from Midwest (near Indianapolis). I did pretty extensive research before taking this decision, so may be I can provide you with some insight.

As others have mentioned, Montreal is comparable to Denver as well as midwestern USA.

- 2 Bedroom 950 sq. ft. apartment in nice area - about $1000. (I live near Outremont which is considered "high end" area and I pay that much).
- Utilities: cheaper than USA in general. Heat is included in rent. Electricity is about $35/month average
- Food: I eat out 50% of the time so I am on higher side. For me, groceries (includes household supplies) - $250/month and eating out $350/month. This is roughly same as what I was spending in Indy with 50-50 eating home-eating out. Single person.
- Gas: about 25% more expensive than average American gas prices.
- Car Insurance: It is bit expensive , about 30-50% depending on where you buy it. But, this can change if you have some sort of discount (may be from your employer). I pay same insurance here as I used to pay in Indy, same car and similar coverage.
- Income Tax: About 3-4% more than USA in general, for up to household income of 100k. So, if you make 100k and you are single, you will pay about 33-35% (in midwest, denver etc.). You'll pay about 38-40% here. Of course, if you compare to states like FL, TX, WA where they don't have state tax, than your income tax in Quebec is like 10% more than those places.
-Health Insurance: National health plan. No extra cost. You can have private insurance and it is still very cheap compare to USA. Basically, extra income tax you pay here is partially compensated by the fact that your health insurance and related cost is negligible.
- Shopping/Electronics/Clothes etc: In general, you will find these items to be 10-20% expensive. If you try to shop online as much as you can (especially for electronics), than it's not that bad and you'll only spend marginally higher than states.
-Furniture/Ikea: Montreal has many high end furniture stores, which are as expensive as buying from high end store in NY or Chicago. but, for regular furniture like Ikea, expect about 5-10% mark-up here compare to states.

I hope this gives you idea about COL in Montreal. Overall, I found that Montreal is same expensive as an average city of Midwestern USA. You can expect about of $2-$2.5k/month for single working person living along (if you share then you can do it for less than $2k/month), which is much less than places like Boston, NY, Chicago.

Hope this helps.

[fromtheusa99]

If you make a decent amount of money taxes are significantly higher. My marginal rate is 48%.

It is a great place to be poor or lower middle class with kids (as long as you are ok with them going to a french school) and terrible if you make a decent amount of money and want to keep it.

[kothrush]

Marginal Tax rates in QC/Canada is higher compare to many other places. But, you should compare net average tax rate to find out what is your take-home amount.

My marginal tax rate is 45% , but net average tax is 32%.