Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are thinking of moving to NYC and I'm trying to get a handle on what type of salary is required to live comfortably. We are a family of 4 (1 5 year old and 1 2 year old).
I read an article from a couple of years back that suggests that 500k/year is barely enough. It seemed kind of tongue-in-cheek, but it still makes me quite nervous.
We will need a 3 BR/2BA place and will likely send our kids to private school.
500k a year is a ridiculous salary. NYC is expensive but it is not that expensive, even if you were to live the life of a high roller Wall Street executive.
With that said, for a solid 3BR apartment, you can probably get pay 5-6000 a month in a nice area of Manhattan, much less if you live in the boroughs, probably 3-4000 in a nice neighborhood of Queens or Brooklyn. You should be able to provide nicely for your family for much less, probably 200k if you want them to go to private school that is 40k a year per child.
Shop around neighborhoods and private schools, do not be afraid to live in the boroughs (much better for raising kids than Manhattan in my opinion, more space, could have a yard, quieter, etc), but know that private schools are expensive, and groceries, utilities, plus going out to restaurants, bars, movies, etc are very expensive as well.
We are thinking of moving to NYC and I'm trying to get a handle on what type of salary is required to live comfortably. We are a family of 4 (1 5 year old and 1 2 year old).
I read an article from a couple of years back that suggests that 500k/year is barely enough. It seemed kind of tongue-in-cheek, but it still makes me quite nervous.
We will need a 3 BR/2BA place and will likely send our kids to private school.
help?
500K is a lot of money, even here. People who make that are rich, even if they complain. You can have a nice life here on a lot less.
However - the marginal tax rate on that income is 45% (Federal + State + City + SSI on the first 120K). Even someone making 500K will have a lot less left than you think. Add health care and retirement, and take home on 500K may be 300K or below. Still a lot of money, but not as much as you might imagine.
Specific to you, a 3BR/2BA apartment is very expensive here in the City - I suspect people will recommend that you think either about places like Forest Hills (a good family neighborhood in Queens) or the suburbs. For example, I just checked the Archstone property here in Brooklyn Heights, which is a pretty good indicator of market rent for a full service corporately owned building. They have a 2BR/2BA with a den at 1200 sq ft which may work for someone like you for $6200 a month. Manhattan would be more expensive, and of course there are cheaper deals to be had (but often those involve paying a broker's fee). Private schools, as someone above said, are about 40K a year. If you intend to keep a car, that will also be a very big expense.
So: bottom line. You don't need 500K. But if you make less, you might need to cut back on things you think you need (a car, or a third BR, or proximity to work).
Step 1: Figure out, ballpark, how much those schools will cost. Subtract that from your income.
Step 2: Now you can figure out what you can afford.
A quick Google suggests that private schools are in the $40,000 range per student per year. If you're making anywhere near $500K, you can rent almost anywhere you want in the city.
We are thinking of moving to NYC and I'm trying to get a handle on what type of salary is required to live comfortably. We are a family of 4 (1 5 year old and 1 2 year old).
I read an article from a couple of years back that suggests that 500k/year is barely enough. It seemed kind of tongue-in-cheek, but it still makes me quite nervous.
We will need a 3 BR/2BA place and will likely send our kids to private school.
help?
Actually that number is accurate if you want a good quality of life with a family that large and to live in Manhattan.
Can you get by on less? Sure, but to do so means tradeoffs: location, apartment size, schools, savings, money for food, money for entertainment, money for clothing, money to save for retirement or school funds, having money for vacations, etc..
So you have YET to provide info that we need to actually help you.
We need to know:
1) What is your income- this is the ultimate question...
2) What are you willing to sacrifice to live in NYC to make ends meet on your salary (this will help us suggest neighborhoods)
3) Why NYC? Have you considered other areas like Westchester?
4) Where are you moving from?
5) Have you done ANY homework on the differences in the cost of living in terms of rent, food and clothing?
The disparity of wealth in the city is absolutely absurd- more so than anywhere in the free world, even India which is plagued with a caste class system.
High costs are often attributed to a small portion of the population making an incredibly out-of-proportion amount of money.
I can only think of a small handful of jobs so critical to our lives that those employed within them should be making 10-20x what a standard middle class job may pay.
The disparity of wealth in the city is absolutely absurd- more so than anywhere in the free world, even India which is plagued with a caste class system.
High costs are often attributed to a small portion of the population making an incredibly out-of-proportion amount of money.
I can only think of a small handful of jobs so critical to our lives that those employed within them
should be making 10-20x what a standard middle class job may pay.
What you think other people be *ALLOWED* to earn is irrelevant; quite frankly there's rich, middle income and low income that manage to get by- it depends on what you can afford and whether or not your expectations are realistic. I'm waiting for more info from the OP on that.
What you think other people be *ALLOWED* to earn is irrelevant; quite frankly there's rich, middle income and low income that manage to get by- it depends on what you can afford and whether or not your expectations are realistic. I'm waiting for more info from the OP on that.
What you consider 'good quality of life with a family that large' may also be irrelevant.
This is an opinion I put in that contributes to the OP's discussion of the original NY times article.
Monetary value is hyper-inflated in this city. The OP should know that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
