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We are a Florida resident right now so we have no state taxes taken from our paycheck. But we are in Oklahoma where my husband is stationed. My husband was offred a job at Fort Drum as soon as he retires in a few months. I have a ton of questions to ask so any and all help would be wonderful. We are a family of 3 my husband, myself and our 20 year old son that will be going to college in Watertown.
So here we go.
What are the state taxes from a paycheck like, are they super high? We know retirement is not taxed.
What is the cost of living there? Such as gas, food, entertainment etc? Gas here in Oklahoma is 3.53, hamburger runs about 2.20 for a pound of 81/19
We found an apartment that includes utilities so that is a blessing.
Do you have to pay property tax on a car every year when you renew the plates?
How much are car plates ?
How does car insurance work, someone told me I need to have my normal full coverage plus some other type of insurance on top of it?
Any thing else we should know about? (we have heard all the weather stories but Im looking for more info then just weather)
Thanks !
Overall cost of living is around the national average, give or take. Some places will be lower and some a little bit over. That will depend on where you live, as housing tends to take the biggest chunk anywhere, in terms of plurality of costs.
Lastly, are you going to live closer to Watertown or Syracuse? That can make a difference in terms of store offerings and perhaps price to a small degree. For instance, for grocery stores, Watertown has Hannaford, Tops and Price Chopper versus Wegmans, Tops, Price Chopper and both have Aldi and I believe a few smaller grocery store companies.
Thanks a bunch for the info! We also have USAA for car insurance. Right now we pay 85 a month for full coverage. We are going to live in Evans Mills, right by post. Ive read good things about Wegmans. So excited about coming to New York.
Thanks a bunch for the info! We also have USAA for car insurance. Right now we pay 85 a month for full coverage. We are going to live in Evans Mills, right by post. Ive read good things about Wegmans. So excited about coming to New York.
Unfortunately, Watertown doesn't have an area Wegmans. Cicero, a northern suburb of Syracuse has the closest location. It is about an hour away. There is a Super Wal*Mart near the post gate off of Route 11 near Evans Mills.
Cost Of Living - Weather - Oklahome versus Upstate New York
Hello LuvMySmallFamily,
Welcome to Upstate/Northern New York State.
City-Data Member ckhthankgod gave you some very good information.
You'll be noticing changes between Oklahoma & Upstate New York. Upstate New York: North Country/Northern New York is a much different atmosphere than Oklahoma and New York City.
Weather. More snow here in NYS. No excessive heat like Oklahoma altho we do have some days in the 90's=usually summer 85 to 93. Practically 95% tornado-free (almost zero probability) in our NYS region. Its 99.5% hurricane-free; sometimes we get a little rain from a hurricane.
I did some internet searches and I have some personal experience too about the subject of Cost Of Living.
The following is what I found. Assume that the U.S. National Overall Cost Of Living is given a Figure of 100. Then we compute the Cost Of Living for specific cities/locations versus that U.S. National Figure of 100. Figures under 100 mean a less expensive cost of living and figures above 100 are a higher cost of living than the National Average Cost Of Living.
Overall Cost Of Living>>
U.S. National Average ........ 100
Watertown/Fort Drum .......... 93
Syracuse/CNY .................... 87
Oklahoma City .................... 92
Tulsa ................................ 90
You will notice that Syracuse has a lower cost of living than Watertown/Fort Drum. It seems that the larger NYS cities have slightly lower overall prices than smaller cities & rural areas in Upstate NY. Property taxes sometimes are less expensive in rural countryside areas far-distant from large NY cities. I have a relative who lives up north in a very rural area and they own a nice home on 7 acres of land and a very large fish pond and they pay a total of about $1000 total school & town/county property taxes per year. It would be way more expensive closer to any large NY State city (5x 6x 7x more expensive)=but personally I prefer to live close to a large city.
The above figures are pretty close together which means a similar cost of living when you average-out all the prices/cost of various items/catagories of goods/services/etc. Notice that the above cities/areas all have a lower cost of living than the National Figure of 100 = lower Cost Of Living. The above figures are an overall figure. Some specific items/things may be higher priced here in NYS and certain different items/things may be higher in Oklahoma. Gas for your car is probably cheaper in Oklahoma. But food (fresh produce/frozen veggies/canned items/eggs/paper items=NOT meat) is probably cheaper in Upstate NY as long as you shop at the lower price grocery stores like: Aldi's discount groceries, Walmart, & Hannaford groceries (I love Wegman's but there are none at Watertown/Fort Drum). Oklahoma has a property tax every year on your vehicle and New York State does not. So you see, there are differences in various prices of different things between Oklahoma & Upstate NY but it seems like the overall Average is similar.
You mentioned apartments outside Fort Drum. Yes, I've been to all the rental complexes. Some of them are: 1.) Townhomes where no one lives above nor below your place=they only live beside your rental unit. 2.) Duplexes where there are just 2 rental units, side-by-side, in each building. 3.) Apartment Complexes where there are apartments either above or below your rental unit. Have you seen exterior pictures of all these Rental Complexes, because I could Post some photos of all the complexes located outside Fort Drum. Just let me know if you want me to show you these pictures & Information.
Feel free to ask me for any information or to answer any additional questions that you might have. City-Data Member "ckhthankgod" has excellent information about the Fort Drum area. Good luck to your family. I know you will do just fine living in this area as long as you adjust to winter weather.
We are a Florida resident right now so we have no state taxes taken from our paycheck. But we are in Oklahoma where my husband is stationed. My husband was offred a job at Fort Drum as soon as he retires in a few months. I have a ton of questions to ask so any and all help would be wonderful. We are a family of 3 my husband, myself and our 20 year old son that will be going to college in Watertown.
Thanks !
What college is your son going to? If it is a SUNY school, as an instate student, the cost drops substantially. This happens after a year of residence. I wonder, being as you are a military family, that there might be some "in state" sooner? [My nephew has a friend at a Community College where that is the case, but it is downstate.] Something to look into and consider in costs.
What college is your son going to? If it is a SUNY school, as an instate student, the cost drops substantially. This happens after a year of residence. I wonder, being as you are a military family, that there might be some "in state" sooner? [My nephew has a friend at a Community College where that is the case, but it is downstate.] Something to look into and consider in costs.
I'm assuming that it is Jefferson Community College and if so, I agree they should look into the requirements for their situation. It is a SUNY CC and either way, the second year should be the in state tuition rate.
I'm assuming that it is Jefferson Community College and if so, I agree they should look into the requirements for their situation. It is a SUNY CC and either way, the second year should be the in state tuition rate.
My friend's nephew goes to a CC in the SUNY system and people from military families ( not just Vets) get the instate as most are transfers of no choice. Something to check.
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Cost Of Living - Weather - Oklahome versus Upstate New York
