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I'm an Italian Civil / Structural Engineer actually living and working in Perth, Australia.
I have a dream since I was a child: relocate to United States.
I'm sure there are hundreds of threads were salaries and cost of living are discussed, but I would like to compare Perth to New York.
These are my figures for a family of three: me, wife and 2 years old daughter. Single income.
My actual gross salary: A$115,000 (superannuation included).
Net salary per month: A$6,450.
Monthly rent: A$2,300.
Monthly saving: A$1,500.
We are living a decent lifestyle, where I consider decent lifestyle the following:
- we go dine out once every two weeks;
- 2011 Toyota Camry;
- house in a nice living area (City Beach).
Now, my questions:
1) According to the above, what salary should I earn to have a similar lifestyle?
2) Are there opportunities for Civil / Structural Engineers? (Actually, I'm working in the Railway Industry)
3) Would you suggest a move from Perth to New York or, generally speaking, from Australia to USA?
Thank you so much for all the information provided by this forum. My first post is dated back to 2008.
The Australian dollar is worth about US$ 0.90, so your current salary plus "superannuation," which we call social security retirement benefit (or FICA) is the equivalent of about US$ 103,500. The average salary for a civil engineer in the USA is US$ 80,000 according to the "Indeed" job search site, so your Australian salary is pretty good.
You can come to the USA on the "visa waiver" program but you cannot work legally. You'd need a "H1B" work visa of which there are very few issued per year. Your employer would submit the application to the US government. Most states require civil engineers to be licensed in which case you must "sit" for the "ASCE PE" exam, not easy I am told. See http://www.asce.org/.
My humble advice is to stay in Australia. Your American Dream may just turn out to be a nightmare.
If you get a comparable salary in the USA, you can maintain pretty much the same lifestyle you're accustomed to. Now Wells5 is making assumptions where he could be completely wrong. What if Lexatus has already been approved his I-551 (green card)? Then he can relocate to the USA legally anytime he wants.
Anyhow, if your dream is to come to the USA, make it happen. As far job opportunities in your field why don't you call companies here or if you have any colleagues here in the USA speak to them; they can shed more light about the opportunities that exists in that field.
Thank you all for your comments. Really appreciated.
Relocating in USA could not be so difficult as my company has got projects there. But before I make this big step to follow my dreams, I need to be sure I'm doing the correct thing for my wife and my 2 years old daughter. The lifestyle in Australia is quite good (but I'm confident in USA could be better).
Are you able to provide information on how much can you save monthly with a salary of, say, $100,000?
Do you have a brother or sister who are US citizens or permanent residents? If you do, you can legally emigrate here by having the relative submit an I-130 "petition for alien relative" to the State Department. The only other legal ways are to get in line for permission to emigrate (a very long wait) or win the "diversity lottery."
If your company has projects here, then they can submit an H1B work permit application for you. They must certify that they cannot find a US citizen who is qualified to do the work. Civil engineers here are not in short supply.
As I wrote in a previous post, you must be licensed to work as a civil engineer in most states. Civil engineering in the USA uses the English system of weights and measures not the metric system as they do in Australia and the rest of the world. Are you familiar with this system?
Plans, blueprints and schematics prepared by a civil engineer must be "sealed" with the professional engineers stamp to be legal. See example below.
I'm looking specifically for advises on cost of life comparison and saving rate.
These are my figures for a family of three: me, wife and 2 years old daughter. Single income.
My actual gross salary: A$115,000 (superannuation included).
Net salary per month: A$6,450.
Monthly rent: A$2,300.
Monthly saving: A$1,500.
We are living a decent lifestyle, where I consider decent lifestyle the following:
- we go dine out once every two weeks;
- 2011 Toyota Camry;
- house in a nice living area (City Beach).
Would be possible to get a comparison with New York?
The Australian dollar is worth about US$ 0.90, so your current salary plus "superannuation," which we call social security retirement benefit (or FICA) is the equivalent of about US$ 103,500. The average salary for a civil engineer in the USA is US$ 80,000 according to the "Indeed" job search site, so your Australian salary is pretty good.
You can come to the USA on the "visa waiver" program but you cannot work legally. You'd need a "H1B" work visa of which there are very few issued per year. Your employer would submit the application to the US government. Most states require civil engineers to be licensed in which case you must "sit" for the "ASCE PE" exam, not easy I am told. See http://www.asce.org/.
My humble advice is to stay in Australia. Your American Dream may just turn out to be a nightmare.
Or just come illegally, and they won't do a d*mned thing to you.
I'm an Italian Civil / Structural Engineer actually living and working in Perth, Australia.
I have a dream since I was a child: relocate to United States.
I'm sure there are hundreds of threads were salaries and cost of living are discussed, but I would like to compare Perth to New York.
These are my figures for a family of three: me, wife and 2 years old daughter. Single income.
My actual gross salary: A$115,000 (superannuation included).
Net salary per month: A$6,450.
Monthly rent: A$2,300.
Monthly saving: A$1,500.
We are living a decent lifestyle, where I consider decent lifestyle the following:
- we go dine out once every two weeks;
- 2011 Toyota Camry;
- house in a nice living area (City Beach).
Now, my questions:
1) According to the above, what salary should I earn to have a similar lifestyle?
2) Are there opportunities for Civil / Structural Engineers? (Actually, I'm working in the Railway Industry)
3) Would you suggest a move from Perth to New York or, generally speaking, from Australia to USA?
Thank you so much for all the information provided by this forum. My first post is dated back to 2008.
Best regards.
I'm a New Yorker just "off the boat" after living in Australia.
Without a job/salary in hand, it's difficult to say how life would compare.
Eating out would likely be a more common occurrence. Bluntly, it's far cheaper than Perth. Steak dinners are roughly comparable with Australian prices, as in both countries, steak for whatever reason commands a significant premium versus other foods when eating out. Fairly simple options like a classic NYC diner can offer a meal for as little as $8 per person (sandwich, fries/chips/salad, and tea/coffee/soda/water). As I recall, eating for that price was difficult in Perth outside of a few Asian meat+rice places. Some examples of main meal prices at mid range restaurants (sit down restaurants that aren't fine dining): steak $25-53; sushi set $13-25; chicken parmigiana $15; Vienerschnitzel (fried veal Viennese style) $23, Salmon dish $18, Halibut $30, Hamburger "fully loaded" $14, Sweet & Sour Chicken $15, domestic mass market beer $4-6, premium/craft/import beer $5-8, glass of wine $5-11. Prices obviously decline on average as one moves out of city centres. I've tried to average the prices between what I've observed in Manhattan, visiting my friends in Queens (Forest Hills), and what I've observed in Nassau County.
Car ownership is overall a less costly experience. Vehicles generally cost less in the US, as we lack a punitive import tariff. Petrol, repairs, and insurance are cheaper, as well.
You'll need to consider healthcare costs. You and your wife are likely young, but obviously you'll want a solid, comprehensive arrangement for your child's future needs.
Housing varies wildly, as like in any country, the "housing market" is not a unitary entity, but rather a confederation of smaller markets. A $100,000 household income would not allow much more than basic housing in a safe area with good schools in markets such as NYC, DC, LA, or San Francisco. In this regard, you may not find NYC much cheaper (if at all) than Perth. If your wife worked as a white collar professional earning $50k+, obviously your options for housing and added amenities would improve.
As with any move, expat life in the US has its advantages and disadvantages, as do specific areas. Some Australians are disappointed that NYC or Southern California aren't at the near-3rd world cheapness they saw on their road-trip across the American South from Miami to New Orleans. There is also the very real culture shock of moving from Australia to a metro area with 1/2 of Australia's entire population. Religion is a much, much larger facet of American life and even urban centres still have large contingents of religious. I have observed that poverty is much more visible in the US. On the other hand, I have encountered very happy Australians who've managed to retain their 6 figure salary in cheaper second tier cities such as St Louis.
Aussie living in New Jersey. For the locals - Superannuation is 401K in the US.
If I assume that your missus is not working and there is no plan for that to change then I'd say the lifestyle in NYC (City) would be of a lower quality than what you have now - although that depends on what your expectations are... Living in the biggest city in North America vs the worlds most isolated city (Perth) has some fairly obvious trade offs and differences.
I think you need to outline your expectations around housing and location. In NYC for a nice 2 bed you are looking at more than you are paying now. A house is out of the question on that number in the city. City Beach WA doesn't really have a comparative spot here - unless you consider moving out of NYC to Long Island perhaps but then its not the city.
Also you need to consider the job side - I'd say that due to the resources boom in Perth your salary is higher than what you might get in NYC but that's a guess rather than anything concrete. Engineers I've met here seem to not earn as much as they might in Perth!
If you have an Australia Citizenship then from a Visa standpoint you can enter for work easily (Google the E3 Visa). If you only have Italian Citizenship then its much more complicated. First step is to always work out the Visa path and then work out what the job situation is. It might be worth getting Australia Citizenship first and then attempting the move.
So whats your visa story ?
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