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My husband and I are continuing to investigate the triangle area as a possible retirement spot and I am somewhat skeptical about some of what I'm reading. Nerd Wallet's COL calculator has the Raleigh area 22% lower than Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Monmouth County is located about 1-1.5 hours drive from NYC.)
Breaking it down, they say:
Housing 41 % lower in Raleigh area (houses only, not inc property taxes. This seems high!)
Food: 12% lower in Raleigh area.
Transportation 24% lower in Raleigh area (Gas, mainly. it's about 2.89 in NJ)
Entertainment: 11% lower in Raleigh area
Healthcare: 1% higher in Raleigh area.
Property Taxes (according to SmartAsset) are about 40% lower in Raleigh. (This seems accurate and is the biggest "sell" when considering the savings aspect of making a move).
The state income tax for retirees is actually worse in NC than NJ as NJ allows a $60K exemption, so these other cost considerations are of interest to us.
My question to those who have relocated to the Raleigh area from NY/NJ - (somewhat commutable to NYC), or anyone who'd care to chime in:
1. Do the above numbers seem generally accurate?
2. With the Raleigh area growing quickly, housing prices are obviously going up (not just because of the weird Covid-related cycle we're in), and seem to be doing so rapidly. Does it seem like property taxes and other costs - for whatever reason - are also going up rather quickly? I don't want to move down there and find myself in another NJ in 10 years!
Would appreciate thoughts and impressions .... thanks!
We moved to Raleigh from Jackson, NJ 15 years ago. The property tax rate has been fairly stable at around 1% of property value. I think NJ was more like 3%. The transportation savings is likely due to slightly lower gas prices and also the fact that we don't have tolls everywhere like in NJ. At one time the housing was probably 41% lower here but prices around here have really shot up as of late so I'm not sure the savings is that high anymore. I don't recall noticing any difference in food costs from NJ to NC. Keep in mind though that unlike NJ, there is an annual automobile tax dependent on the value of your car. It can add up quickly if you have a couple of nice cars in the family. Overall, you will love it here. You get a lot more house for the money and weather is great.
My husband and I are continuing to investigate the triangle area as a possible retirement spot and I am somewhat skeptical about some of what I'm reading. Nerd Wallet's COL calculator has the Raleigh area 22% lower than Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Monmouth County is located about 1-1.5 hours drive from NYC.)
Breaking it down, they say:
Housing 41 % lower in Raleigh area (houses only, not inc property taxes. This seems high!)
Food: 12% lower in Raleigh area.
Transportation 24% lower in Raleigh area (Gas, mainly. it's about 2.89 in NJ)
Entertainment: 11% lower in Raleigh area
Healthcare: 1% higher in Raleigh area.
Property Taxes (according to SmartAsset) are about 40% lower in Raleigh. (This seems accurate and is the biggest "sell" when considering the savings aspect of making a move).
The state income tax for retirees is actually worse in NC than NJ as NJ allows a $60K exemption, so these other cost considerations are of interest to us.
My question to those who have relocated to the Raleigh area from NY/NJ - (somewhat commutable to NYC), or anyone who'd care to chime in:
1. Do the above numbers seem generally accurate?
2. With the Raleigh area growing quickly, housing prices are obviously going up (not just because of the weird Covid-related cycle we're in), and seem to be doing so rapidly. Does it seem like property taxes and other costs - for whatever reason - are also going up rather quickly? I don't want to move down there and find myself in another NJ in 10 years!
Would appreciate thoughts and impressions .... thanks!
I realize I didn't come from NJ/NY, rather MA, but figured I'd throw my 2 cents in. This state is fairly tax adverse compared to the Northeast. We moved from MA (which realistically gets it's own reputation for taxes; but property rates don't come close in many parts of the state compared to what people in CT, NY, NJ pay).
Be that as it may, moving down here:
1. Income tax rate increased (5% in MA, 5.25% NC)
2. Sales Tax increased (6.25% in MA, 4.75% NC (state), plus local sales tax which varies). Also keep in mind, in MA food, clothing and medicine are exempt from sales tax, I don't believe there are any exempt items here)
3. Property tax - I paid $4,331 on a house that tax appraised for $327K (1.32%) in 2016 the year we sold it. Our house here for the same tax year (we bought in 2017) paid $4,113 on $365K tax appraised value (1.13%). County based schools, rather than town/regional typically seen up North, is why it's typically taxed less.
I find groceries basically a wash compared to MA (although meat is way more expensive here for some unknown reason). Our utilities are tough to compare (home heating oil in MA is it's own demon), we didn't have central AC there, but in both instances had "town co-op electric" which seems to be cheaper than the big guys (National Grid up north). I didn't run the heat pump for heat a single day this winter (used gas fireplace to heat the downstairs, and the upstairs I go with the "a cold barn makes a sturdy horse" concept)
Real Estate is significantly cheaper here. The house we sold up north is tax assessed (currently) at $397.5K for 1440 sq feet (276/sq ft), our home here is tax assessed at $365.3K for 3100 sq feet (117/sq foot). We're 16 miles from downtown here, 48 miles from downtown Boston there.
If you're going to target new construction, you won't see much of a reduction in cost of housing (with the one notable exception being your newly constructed home here will easily be nicer than your 30-50 years old fixer-upper in NJ). I paid $2,400 per year on a 1.1 acre lot with a 3,000 sf colonial as recently as 2019. I'm in a newly constructed home, 2,400 sf and paying $3,400 per year. And because we no longer desired a large lot, have a tiny yard with zero maintenance (HOA's dues cover that).
Food isn't going to be materially cheaper here, utilities will likely cost less, as will car insurance (before my two boys had their licenses we were paying about $1k per year total for two relatively new cars). But life is way easier here than in NJ. Traffic outside of the heart of rush hour is laughable. Getting anywhere is much simpler as well. And the climate is more moderate and likely easier on a retiree's body (I'm 57 and find the weather very agreeable).
If I were looking to retire, NC would probably not be on my list of places to move. Housing prices are out of control, unless you can sell and pay cash here and even then.... the biggest savings is property tax. When I hear renters moving here for a better QOL I kinda cringe. My BIL is from Monmouth and he and my sister lived there before relocating.
Food has a tax on it, unlike NY (not sure if NJ does)...other than that I do not find it overwhelmingly cheaper - not enough to make a difference. However we do have great grocery options here.
Gas is probably not going to be much cheaper than NJ.
Utilities and insurance will probably be cheaper.
Entertainment depends on what you are talking about and where you're going. You won't get a NYC experience here, but getting similar involves a lot less agita.
This is a very nice place to live, but so is Monmouth County - I'd suggest if you're retired getting an Airbnb for a month or so and see what you think.
All things being equal the only things that will cost less in NC are your home property taxes and car insurance. I lived in Manalapan NJ and if I were to try to buy a similar home there now it would cost at least 50% more and the property taxes would be 3 times what I pay here.
I moved here 15 years ago. Grew up in Monmouth County (Wall/Belmar Area).
As others have pointed out, when looking at differences in $$$ between the two areas the three places you will see a difference are property tax, car insurance, and the fact that you can get a new home for what you would likely pay for a 30 year old home in NJ. That said, housing prices continue to climb here and depending on the area and the size of home you want you could certainly pay a lot for a house here too, its just that your money goes further here.
I don't notice any real difference in any other costs like food, healthcare, gas etc...
All that said, I still really enjoy living here and consider it my home. It's alwas nice visitng family in NJ, but I look forward to coming back home to Raleigh. Good Luck!
We lived in NJ for 46 yrs and in NC for the last 17. Even with all the figuring with %'s of cost of homes, taxes, etc, the quality of life in NC is much better here, than in NJ.
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