Living expenses average cost (Seattle, Sammamish: sales, 2014, apartments)

[lostsoul2015]

I am trying to work out roughly how much living expenses/tax one has to be to reside in the Seattle or surrounding areas.


besides food/groceries, cable TV and internet - what other expenses as especially taxes (and roughly how much) should I be considering to fork out per month?


Garbage?
Water?
Electricity...
Gas?
County taxes?
State taxes?
...
...




Thank you.

[Neil73]

Hi I would be interested in a response to this question question.


I am from the UK and I may have a job opportunity, I have no idea how the tax system work in the US and no idea of cost really. If someone could let me know all the fixed cost that will need to paid, I have been looking at property to rent for $2000, is there any other costs associated with renting.


Also would be interested in what a Traffic engineer could expect to earn in seattle.


Thanks

[Hemlock140]

It varies depending on which city/town you are in, but in general garbage is reasonable, electricity is cheaper than average, water a bit high. Sewer is the highest compared to other areas. Natural gas is reasonable and in fact the rates were just reduced. Our example is in Sammamish, 3,000 sf house:

Garbage $70 every 3 months
Water & Sewer $150 every other month
Electricity & gas - We have Puget Sound Energy which combines with gas, and averages $125 in summer, as much as $300/month in winter
Gasoline is now at about $2.50/gallon
Property taxes are high, especially with voter approved levies, ours is $6,000/year, sales tax 10%

For renters, most pay electricity, but the rent includes water, sewer and garbage in apartments. For rental houses, most tenants pay all utilities. In the City of Seattle they are considering a proposal that landlords pay all utilities due to collection issues with tenants, and if they do that all rents will go up to cover it.

Where I work, engineers make $100k and up, junior engineers start at about $70k. I would expect less if working for a city rather than the private sector.

[amaiunmei]

Originally Posted by Neil73

Hi I would be interested in a response to this question question.


I am from the UK and I may have a job opportunity, I have no idea how the tax system work in the US and no idea of cost really. If someone could let me know all the fixed cost that will need to paid, I have been looking at property to rent for $2000, is there any other costs associated with renting.


Also would be interested in what a Traffic engineer could expect to earn in seattle.


Thanks

A traffic engineer is a form of civil engineering.

Interesting coincidence: there's an associate civil engineering position open right now on Seattle.gov Home. Take a look; all of the salary scales are public so that should give you some good information. The city of Seattle owns two utility companies: Seattle Public Utilities (water) and Seattle City Light (electric). As a general rule, if you are working as a civil engineer for the city then you are either working for one of the utilities, or you are working for Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

[Gardyloo]

Originally Posted by Neil73

Hi I would be interested in a response to this question question.


I am from the UK and I may have a job opportunity, I have no idea how the tax system work in the US and no idea of cost really. If someone could let me know all the fixed cost that will need to paid, I have been looking at property to rent for $2000, is there any other costs associated with renting.


Also would be interested in what a Traffic engineer could expect to earn in seattle.


Thanks

Welcome to C-D!

Generally, and there are exceptions here and there, your monthly rent will include water, sewer and solid waste/recycling collection fees. Generally electricity and - depending on the rental property - natural gas (for cooking and possibly heating) is billed directly to the tenant, as is internet and telecommunications (cable TV, etc.) While the property owner will pay property taxes, those are not passed through to the tenant except as a component of their rent.

You will probably find that tenant-paid utilities (such as electricity) are considerably cheaper in Seattle than they are in most of the UK.

Washington State, unlike most US states, does not have a state income tax. Instead, you'll pay a sales tax (a bit like VAT but not built into prices) that varies slightly from one jurisdiction to the next, but which in Seattle is 9.6%, levied on most products and services, with the exclusion of food and prescription medications (but not food purchased in restaurants, for example.)

So in terms of taxes, you'll have federal income tax and social security taxes withheld by your employer, but nothing by the State or any other taxing jurisdiction. You'll file an income tax return/statement annually (due date is 15 April for the previous year, although extensions can be obtained easily) at which point you may get a refund if too much has been withheld, or possibly owe some if not enough has been withheld. (Tax computation is an enormous industry in the US due to many "deductions" and specific rules that apply in individual cases.)

For property owners, you'll be subject to property taxes (rates) that are based on your property's value (as established by a county assessor) multiplied by a factor that represents the cumulative "bite" levied by numerous state or local taxing jurisdictions, including the State itself, the County and City in which the property is located, various taxing public jurisdictions such as port authorities or fire protection districts, local school districts, etc. It's very complicated, so much so that most property owners have no idea what part of their property tax payment goes to which public agency or service.

Long answer to short question, sorry. As for how much you could expect to earn as a traffic engineer, no idea, but undoubtedly a living wage. One rule of thumb is that rent shouldn't exceed 25% - 30% of your pre-tax monthly income, so doing the reverse math, $2000 per month would be "affordable" to someone earning $6667 - $8000 per month. Like all rules of thumb, it depends on your thumbs.

[Neil73]

Thanks you so much for your replies. Ok please see below, this is what i have worked out so far please comment if wrong. I have based it on a 100k salary and a family of 4, so if food bill is low please advise also they are monthly costs.

Also if you could fill in the blanks it would be great. namely medical insurance for 2 adults and 2 children. and cost of running a car, i am 40 and wont want anything flash.

Finally would there be costs associated with sending my daughter to college, she will be 16 if we go soon.


Rent 2000
Utilites
Water 150
Gas Electric 200
Garbage 280
TV/ Internet 80
Food 600
Federal Tax @28% 1791
Social security Tax @ 6.2% 517

Car Insurance ?
Car Tax ?
Medical insurance ?
College fees ?

[GraceKrispy]

For renters, most pay electricity, but the rent includes water, sewer and garbage in apartments. For rental houses, most tenants pay all utilities.

I rent an apartment, and rent definitely does not include water/sewer. In fact, the water/sewer charge (they charge according to number in household) is way higher than it was when I rented a house. The house rental came to about $100/month for water (billed every other month). In this (smaller) apartment, I'm paying ~$180/month for water/sewer/garbage. It feels like a lot to me.

Medical insurance would really depend on how you're paying and what your job offers. That's really difficult to say ahead of time. College fees- are you talking about tuition as well as associated costs? That would depend a lot on whether you're sending her in state/out of state, private/public, living at home/boarding somewhere, etc etc. There are a lot of costs associated with college, unless you have scholarships. Books, living expenses, etc.

For car insurance, we pay about $87/month for one car for two adults who have clean driving records, but as soon as my son gets his license it goes up very significantly.

[Neil73]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

I rent an apartment, and rent definitely does not include water/sewer. In fact, the water/sewer charge (they charge according to number in household) is way higher than it was when I rented a house. The house rental came to about $100/month for water (billed every other month). In this (smaller) apartment, I'm paying ~$180/month for water/sewer/garbage. It feels like a lot to me.

Medical insurance would really depend on how you're paying and what your job offers. That's really difficult to say ahead of time. College fees- are you talking about tuition as well as associated costs? That would depend a lot on whether you're sending her in state/out of state, private/public, living at home/boarding somewhere, etc etc. There are a lot of costs associated with college, unless you have scholarships. Books, living expenses, etc.

For car insurance, we pay about $87/month for one car for two adults who have clean driving records, but as soon as my son gets his license it goes up very significantly.

Hi Thanks,

The company has said it has a good medical insurance, i guess that would be deducted from my salary before i see it, just wondering on average for a family of 4.

With regards to college, in the UK you attend college aged 16-18 tuition is free just pay for books, At 18 you can then decide to go to University or get a job, University has costs and they will generally move from home so boarding would be usual. Obviously the education system is different in the US, but i would guess my daughter would go to a local college based around seattle so would just commute, we should have tuition fees as well or is it free?

[GraceKrispy]

With regards to college, in the UK you attend college aged 16-18 tuition is free just pay for books, At 18 you can then decide to go to University or get a job, University has costs and they will generally move from home so boarding would be usual. Obviously the education system is different in the US, but i would guess my daughter would go to a local college based around seattle so would just commute, we should have tuition fees as well or is it free?

Ah, ok. In the US, kids age from around 14-18 (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grades) are in high school, and public high schools are free. College or university comes after graduation from high school (college usually refers to the 4 - or so- year degree that comes after high school, but there are colleges that stand alone and those within a university, e.g., college of education within the University of Washington). So it seems your daughter would be put into high school, I'm not sure at what grade, and finish high school. Towards the end of high school, she could apply to different colleges/universities.

Some links about the US education system, possibly helpful: http://www.studyusa.com/en/a/58/unde...ucation-system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educat..._United_States
http://www.isss.umn.edu/publications/useducation/2.pdf

Also, a link to the Seattle public school district: https://www.seattleschools.org/ If you move to the city of Seattle and your daughter attends public school, this is where she would be attending. If you choose another area, you can google for another school district. The basic set up (wrt ages, grades, etc) is the same, but the way they place her in a grade may vary.

[Hemlock140]

Car Insurance I just paid for all 3 cars, the 6-month premium all together was about $800, full coverage on the 2014 and 2007, just liability on the 1997.

Car Tax I just paid the 2007 annual registration, $70. The 2014 was $124.

Medical insurance I pay about $100/month out of my paycheck, my employer pays the rest.