Compare Cost of Living in different places

[Rustic23]

Cost of living: Compare prices in two cities - CNNMoney.com

I came across this and thought it was a good place for those looking to move or change j&bs.

 

[freebird5825]

Neat site for a quick and dirty look-see. TY
I picked a few places at random, compared to Syracuse NY. Housing was consistently higher elsewhere. It makes me wonder if average property taxes and sales taxes are included in the calculator. Those are my biggest bogies where I'm at right now.

 

[W2R]

Great! My cost of living here is 18% higher than it will be in my planned ER location in southern Missouri.

My groceries will be 7% less. Housing will be 20% less (but after going to open houses, IMO the savings may be much more than that at the moment). Utilities will be 26% less, transportation will be 8% less, and healthcare will be 10% less. Well, OK, if they say so... They didn't mention insurance but I suspect it will be much less as well.

On the other hand, taxes may be higher.

It's fun to have a calculator like this verify what I have concluded from my research up to now.

Edited to add: #$)%&*!!! It says that even moving back to Baton Rouge would lower my cost of living 18%. Grrr. That is only 50 minutes away. Groceries here cost 13% more than in Baton Rouge. Can you say, "Scalping unscrupulous grocery chains"? Grrr.

 

[haha]

If I move from Seattle to Ft.Worth, here's what happens:

If you move from Seattle, WA to ....Ft. Worth, TX

Groceries will cost:
19% less


Housing will cost:
53% less


Utilities will cost:
28% more


Transportation will cost:
11% less


Healthcare will cost:
26% less

I knew it was different just from visiting down there, but yikes! I give thanks for Seattle City Light.

 

[DangerMouse]

This calculator is interesting though the numbers didn't work for me.

We moved earlier this year from San Diego to San Jose. The calculator tells me the following:

Rent - will increase by 20%. Actually our rent is the same as it was in SD. However, whereas in SD we lived in a 3 bed/2ba apt. we live in 3 bed/2ba apt. house with a 2 car garage in one of the better suburbs of SV. However, if we were to buy it would cost us significantly more than 20% between locations.

Utilities - are supposed to cost an extra 23%. In our apt. our electricity was never less than $85 a month and in winter months ran as high as $160. In our house our highest bill has been $85 and the lowest $58. Think the heating is more efficient in our current location. Water is running at about the same between the 2 locations, however here we do have a garden.

Groceries - 24% extra. I did notice I was spending more when we first got here, but that was because I was used to shopping at Trader Joe's and there is not one convenient to my current location. I was using Safeway, however I think they are really expensive compared to Lucky where I am now trying to do the majority of my shopping.

So for us even though our cost of living is supposed to have increased by 15%, I can't see it in the actual numbers. I think sometimes these things can differ based on your personal lifestyle.

 

[CuppaJoe]

If I move from Northern Calif to Fargo!, ND my income would go almost twice as far. All I have to say, is so what.

Groceries will cost: 21%less
Housing will cost: 71%less
Utilities will cost: 1%more
Transportation will cost: 16%less
Healthcare will cost: 17%less

They've gotta be wrong about the utilities, because I pay about $24/month for gas and electric; I turn on the heat occasionally during the winter but never cool the place beyond a couple of fans. Here, there is no need to seal up the windows tight. I can't imagine how transportation would cost less as I would need a car in Fargo.

Seriously, I must add that is possible to live in a expensive city for 35 years relatively cheaply and retire well before age 90. It is no contest where I would rather be here in retirement.

 

[haha]

If I move from Northern Calif to Fargo!, ND my income would go almost twice as far. All I have to say, is so what.

It is no contest where I would rather be here in retirement.

Are you certain of that? Exciting floods in Fargo.

Ha

 

[CuppaJoe]

Are you certain of that? Exciting floods in Fargo.

Ha

There was a threat of tsunami here a few years back but it's easy to get to higher ground.

 

[W2R]

Well, if I moved to SF (not that I would) then

Groceries will cost: 16% more
Housing will cost: 213% more
Utilities will cost: 14% less
Transportation will cost: 12% more
Healthcare will cost: 12% more

At most, my house here is worth $200K. But there is no way that I could afford to buy a similar (1970's, 1588 square foot 3/2 single family) house in SF for $426K. I think that would probably cost me $600K+ in that area. They must be including rental costs in the housing, or something.

 

[CuppaJoe]

....
At most, my house here is worth $200K. But there is no way that I could afford to buy a similar (1970's, 1588 square foot 3/2 single family) house in SF for $426K. I think that would probably cost me $600K+ in that area. They must be including rental costs in the housing, or something.

Neither could I afford a $770,000+ fixer upper house in SF's Dogpatch* neighborhood.

Very early on, I decided I didn’t want to own a home; that freed me up for other options. For many years I shared a two bedroom apt. with a roommate, there are serious downsides to doing that but it is an LBYM technique. My favorite megacorp offered me two jobs outside of the city. I turned them both down because 1) I didn’t want to leave the city for places I didn’t want to be at 5:00 p.m. (or midnight as it were because of overtime); and 2) I didn’t want to be away from my new (and still current) SO. Had I chosen either job I might still be living in spectacular places; in fact one of the retirees on this board lives in one of those areas; it is an idyllic, spectacularly beautiful place to live, but truly not for me. Houses there are affordable but the other place megacorp offered would be too expensive for homeownership (which never was my dream anyway).

One nice thing about this forum is that it clarifies what is important to each of us and no one has to justify his choices.

------
*An up and coming old 'hood with safety issues and Niagara Falls level noise from the freeway.

 

[W2R]

One nice thing about this forum is that it clarifies what is important to each of us and no one has to justify his choices.

Another nice thing about this forum is getting to know people like you who understand that! Thanks.

 

[RDamien]

Hmmm, and there is supposedly some good paying tech jobs in Durham:

If you move from Bergen-Passaic, NJ to Durham, NC....
Groceries will cost:
14%less


Housing will cost:
55%less


Utilities will cost:
18%less


Transportation will cost:
3%less


Healthcare will cost:
8%less

 

[ziggy29]

Hmmm, and there is supposedly some good paying tech jobs in Durham:

The Research Triangle area also has a high concentration of jobs in education which are fairly recession-resistant.

 

[davemartin88]

Thanks for the link. We're moving from the Northern VA area to Romney, WV in about 2 years (closest comparable city to Romney in the calculator was Martinsburg, WV) and a $75K salary here is duplicated by about $55K there- housing being the biggest change by far. This tracks with what our own research shows and hopefully just one more indicator we're on the right track.