Cost of Living in New York

Rents came down in NYC over past few months. A lot of kids moved out as a result of the pandemic. A studio, which went for $3,500 a month at the beginning of 2020, goes for $2,400 now.
The City is kind of desolate now. Before the pandemic you needed $125k a year plus $50k bonus to live a decent single life. Now, you can do it just for the salary, kind of, without the bonus. The entertainment options are limited. Good luck to all.

Hello folks

Firstly I am from England. Another place where things are stupidly costly on the money we get. I am wanting to know from someone that isn’t going to bull **** me what to expect for a monthly cost of living in Manhattan.

I’m going to give you an example of my current circumstances and I want as many responses as possible to compare. Realistic ones mind you. I am not interested in sharing with some loud drunken hormonal idiots.

I live near Sheffield. That’s Yorkshire for them that don’t know. The centre of Britain. In 2008 the cost of a city centre apartment with hardly enough room to swing a cat - was about £625 rent for a 1 bedroom maybe 2. In 2020 it’s now £925. So I now live in a house.

Here unless you are from a rich family with good jobs life sucks. You have to work long hours and put up with a lot of rubbish!

Monthly costs:
Water £60
Child support £200
Council tax (not including income tax and national ins contribution)
£120
Rent £475
for a two bedroom is cheap normally it’s £700 for somewhere good.
£6 a week tv
£50 cable tv and internet
£20 month phone
£100 a month food if you don’t like eating a lot
£50 a month credit card

I have bad credit and no savings so I couldn’t get a mortgage.
If you earn a bit more then you can get a car. If you have a mummy and daddy they’ll pay for your car. They’ll get you started. Your £100 hang bag and make up and clothes. Whatever.

Here The average monthly wage is £1350
But they’ll claim it’s £2200 Your lucky if you get that.
Jobs are so hard to get because of the amount of applicants and I have 12 years experience and a degree!
That would be for a customer service, call centre, admin, business support, supervisory role. Sales.
You might make £2000 a month with overtime but you get taxes on this. They claim the average salary is £28000 a year maybe it is but you really have to work a lot and maybe you’ll get that if you a manger or tradesman.

Now compare that with yours. For my house worth £250k I can buy a house with a pool in America. For doing a customer service job in New York City (minus all the ridiculous costs on fashion you lot are into) I’d get £60-80k a year but need an American degree for that. A green card. A back up plan. I’d have to commit to long hours and we’ll if they don’t line you they can get rid.

You have no idea how lucky you are. No idea.

But your net pay is shocking.
Let’s say your in a £75000 a year job - which is a good job but you work long hours in New York for that and will probably have no life) spending hours commuting. Putting up with pollution, crime etc and high living costs.

But you’ve all the deductions. Tax etc

I’ve seen hundred of 1-2 bed apartments in a good area in one of your skyscrapers with a gym (rubbish one) and some innovative design - THats between £3000 and £6000 alone - but what they don’t tell you is how much from your net pay you lose before it hits ya bank!!!

I’ve seen apartments in worser areas for less but not much less.
I’ve seen pay slips online and they claim £75000 dollars - a year
Your net pay is £2,500 a month. Before rent!!! Is this true??

Regardless because I’m a writer I have to spend time over there after lockdown. If you guys ever follow the rules.

What can I expect?

Gemme a run down

Rent?
Bills?
Food?
Travel?

How much do you take home after deductions?

Be good to finally know the truth!

Cheers guys

I moved to New Jersey instead of New York because it is so expensive to live and eat. Most of the horror stories below are real and the fellow that lives off 64K a year must be living on the street or be a student.

While expensive, if you make over 150K a year, a family of two can have a comfortable life in downtown NY, otherwise you will have to commute for an hour+ from the Long Island side or from New Jersey, where I live.

However, the beauty of NY, opposite than any other country I have lived and worked in, is that it pays good salaries for educated folks. Companies pay a premium and also pay for your visa if you know how to play the game. So look at what high paying jobs are in need and in 4 years or less, you can move to Manhattan, although I would never want to live in Manhattan! You will develop psychological problems guaranteed!

good article but hey, where are things about the average salary of a doctor? or a builder? or what about how much it costs to go to middle school and high school? I mean, you kinda missed some stuff!

This is one of the best articles I have seen in a long time! Thank you for sharing~

https://www.joinleaf.com/cities/new-york/

How much is cost of living for a couple in Manhattan?if they pay a rent of 5000-6000/monthly.is the salary of 120k/150k enough to have a 5000-6000k apartment in Manhattan and be able to live comfortably?

That's what it will be like in the in America if New York's mayor gets to be president out of control prices because of socialistic living

Don't move here guys! It's ludicrously expensive, and the police will throw you in jail for anything they feel like. Even $100k you will love badly, and in a poor neighborhood, with roommates!

Hi. I just recently won greencard and so, I want to move to the USA which I have never planned before. I have 6 years of work experience, started as an audit intern in BIG 4 and after a year shifted to an international oil and gas company as an accounting/ control/ reporting analyst. I dont know whether I can find a job in a reasonably paid company without CPA qualification (I have US GAAP experience in my current role though). I cannot decide on state selection, where I can find that job and live my life without budget stress etc. I’m also planning to have master after some time, but I dont know whether I have to consider it when deciding on location. I’m open to any advice, at least some guidance to start and consider. Thank you all for your help!

Salary $120K in New York means shit. After all the taxes, you net about $77K which is 6500 / month. A shitty 100 yrs old crumbling concrete apartment is at least $3000 a month then you live with bed bugs, cockroaches, etc. A livable condo for a normal human being costs $5,000+ a month. So even if you make $120K, you end up with only 1500 disposable income, which you can barely make a living with per month. So basically you save almost nothing with $120K income. You will never EVER be able to buy your own home in New York with that kind of income. Your salary is higher in New York, but so is everyone, so it doesn't mean shit. It will sharply drop if you move to TX

$120K in New York is similar to $70K in Toronto, $90K in Boston based on my experience.

I lived in NY for 14 months having been seconded from our London office. I work in finance specifically M&A. Wow is NY costly. Rent is so high and (good) food so expensive that I transferred back home.

I highly recommend the Riverdale section of the Bronx. It is very safe, feels more suburban, has tons of parks! I left DC because I found the people too conformist, and the cost of living had skyrocketed from when I moved there from Manhattan in 1995. I paid almost 2K for my Siver Spring, Maryland apartment which had a pool and a parking garage, bought a 1 bedroom in Riverdale for $158K in Sept 2012. I had enough of being a renter!! When I want some city I hop on the Express Bus and go to Manhattan or take the 1 train from the 231 st station. I'm 67 and don't want to be in the middle of the craziness anymore! Riverdale is not as affordable as it was in 2012, but it is still a huge bargain compared to Manhattan. Also I kept my car, and leave it safely parked on the street, for free!

@Makesh Free acommodation can be ok, but it can also be crap. But even with paying for accomodation, 10000 bucks a month should be more than enough for a comfortable living as a single person.

Erm.i wonder if could stay there,where can i find a job as a kitchen staff.plus i am asian and really wanted to stay in nyc for start a new life,hope you guys know what i mean it and help me.

I lived in NY my whole life but 3 years ago I loved bc it was soo fucking expensive. I'm trying to move back. It's the greatest place on earth and I got all my family there.

$10 an hour is enough, but you have to rent a room with shared bathroom in some of the further parts of bronx, brooklyn. you would have to also cook all your meals. no eating out. renting in the outer boros dont usually require credit checks, although they will take a copy of your passport. manhatan apts will run credit checks on you. well if you are indian, dont go to nyc, go to edison nj. it's a suburb of nyc and thats where all the indians go.

Hi
For those of you commenting you want to come to New York please visit but don't stay. It is definitely not what you think New York has beautiful points but living here the stress will give you a heart attack. I have been in New York 11 years and I am thinking of moving away since it's so expensive. The thing about New York is their are tricks to the trade of living here because living here is work in itself. It is not a game their is someone aways waiting to take your apartment if you don't want it, majority of the time it's like this. The landlords are always pressuring you to leave in sneaky ways unless you have a connection through someone else who knows them and can vouch that your a great person. Or you know the housing courts system. The man who wrote this article god bless him because many of you think this is article is bull shit and sadly its not this is seriously how we live unless you make above 90,000 a year you are not in comfort. You need to come here speaking many languages and get a coding experience and technology experience. I'm currently learning coding now due to the fact I need to truly compete to make a living every hour of my life here. Those of you who think your going to come here making less than 90,000.00. Please Please make your lives easier and go move to another state if you want to live in America do years of research because each state has its drawbacks. So far I've picked Kansas as a state I would love to move to. My income is currently less than 20,000.00 income would provide a lot more to me in Kansas than it would here in New York City. I'm stuck here because I cannot leave and I am so accustomed to my lifestyle and the proximity of everything that is really close to me. One true thing is the gentrification happens every 5-7 years so before you can even complete a ten year census you already have lost your apartment due to some of the sketchy business that goes on with the sneaky landlords. My close relative a sister of mine had a landlord that did not want to confront her about trying to evict her from her apartment. So he took an eviction notice and placed it in her apartment while she was away under her fridge on the floor hoping she wouldn't see it. My relative has a compulsive disorder and has a very cleanly home This was how we were raised as children. She found it less than a day later and went to the courts to over turn the unwarranted eviction. If you don't check your mail daily it can hurt you, keeping a clean place helps, because living in New York is like running a business you must do daily inspection everyday to make sure your business is safe from those who want to destroy it hourly. If not you are doomed. Then usually if you really did truly have to go into the shelter due to loss of a home or apartment, while in the shelter system you will get relocated to another part of the city for a year or more further than what your commonly used to. This year is going to be the toughest year of your life. The worst thing about New York is making money once you have some they place another bill on your shoulders, so the higher your wages you earn the higher your bills. If you have children make the trip New York cares for families but if your single stay away. I truly don't make that much and when I pay taxes and or get a paycheck 200-400 is removed automatically without a blink or a flinch yet I worked all those hours only to get 60 percent of what I earn. Not even 75 percent of what I make U earn please please reconsider coming here. Do not come here with drug habits because these are expensive and will ruin you in this city the same with an alcohol habit. If you are not at the top of your game and you have drama don't come here the city has enough drama and it will suffocate you. We are at the highest rate of homelessness and highest rate of children starving without food please do better for your families. These two reasons why are why I won't have a child here in the city. Bad enough the person I am with may not even be able to do for himself to survive but how can both of us take care of a child when we can't even truly relax to be apart of this child's life because we work so hard to make sure it eats.