I’ve been offered a transfer from London to NYC, and have been offered a salary of $220k. My wife is going to take a year out of work to care for our infant daughter, so this money will be our full income as a family.
The American system confuses me hugely. Following most calculators, it sounds like we will have roughly $11k a month. If we assume $4k a month on rent somewhere roughly 45-60 mins from Broadway, is $6-7k enough for a family to live on, including stuff like healthcare for the entire family through work?
This might be a silly question, but will we have a comfortable/good time in NYC or NJ on this salary? Will my wife be able to afford to take my daughter out for stuff like swimming lessons and baby classes, and will we have enough to afford stuff like flights home to see family in the UK? I’ve spoke to a few people at work, and we’ve had ranges from “wtf half a mil is lots!” to “wtf you’ll be limited to NJ and won’t be able to take vacations”, so it would be good to get more perspectives.
$220K is probably tight in NYC proper, but commuting in from a suburb is do-able.
Rule of thumb is no more than 1/3rd of your income on housing. So… 220K/12 = 18,333.33 per month, /3 = $6,111.11 rent or mortgage.
3+ bedrooms… woof…
https://www.realtor.com/apartments/New-York_NY/beds-3
Flushing, NY looks do-able, but you’d need to check the crime stats, livability, commute times, etc. etc. Just in raw terms of commute, looks like 30 minutes by train from Flushing to Manhattan. Your mileage may vary. :)
https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Flushing/Manhattan
OTOH:
https://www.areavibes.com/new+york-ny/flushing/crime/
Flushing crime rates are 75% higher than the national average
Violent crimes in Flushing are 117% higher than the national average
In Flushing you have a 1 in 25 chance of becoming a victim of crime
Flushing is safer than 39% of the cities in New York
Year over year crime in New York has increased by 35%
The bulk of those crimes are petty theft-- like losing a bike or an Amazon package that was left outside.
Don’t do that in NYC. Or London. Or Berlin.