What's the minimum income to live comfortably in your city?

[ikerrin]

Ok, I'm not talking about living in a Park Avenue Penthouse, but just to rent an apartment with no rodent roommates with a grocery store, a pub and a cafe within walking distance.

Basically, if someone moved to your city, didn't want to have a roommate, rented a one bedroom, got basic cable, high-speed internet, a blackberry for their home phone, a transit pass, bought groceries and had some money to go to a pub and the movies and take the odd vacation, how much would it cost?

For Ottawa, my estimate is:
$1000/mo rent
$300/mo food
$200/mo utilities
$120/mo transport (transit pass, bike repairs, the odd car rental)
$100 clothing
$300 enterainment
$450 fed/Provincial taxes/sales taxes
----------
$2570/mo or about $31,000 a year.

How does it compare with you cities?

[Top Of The Park]

Rents on a 1,000 sq ft apartment....between $550 and $790. Average about $675

Winter utlilties ............$100-$120 Summer- about half
Groceries......$250-$300 per person

wages....$20K to 30K avg about 25K

[ginsan2]

My god, I don't even want to know.

[FREKI]

Originally Posted by ikerrin

Basically, if someone moved to your city, didn't want to have a roommate, rented a one bedroom, got basic cable, high-speed internet, a blackberry for their home phone, a transit pass, bought groceries and had some money to go to a pub and the movies and take the odd vacation, how much would it cost?

For Copenhagen some 130.000 DKK should do it..

US: $22.500
Can: $28.600

But if you want to live close to the inner city or a university the price will rise drasticly the closer you come.. and it depends on where the travel destination would be..

Copenhagen isn't really that expensive as many think ( and it's not even posible to make make under $35k with a full time job here )

[tayser]

I currently budget:

Rent: $1192pcm
"Living" budget (Food/entertainment/etc): $1000pcm
$250pcm misc bills (priv health insurance (not necessary, but I want it), gym, mobile bill (cap plans = the best), internet bill).
~$150 every quarter for Electricity and Water bills.
No transport costs other than I have to buy shoes more frequently than most people as I'm a 3km / 30 min walk to work.

$2500pcm will cover what I currently pay, but that's JUST to live - you need a fair bit more if you want to put money away for other things.

$35k AUD p/a (gross) would be the minimum to live in the inner city - any lower and you'll practically live on the poverty line.

AUD/USD: 0.6574
AUD/CAD: 0.8360

[R@ptor]

Rent (incl. water, electricity, internet): €1,000-1,200
Groceries: €300
Transport (monthly 2-star pass): €65
Entertainment, Clothing, etc: €350

= €1,715 / US-$ 2,230 per month

add insurance, savings, vacations, other things and pretty high taxes and you have to earn at least €50k ($65k) to live quite comfortable.

[Krases]

I really can't say. The only thing I know is that nice condo's and hotels in Vegas go for around 700$ for 1 or 2 people.

As my brother said, its amazing how an extra 100$ in rent can be the difference between living in a nice neighborhood and getting shot at.

[BTinSF]

San Francisco:

Rent (decent studio apartment); $1200

Food: $500 (unless you enjoy a steady diet of burritos and assuming frequent lunches and occasional dinners with friends at restaurants--it can probably be done for less and there's lots of cheap ethnic restaurants)

Transportation: $45 (Muni Fastpass)

Clothing: $100 (that's very subjective--I go many months without buying ANY clothing. Also, SF has lots of discount--Ross, Marshall's--and used clothing stores)

Utilities: Maybe $50 for electricity, $35 for cable TV, $20 for DSL, $45 for cell phone plan, water/sewer usually included in rent

Entertainment: Up to you--movies are $10.50, plenty of cheap dive bars and clubs without covers, good seats at the Opera $200 each (standing room $10), symphony around $35 - $75

Total: Approx (and leaving a little leeway) $2500/month; $30K a year.

[Fusey]

Originally Posted by FREKI

Copenhagen isn't really that expensive as many think ( and it's not even posible to make make under $35k with a full time job here )

Then why did Mountain Dew cost 19 kroner at the airport?

[FREKI]

Originally Posted by Fusey

Then why did Mountain Dew cost 19 kroner at the airport?

Most likely because they want to make a profit and people will pay anything in airports and convinience stores if thirsty enough..

( btw the return system adds 1,5 DKK to the price that you get back if you return the bottle )

My post was btw about people residing and working here.. if on a NA wage Danish cost of life will in many cases probable seem high.. however the point still stands that not that much is needed to live "confortable" here..

[Fusey]

Originally Posted by FREKI

Most likely because they want to make a profit and people will pay anything in airports and convinience stores if thirsty enough..

( btw the return system adds 1,5 DKK to the price that you get back if you return the bottle )

My post was btw about people residing and working here.. if on a NA wage Danish cost of life will in many cases probable seem high.. however the point still stands that not that much is needed to live "confortable" here..

I know, I was giving you a hard time. Wages in the Scandinavian countries tend to be fairly high, from what I've noticed. My buddy, an entry-level chef in Sweden, makes enough to buy a good flat in Gothenburg. In the US he'd be lucky to get by with roommates (not to mention the massive debt he would have from culinary school).

And yeah, airports are a rip-off wherever you go. I was just too lazy to go into the city.

[Strange Meat]

I don't even need $20,000.

[volguus zildrohar]

To live that way in any part of this city with those amenities you'd have to pull at least $30k-$35k a year.

[initiald]

In Charlotte it all depends on where you live. In urban, walkable hoods along the light rail line, 2 bedroom (1 br hard to find) start at between 1,000 and 1,500 a month. Around university area 1 br start around 650 to 700. I found a steal of a 1 bedroom in an area along a bus line not too far from downtown (yet relatively safe) for 500 a month. Many of the nicer apartment complexes include highspeed internet, some include cable, and most include water.

Water - $12
Electricity - $50 to $75
TV/highspeed internet - $100
Monthly bus/rail pass is $60, but monthly parking downtown starts around $80 and goes way, way up from there.

I'd say $20,000 should be enough to make it on your own. A couple can make it on $35,000 easily with money for dining out, movies, concerts, etc.

[mhays]

My electric bills were about $5 in the summer in my old place with no air conditioning. That's Seattle's cheap hydro rates, and probably because a public agency runs our power. Not sure about my new place, because this building hasn't reached its sales plateau yet, which means they're not charging power (or dues) yet.

[SpongeG]

Vancouver:

Rent: 1 bdrm $1200
Food: $300+
Utilities: $50 (hydro - i don't pay it its included for me but I am guessing thats about average for a typical apartment)
Cable: $100 Range
Telephone: no idea i only have a cell
Cell: $30 & up
BC Medical: $54/month at the most - varies according to your income
Bus Pass: 1 zone = $73 2 zone = $99 3 zone = $136
Entertainment: $300 or so ?? it depends what you do
Car insurance: $1100/annually seems to be what most pay - they is cheaper and more depends
Parking: $50+ per month - most rentals charge extra plus if you drive you have to pay depending what is available
Other stuff: well it all depends on what you want - clothes, music, DVD's whatever

[The Chemist]

Shanghai:

My budget
Apartment: 2700RMB (could find one for less)
Transportation: ~250RMB
Food: ~1000RMB
Utilities: 450RMB (Electricity, Gas, Water, Internet, Cable)
Cell Phone: ~100RMB
Entertainment: ~1000RMB (would be a lot more if you like going to clubs, etc)
Total: 5600RMB (~US$800)

[ikerrin]

Ok, I confess that I am a finance geek, but I just find this fascinating. Thanks everyone for your estimates and keep them coming from other cities. You have to love the power of the internet - I feel a Cisco systems commercial coming on.

Its pretty interesting though, don't you think, that about $35k US will see you living a reasonably comfortable life in many of the worlds great cities, regardless of continent - even in Copenhagen which I thought would be more expensive. Who wouldn't live in Copenhagen if they has the chance.

[someone123]

For me in Vancouver it's roughly:

$570 rent (2br shared)
$100 utilities (including internet)
$70 cell phone (ugh)
$300 food (assuming it's all groceries)
$100 other random necessities

Plus about $1k a month in extra money for whatever (entertainment, the odd large purchase, holidays).

So that's $1140 a month minimum ($13680/yr), or $2140 ($25680/yr) "comfortable", although as a poor student (or wealthy student/poor adult) I'm not as comfortable as I'd like to be and not as much as I likely will be when I'm working.

For a reasonable 1br apartment my rent would be more or less doubled. Nice apartments are like $1700 a month here.

[JordanL]

Originally Posted by ikerrin

Ok, I confess that I am a finance geek, but I just find this fascinating. Thanks everyone for your estimates and keep them coming from other cities. You have to love the power of the internet - I feel a Cisco systems commercial coming on.

Its pretty interesting though, don't you think, that about $35k US will see you living a reasonably comfortable life in many of the worlds great cities, regardless of continent - even in Copenhagen which I thought would be more expensive. Who wouldn't live in Copenhagen if they has the chance.

The thing everyone needs to remember is that we are not talking wages earned, but wages spent. $35K in the US would be less than $35k in Coppenhaggen because the effective tax rate in Coppenhaggen is going to be higher, forcing you to earn more there than in the US to generate $35k in wages spent.

Damn witholding and the 16th Amendment...