Cost of living calculators

[manlymatt83]

So my friend in New Jersey was considering moving to Boston, but now she wants to move to Colorado. She claims that her money would go a lot further out there.

I don't understand. Moving to Boston made it cheaper for me to live than New Jersey. A decent one bedroom apartment in Jersey is about $1200-$1400, and a decent one bedroom in Boston is about the same, perhaps less. I am paying much less.

Also, when I moved here, I stopped driving my car so much, so I saved on gas/oil changes, and instead got the subway pass.

Even WITHOUT my raise I got when I moved here, I'd be doing much better here money wise.

What gives? The salary.com calculator says that you need to make 33% more in Boston to maintain your current standard of living. Are they not including public transportation, etc. in the mix?

 

[hypn0tik]

If you were driving yourself around in NJ, you need to consider the cost of driving around in Boston. You can't compare a subway pass with a car and then proceed to state that salary.com doesn't make sense.

 

[Lithium381]

pwnt.

 

[OdiN]

I live in CO, and while cost of living is cheaper out here than a lot of places, it depends on the job and if you have a good career to come into when you move out.

But where in CO? Denver is more expensive...like any larger city.

 

[alkemyst]

Salary calculators are usually pretty accurate for what the average person does and if you are comparing apples to apples.

If you live free in one town but will expect to have to pay rent/mortgage in another then you really can't compare the cost of living with a calculator accurately for your situation.

 

[krotchy]

Colorado alone has huge cost of living calculation changes within just a 50 mile circle, and its not like the cities differ by alot if you compare them side by side.

For instance, consider 3 cities north of Denver, all containing universities, within an hour of the city.
Boulder is excessively expensive to live in for housing costs and cost of living is 20% over the average I think.
Fort Colins is mid-range, about equivalent to the national average for general cost of living.
Greeley is excessively cheap and roughly 80% of the national average if I remember.

However the real fact is if I choose to live in all 3 places, assuming I got the same job in each. I would simply end up with a nicer looking place in Greeley than FC than Boulder. Other than that all things are pretty much equal from my experience, aside from housing and the smell of Greeley due to farming (which is a different issue) These calculators are not meant to be taken explicitly, but to give you an idea of how the market can be viewed.