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how much does it cost to live in new york city?

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puffff

Platinum Member
I recently got a job offer in new york city, I'm wondering how a typical new yorker budgets his/her expenses. i hear it's not uncommon for housing to be 50% of the take home income, especially if one wants to live in manhattan. does anyone live or know a friend who lives there and can tell me what it's like?

 
depends what sort of housing you're looking for. 1br for yourself? studio? sharing a 1br? sharing a 2br?
 
Originally posted by: jaybert
depends what sort of housing you're looking for. 1br for yourself? studio? sharing a 1br? sharing a 2br?
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Originally posted by: isasir
Craigslist should give you a good idea of what some rentals cost and their locations. Manhattan is definitely more expensive for less space.
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a 1bdrm or studio. i'd like to live by myself, i've always had roommates before, want to try the solo thing.

i've looked on craigslist, but there's a huge range. you can get something for $1000 a month, or $2500. thats why i was wondering if any ATOTers were in the big apple, so they could give me a percentage of take home income they spend.
 
It really depends on where you want to live and how you're willing to live. What kind of job will you be taking, and where would it be? What kind of neighborhood and nightlife do you want? The best part about NYC is that you'll find a neighborhood that will most likely suit you.
 
Older thread, might be useful:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=1771919&enterthread=y

Originally posted by: puffff
a 1bdrm or studio. i'd like to live by myself, i've always had roommates before, want to try the solo thing.

i've looked on craigslist, but there's a huge range. you can get something for $1000 a month, or $2500. thats why i was wondering if any ATOTers were in the big apple, so they could give me a percentage of take home income they spend.
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With the cost of renting in NYC, it might be a good idea to deal with roommates for a while to build up savings for when you rent alone. Paying NYC's above average rents and moving into a single is a sizeable double-whammy.

I'm not sure why you're interested in percentage of take-home people spend, instead of a straight number for monthly rent + utilities. I believe the general guideline is 1/3, but I can see the rationale of going up to 1/2 in NYC. If you are grossing 60K or less, I strongly suggest that you consider roommates and/or living outside of Manhattan.

Location, size, and quality all affect the pricing of a rental. The low numbers you see on craigslist or other boards tend to be very small and/or in inconvenient or "unsavory" locations. I heard about this place that was a good size, with a $200-300 discount to market, but it was near Port Authority (42nd and 8th Ave) and above an adult bookstore.

Here are descriptions of places that people I know live, with my best guess for what they pay (these are all studios, not 1BR):
UWS, near W90th and Broadway: small, nearly unliveable; building is pretty bad, doorman; < 1000
UES, below E90th and 1st Ave: okay size; no idea of building, no doorman; < 1200
Forest Hills, Queens: large (nearly equivalent to a small 1BR); good building, doorman; 1400
Battery Park: smallish; excellent building, doorman; 1900
 
depending on where you live, rent will range from $750-$2000... you can live in a ghetto shack w/ rent control, or a nice apt. in the city and pay out the wazoo! 😛

where do you plan to live?
 
About $2000 for a decent single-bedroom apartment

I live in brooklyn and pay $1375 for a mssive studio with hardwood floors

Probably better to move into Brooklyn / Queens / Jersey City and commute using the trains while u look for a good deal
 
Geez guys, you know there are 5 boroughs?

Look for housing in Queens, it's huge! 40sq miles. Manhattan is tiny and the rents are exorbidant.
 
Originally posted by: isasir
Craigslist should give you a good idea of what some rentals cost and their locations.
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Was going to be my suggestion.

Inexpensive places can be found. As suggested, you might look in places other than Manhattan. With public transportation, I can get to most places in the city in 20 minutes or so.

While I don't live there currently, you might look in Astoria.
 
Originally posted by: Wag
Geez guys, you know there are 5 boroughs?

Look for housing in Queens, it's huge! 40sq miles. Manhattan is tiny and the rents are exorbidant.
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Brooklyn's for hipsters
Bronx's for beggars
Queens's for the squares
Staten Island's for suckers

...
 
Honestly, if you don't mind the commute, live on Long Island, or in New Jersey. It is significantly cheaper, and you can get monthly/yearly passes for the LIRR, Subway, and NJ Transit.

I personally grew up in Nassau County, and love it there. Nassau is a little pricey compared to Suffolk, but its nothing compared to living on the island of Manhattan.
 
I live in Manhattan with my gf. Rent is a little below 3000 per month which isn't very cheap but for what we've got (2BR brownstone townhouse in Gramercy), it's a steal. Food/meals cost about 700-800 a month and phone/cell/utilities about 300-400. I can get to work in under 40 mins for $76 a month using monthly unlimited Metrocards. However, I absolutely hate Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx as well as any other part of ghetto Manhattan so I pay a bit more for my rent but it's worth every penny.

I highly doubt you can even find a place for yourself whether it's a studio, much less a single bedroom for anything less than 1600 unless you're willing to live in a pretty ugly location. Those ads on Craigslist are simply lures to show their actual availabilities which are nowhere near as good as the ads sound. Also watch out for scamming landlords and realestate brokers.
 
Originally posted by: deathkoba
I live in Manhattan with my gf. Rent is a little below 3000 per month which isn't very cheap but for what we've got (2BR brownstone townhouse in Gramercy), it's a steal. Food/meals cost about 700-800 a month and phone/cell/utilities about 300-400. I can get to work in under 40 mins for $76 a month using monthly unlimited Metrocards. However, I absolutely hate Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx as well as any other part of ghetto Manhattan so I pay a bit more for my rent but it's worth every penny.

I highly doubt you can even find a place for yourself whether it's a studio, much less a single bedroom for anything less than 1600 unless you're willing to live in a pretty ugly location. Those ads on Craigslist are simply lures to show their actual availabilities which are nowhere near as good as the ads sound. Also watch out for scamming landlords and realestate brokers.
Click to expand...

my friend has a studio for $1100 in chinatown....though i guess its up to you whether or not you consider that a crappy location 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Syringer
Find a nice bench to claim as your own. Free rent = profit!
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Better yet, the Roosevelt Island subway station.

I half expect to see the steps laden in gold or platnium escalators each time I stop there.
 
Originally posted by: jaybert
Originally posted by: deathkoba
I live in Manhattan with my gf. Rent is a little below 3000 per month which isn't very cheap but for what we've got (2BR brownstone townhouse in Gramercy), it's a steal. Food/meals cost about 700-800 a month and phone/cell/utilities about 300-400. I can get to work in under 40 mins for $76 a month using monthly unlimited Metrocards. However, I absolutely hate Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx as well as any other part of ghetto Manhattan so I pay a bit more for my rent but it's worth every penny.

I highly doubt you can even find a place for yourself whether it's a studio, much less a single bedroom for anything less than 1600 unless you're willing to live in a pretty ugly location. Those ads on Craigslist are simply lures to show their actual availabilities which are nowhere near as good as the ads sound. Also watch out for scamming landlords and realestate brokers.
Click to expand...

my friend has a studio for $1100 in chinatown....though i guess its up to you whether or not you consider that a crappy location 🙂
Click to expand...

EXACTLY my point : ) Nothing worse than walking around and *PLOP*...you've stepped in a puddle of rotten fish market water with millions of potential bacteria seeping into your shoes and skin. Not only that but the stench in that entire area makes me want to puke. I wouldn't even want to pay $500 for rent there.
 
Originally posted by: deathkoba
Originally posted by: jaybert
Originally posted by: deathkoba
I live in Manhattan with my gf. Rent is a little below 3000 per month which isn't very cheap but for what we've got (2BR brownstone townhouse in Gramercy), it's a steal. Food/meals cost about 700-800 a month and phone/cell/utilities about 300-400. I can get to work in under 40 mins for $76 a month using monthly unlimited Metrocards. However, I absolutely hate Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx as well as any other part of ghetto Manhattan so I pay a bit more for my rent but it's worth every penny.

I highly doubt you can even find a place for yourself whether it's a studio, much less a single bedroom for anything less than 1600 unless you're willing to live in a pretty ugly location. Those ads on Craigslist are simply lures to show their actual availabilities which are nowhere near as good as the ads sound. Also watch out for scamming landlords and realestate brokers.
Click to expand...

my friend has a studio for $1100 in chinatown....though i guess its up to you whether or not you consider that a crappy location 🙂
Click to expand...

EXACTLY my point : ) Nothing worse than walking around and *PLOP*...you've stepped in a puddle of rotten fish market water with millions of potential bacteria seeping into your shoes and skin. Not only that but the stench in that entire area makes me want to puke. I wouldn't even want to pay $500 for rent there.
Click to expand...

Haha got to watch for the Avian Bird Flu too 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Proletariat
Originally posted by: deathkoba
Originally posted by: jaybert
Originally posted by: deathkoba
I live in Manhattan with my gf. Rent is a little below 3000 per month which isn't very cheap but for what we've got (2BR brownstone townhouse in Gramercy), it's a steal. Food/meals cost about 700-800 a month and phone/cell/utilities about 300-400. I can get to work in under 40 mins for $76 a month using monthly unlimited Metrocards. However, I absolutely hate Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx as well as any other part of ghetto Manhattan so I pay a bit more for my rent but it's worth every penny.

I highly doubt you can even find a place for yourself whether it's a studio, much less a single bedroom for anything less than 1600 unless you're willing to live in a pretty ugly location. Those ads on Craigslist are simply lures to show their actual availabilities which are nowhere near as good as the ads sound. Also watch out for scamming landlords and realestate brokers.
Click to expand...

my friend has a studio for $1100 in chinatown....though i guess its up to you whether or not you consider that a crappy location 🙂
Click to expand...

EXACTLY my point : ) Nothing worse than walking around and *PLOP*...you've stepped in a puddle of rotten fish market water with millions of potential bacteria seeping into your shoes and skin. Not only that but the stench in that entire area makes me want to puke. I wouldn't even want to pay $500 for rent there.
Click to expand...

Haha got to watch for the Avian Bird Flu too 🙂
Click to expand...

Seriously if I could, I would incinerate that fvckin place.
 
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