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Old 02-20-2013, 02:57 PM
 
281 posts, read 750,441 times
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A friend of mine moved out to LA a few years ago and works in a large national company. He was offered a job in Chapel Hill NC at the company, as a transfer, for about the same pay. Same duties and responsiblities. With gasoline a dollar more expensive in LA than North Carolina, the cost of housing double, eating out and entertainment costs sky high in CA, and sales and state income taxes extremely high in California in comparison to North Carolina, I wonder how much better his quality of live would be in Chapel Hill (The Home of the University of North Carolina and part of the Raleigh Metro Area and the Research Triangle Park)

If you made $65K, how much would the same salary be worth in Chapel Hill North Carolina?

* He grew up in Virginia.
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Old 02-20-2013, 09:26 PM
 
Location: Maui County, HI
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Isn't income tax about the same?
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Old 02-20-2013, 09:28 PM
 
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Cost of Living Calculator: Compare the Cost of Living in Two Cities - CNNMoney
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Old 02-20-2013, 09:40 PM
 
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At that level of income its probably not a huge difference. He is pretty average. Poor is tough in LA and upper middle is tough in LA.
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Old 02-21-2013, 06:24 AM
 
281 posts, read 750,441 times
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If you make $65K in LA that would be like making $42K in Chapel Hill. So if you made $65K in LA, it would be like making $88,000 in Chapel Hill NC.

According to the salary calculator
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Old 02-21-2013, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Santa Monica, CA
1,626 posts, read 4,013,939 times
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I get $65k in LA = $56K in NC according to that calculator. Generally speaking most jobs would give a cost of living salary increase for LA vs. NC so it's not nearly as bad as many make it out to be...
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Old 02-21-2013, 04:30 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunbar42 View Post
I get $65k in LA = $56K in NC according to that calculator. Generally speaking most jobs would give a cost of living salary increase for LA vs. NC so it's not nearly as bad as many make it out to be...
Will most jobs in LA pay twice as much as in NC to cover the increased housing costs?
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Old 02-21-2013, 04:34 PM
 
Location: Santa Monica, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia View Post
Will most jobs in LA pay twice as much as in NC to cover the increased housing costs?
No, since cost of living increases aren't intended to cover the cost to buy a house in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the US...You don't need to make $100k to afford to rent in LA.
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Old 02-21-2013, 04:43 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,446,365 times
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Originally Posted by Dunbar42 View Post
No, since cost of living increases aren't intended to cover the cost to buy a house in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the US...You don't need to make $100k to afford to rent in LA.
So then those cost of living calculators aren't really accurate if you have to go from owning a 3 bedroom house for $1500/mo to renting a 2 bedroom apartment for $1800/mo. That's not apples to apples cost of living.
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Old 02-21-2013, 08:35 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
221 posts, read 347,624 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia View Post
So then those cost of living calculators aren't really accurate if you have to go from owning a 3 bedroom house for $1500/mo to renting a 2 bedroom apartment for $1800/mo. That's not apples to apples cost of living.
No, but the amenities in the two areas aren't really comparable either. I wouldn't say either is better or worse, but it depends on what someone wants. LA isn't usually the place that people go to buy a 3 bedroom house.
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