cost of living versus New York City

what is the cost of living in new york city?
rent, food, electricity etc....

The biggest difference between NY vs STT is going to be the wage you will be paid. Our wages on the island are generelly lower then most places stateside but cost of living is very high here. I know the cost here compare well to orange county where we last were, but you get paid less and you get a lot less for you money, whether it's groceries or a rental.

A couple of things to remember, too. No heating bills here, no expensive winter clothes, transportation will probably be less, if you take taxis in the city, restaurants will generally be less expensive (don't know about grocery stores), entertainment is usually free or very inexpensive, and the beach is free!

On the other hand, it costs more to get off the island for a visit, no great last minute airfares, technology isn't quite up to standard, and costs more, the roads are atrocious and hard on your car, products can be difficult, or impossible to find, so you pay to have it shipped here.

Lots more pros and cons on either side, as it relates to how much it will cost. Buy Hiya hit the nail on the head. You probably won't make as much money (obviously depends on your personal situation).

manhattan or elsewhere? single or family? Do you live cheap or high in NYC? You can look at the info on this website, as it sets out some of the expected costs... within a range. You can also do a search, for things like electric costs, apts or houses for rent, etc, and you will find days worth of reading...

It's difficult to generalize but as you already know NYC has some of the highest priced residential prices (be they rental or purchase) in the US. Assuming you are an "average New Yorker living in an average NYC dwelling (not super rich or lower income) you can probably expect housing in St. Thomas to be similarly priced. On the other hand, food prices and basic utilities are going to run you somewhat more. The biggest factor you have to deal with is wages for comparable jobs will be significantly lower on St. Thomas. That's the Catch-22 of living anywhere in the Caribbean - wages are lower and cost of living is higher!!!!

Compared to Downtown Washington DC I find the cost of living to be similar here on STX. Food is more expensive, housing is a bit less expensive. Electricity is more expensive even when considering the lack of heating bills. If you like to buy "stuff" and can't regularly wait for weeks for it to arrive that adds up too. Travel is much more expensive as you have to fly everywhere.

Just my quick observations...I definitely would advise against coming here as a way to cut your cost of living though unless you are going to massively change your lifestyle.

Sean

Another consideration about cost of living equity is that taxes are very high in New York. On Long Island I pay more than $10,000 annually in property taxes.

Add hurricane/home insurance and to your stx property taxes and I pretty much pay your 10k a year.

Not much difference there. If your coming from someplace expensive your not really going to save any money, unless you do as Sean said and drastically change your lifestyle.

I believe you said you are a lawyer, so you will have to have proper clothes. Dry cleaning and laundry will set you back a bit. Income tax is cheaper, as all you will have is your federal tax, paid locally. No sales tax, although the taxes the importers and merchants pay will make up for that. You'll have the expenses of a car, as the public transportation isn't really an option.

Plenty of lawyers around here, though.

Add hurricane/home insurance and to your stx property taxes and I pretty much pay your 10k a year.

Wow, Hiya! I've been looking at USVI real estate listings and have smiled at seeing the taxes. I had no idea that the hurricane/homeowners insurance was so outrageously high. Thanks for the eye opener.

Just the hurricane alone is at least 3% of the home price. Contents and other stuff is more, quite a bit more then stateside. Flood is also extra and required here if you're in a flood zone and most of the island is, or at least more then not.

There are always hidden cost here. Much better to live here 6 months to a year before you think about buying. We thought things we be a wash here as well but it's not. Its more here. You think great, no sales tax. But then all your food/merchandise is shipped here and that adds to the cost and the merchants have to pay a monthly gross receipts tax which get passed on to the consumer in much higer prices along with those shipping costs. ETC... Live here first before you buy a house or business. 🙂 You will never regret it.

I spent 4 years in STT and have been in NYC for 5 years. NYC is much more expensive. We rented a 4 bedroom, 2200 sqare foot house in STT for 4K currently rent a 2 bedroom, 1600 square foot apartment for $6500. Food costs are comparable at restaurants, food is much more expensive at markets in STT. We sold a 9,000 sqare foot home on STX for 2.2mm. Our current rental unit in NYC (1,600 sq ft) is valued at 2mm. Hope that helps.