| Cost of living |
|
Cost of living is one of the major
factor which will effect your actual salary or income earned in United States. An income
of US$ 50 K in Texas State is equivalent to income of US$ 75K in New York. For all you
know, reading this would help you negotiate a better "deal" with your company or
your decision for relocation in US. |
| In this article we have tried to
paint an overview of cost of housing, cost of automobile and cost of basic day to day
stuff in the United States. This would give a person basic idea of what sort of cost to
expect when he is coming to the US. For details on any particular topics, please browse to
the links specified. |
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Apartment
Prices |
 |
| Cities in the United States can be
divided into three categories : Less Expensive, Moderate, More Expensive. Every city has a
downtown area, which is basically the center of the city, where costs are lower. But
downtown are normally known for higher crime rates and it may not always be wise to stay
there, specially people who come here with families. |
| A typical apartment rent includes
one bedroom, one bathroom, balcony or patio, dining cum living room, refrigerator, and
kitchen mostly with dishwasher. In some cases it may also come with washer/dryer and
microwaves. Floor plans are in the vicinity of 750-900sq. ft. For single people coming to
the US, you can usually get studio apartments which qualify as smaller, more compact
approximate 400-500sq. ft. apartments, which are about $100 less than one bedroom
apartments. Not all apartment complexes have studio apartments. |
| For people who prefer two bedrooms
can add $150 to this median cost of one-bedroom apartments. Most apartment complexes have
a playground and a swimming pool. Expensive apartments come with tennis courts and health
club facilities. |
| House rents are comparable to
apartment rents. The apartment management is responsible for all repairs except damages to
things belonging to apartments like heating unit, cooling unit, washer, dryer, etc.
Apartments usually charge a certain amount of money as security deposit (can range from
$250-$500). All apartments insist on some lease period, commonly 1-year. Some apartments
also lease for shorter periods than this, but the prices may be high. |
| At the end of the lease, apartment
management checks for damages. If there are none, your security deposit is given back to
you. All apartments usually have a lease breakage clause. In the event that you had signed
up for a 1 year lease and you have to go at the end of 6 months, you have to pay an extra
month or extra two months' rent as penalty. Some apartments do not have this lease
breakage, they hold you responsible for the rent till the end of the lease period, unless
they find someone to take over the rest of your lease. It is wise to check with the
apartment prior to moving in, or even better, prior to signing the lease. Some apartments
insist on a credit check. If this is your first apartment, have your employer talk to them
and have them act as guarantor, as you would not have enough credit yet. |
|
Average
Apartment Prices in Major Cities in USA |
|
| These prices reflect average cost
of a one-bedroom apartment in some of the major cities in the United States. For more
specific information, please check up. |
| State |
City |
One bedroom |
| Alabama Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Florida
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Wisconsin
Washington DC
|
Birmingham Phoenix
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Denver
Hartford
Dover
Boca Raton
Jacksonville
Tampa
Atlanta
Des Moines
Kansas City
Louisville
New Orleans
Portland
Baltimore
Boston
Detroit
Rochester
St Louis
Omaha
Portsmouth
Edison
Albany
Buffalo
New York City
Charlotte
Durham
Raleigh
Cincinnati
Columbus
Dayton
Oklahoma City
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
Charleston
Knoxville
Memphis
Nashville
Austin
Dallas
Salt Lake City
Charlottesville
Richmond
Madison
Milwaukee
Washington DC |
$475-$600 $450-$550
$1200-$1300
$800-$1000
$700-$800
$585-$700
$500-$570
$700-$800
$435-$545
$400-$525
$500-$600
$400-$500
$485-$600
$500-$600
$400-$550
$600-$700
$490-$550
$900-$1100
$400-$620
$535-$640
$500-$600
$480-$600
$650-$750
$750-$900
$600-$700
$450-$550
$750-$850
$480-$580
$530-$630
$550-$620
$450-$550
$380-$480
$500-$600
$385-$500
$470-$570
$450-$550
$400-$500
$460-$560
$480-$560
$500-$600
$500-$650
$530-$630
$570-$700
$545-$635
$580-$680
$450-$550
$620-$720
$700-$850 |
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|
Buying a car |
|
| You can either choose to go for a
second hand or you can select to go for a brand new car. People with specific plans to
stay long enough usually go for new cars. Economy new cars like Honda Civic, Toyota
Corolla start around $16000. You could select payment options, which might be $300 per
month or less payable over a period of 5 years at a certain interest percentage.You can
either choose to go for a second hand or you can select to go for a brand new car. People
with specific plans to stay long enough usually go for new cars. Economy new cars like
Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla start around $16000. You could select payment options, which
might be $300 per month or less payable over a period of 5 years at a certain interest
percentage. |
| If you are a recent entry to the
US, your interest rates are going to be high as you would not have a good credit rating.
But after the first year or so, you could shop for a lesser insurance and refinance your
loan. |
| Car insurance is the most vital
thing, which would be about $1000-$1200 per year depending upon the city you are in for
the first year since you do not have a good driving record. Insurance cost tends to
decrease as you establish a good driving record. |
| Because of high loan rates and
insurance rates, many people choose to buy used cars for the first couple of years. A
reasonably good condition used car can be bought within $1500-$2500 and insurance costs
would be within $500-$600 per year. Used cars in this category of price range would be
good for driving in and around the city for day to day basic and office work. If you are
planning a weekend drive to a friend's house 200 miles away, you might be better off
renting a car. It is relatively inexpensive and saves your own car from wear and tear.
Rental rates for an economy car is around $25-$30 per day, with insurance ranging from
$10-$15 per day. Insurance covers you from having to pay for repairs in case there is any
unfortunate accident. |
| If you have come to US for a short
stay you might be better off simply renting a car per month, though the costs are
sometimes high. A typical leasing option for a new Honda Civic would be $200-$250 a month
for 13 or 24 or 36 months. Average fuel price ranges from $0.94 to $1.15 per gallon on an
average and on the highway your car goes about 20-35 miles with a gallon. |
|
Cost of car maintenance |
|
| Whether you have a used car or a
new car, you would be punch with car maintenance of some sort. With any car, the most
scheduled form of maintenance is oil change after every 3 months or 3000 miles. With a
used car, you might be blow with some parts maintenance like clutch, brakes, tires,
exhaust, with new cars it would be scheduled maintenance like 30,000 mile maintenance or
60,000 mile maintenance. Remember, for any car that you own, you need to pay a
registration fee to the Department of Motor Vehicles and a property tax to the state. |
|
Phone Cost |
|
| For basic monthly service, you pay
around $17 on an average, with the option of unlimited local calls. Your basic carrier
would charge you a different amount for within the state long distance calls, outside
state long distance calls, international calls. It is not necessary to take your basic
carrier like Ameritech or Bell Atlantic as your long distance carrier. Outside state long
distance costs are $0.10 per minute on an average and international calls India are around
$0.70 - $0.85 per minute on an average depending upon the country. |
| Shop around for better deals like
AT&T, MCI, Frontier. When you call up for international and long distance prices, make
sure to ask if they have any special promotional scheme. Many a times you end up with
special rates as long as $0.60 a minute with great carriers like AT&T. |
| Some companies issue calling cards
too like New York Card, Hello etc but beware, lines are busy at peak times, like weekends
and worse, at times if the calling cards lines are down, you might lose your money, as the
calling card is prepaid. |
|
Electricity and Water |
|
| Water is generally included with
the apartment rent. Electricity cost would be around $80 every month including A/C or heat
and around $30 without A/C. Again, this is primarily dependent on the nature of people are
staying at home all day. If all day long the A/C is on, charges are typically more. On the
other hand, if both people are in office, and the A/C is on during night only, charges can
be considerable lower. |
|
Food Items |
|
| Monthly grocery on an average
would be $150 for a single person, $250-$300 for a family. Depends on whether you are a
food lover and want to try out different food in the market or you want to limit yourself
to the basic qualities. |
| For single people who opt to stay
in a group, the costs would be lower as you would divide expenses between yourselves.
Eating out is expensive, if you are planning to do so everyday. Average Indian or Chinese
or American buffet ranges from $5.95 on weekdays to $7.95 to $10.00 on weekends. The
buffets are essentially "all you can eat" places with lots of different food
choices. A large pizza, good enough for two people with very healthy appetite is around
$10-$12. |
| For frequent eat outs, there are
always burger joints like McDonalds, Burger King where a burger meal range from $3-$5. |
|
Entertainment Costs |
|
| Hard to estimate an average,
depends on the type of entertainment you are looking for. After a very busy week, you
might just enjoy spending a lazy weekend at home watching a video - new movies can be
rented for $3, old ones for $1. If you want to watch a movie in a movie theatre, new
movies can be seen for $4 - $7, old ones for just $1 at dollar theatres. For at least the
first year, you would enjoy travelling, visiting friends who stay few miles away, or
simply visiting new places. |
| For all my friends who enjoy
reading books, libraries are free of cost and you can check out as many books as you want
to. Book selections are premium, covering fiction, non fiction, biographies, magazines,
cooking, sewing, exercising, travelling and all different categories that you can think
of. Every city has free tennis courts to sharpen your tennis skills. Other special types
of sports like golf, canoeing, kayaking, skiing, skating, ice-skating are all popular
choices and all within really affordable limits. |
|
Connecting to the Internet |
|
| Most Internet service providers
give out services on average for $20 to $23 unlimited access for a month. Usually a month
to two months of service is provided free of cost as trial period. Most local providers
offer about $12 a month, if you prepay for 12 months or 24 months. You do get
back-prorated money in case you were to disconnect services of the provider before this
time. If you are considering the ISDN connection, the charges are about $49 for unlimited
access. |
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Credit Cards |
|
| Credit cards is a necessity of
life in USA. Whether you are renting a car or doing groceries, credit cards are safer and
easier to handle. Especially rental companies insist on a credit card. Usually the bank
where you open your bank account would give you a debit card. Debit cards differ from
credit cards in the sense that money is immediately withdrawn from account, as opposed to
credit cards where you get 25 additional days to pay your bills. Try getting a debit card
from your bank to start with. But using debit cards do not build credit history. There is
a category of credit cards called secure cards, which are easier to get. You basically
take it against a deposit and have to pay a monthly value for it. For pure credit cards as
in MasterCard, Visa or American Express, you are expected to have a credit history the
very first time you apply for the same. Since this would not be true, you might want your
company to provide a company credit card. Once you have used this for some time, you would
start receiving credit card applications over mail and it is pretty easy to get approved
for one of these cards. |
