This "calculator" really makes me appreciate the higher salaries in NYC compared to other places. Yes, the cost of living is higher, but if you are willing to commute 30ish minutes a day from outside of Manhattan, you can avoid a lot of the cost.
I'm in the UK, but I've always thought of moving to NYC one day (despite the man in government at the mo).
Is it really only a 30 minute commute into Manhattan?! I live in Bristol, and at times I've had an hour commute by bus. I always assumed that Americans spent longer on commute in the larger cities.
I lived in Queens, near Laguardia airport and worked in midtown Manhattan. That required a bus (or a decent walk) and a train, and usually took about 45 minutes. Apartments that didn't require the bus, and only needed the 15 minute train ride didn't cost that much more.
I was always surprised the amount of premium people were willing to pay to live on Manhattan when it was so much cheaper on the other side of the river, with equal commute times.
NJ can be 30-120 minutes depending on many factors.
From my house in NJ to the office is 90 minutes including a 15 minute walk to the train station. Last Monday there was a delay on the NJ train and the subway so it was 2 hours door-to-door.
But Brooklyn hardly avoids the additional costs of NYC. That said, if you find a 4 bedroom on 1/4 acre of land somewhere near a subway for under $300k, let me know and I'll move back :)
I thought Williamsburg was more expensive than most places in Manhattan now? You can find a ton of cheaper places in Manhattan (still expensive) if you are willing to go farther north. But then you have to deal with a longer subway trip. It's odd that commuting to midtown from Stamford, Connecticut is about the same from Inwood, Manhattan. If you don't mind an hour commute, and you work in midtown, metro north is really good and Stamford and the areas around are really nice and much cheaper. You can buy an actual house.
