Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers • Hacker News Board

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#261

Post by kokey » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 2:41 PM UTC

V-2 wrote: post #107

kokey wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

£18k/year in London, I suppose you didn't live alone, that's the only way to make ends meet on that budget.

I did live in London on my own, on a budget tighter than that. Admittedly, a few years ago

Interesting, average rent in London is around £1000/month, plus £44 council tax (e.g. Wandsworth), plus monthly travelcard £120, gas and electricity £45, broadband/phone £16, mobile phone £15. Leaves about £60/week for food, clothes, etc. If you do manage to find a studio flat for £700/month then that brings it up to £130/week, so you could actually go to a pub sometimes.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#262

Post by mkr-hn » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 4:29 PM UTC

Iftheshoefits wrote: post #138

Cost of Living is just one factor to consider, and everybody has different priorities. I discount the CoL "bonus" because of the generally poorer environment with respect to culture, public institutions like libraries and parks, and educational opportunities. I grew up and lived in the south for most of my life. With precious few exceptions I found it to be mainly a canvas upon which the bigoted (race, gender, sex or…

Metro Atlanta might not be representative, but things aren't too bad for me here. I can get just about any book on the PINES system, and I find most books I want in the local branch's ebook loan program. There are several decent parks (Fort Yargo is the closest). Downtown Athens is a 30-40 minute drive if I need a higher dose of culture.

Things used to be a lot worse, just ten years ago. Winder was a crumbling, traffic-choked hole. It's less crumbly now, and the traffic situation is improving. And the editor of the local paper didn't get run out of town when he endorsed marriage equality, so there's that.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#263

Post by avn2109 » Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 10:28 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #177

avn2109 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Plenty of single people love life here on salaries of $45-60k, and are even able to save money." Here's some anecdata: I lived like a king on my $30,000 grad student stipend for years in Manhattan. And maxed out my IRA every year at the same time. The trick is just to get an apartment somewhere uncool, then you're rich.

Where in Manhattan did you live? I'm going to guess Washington Heights.

Yup, Hamilton Heights in fact. Price per square foot as a function of latitude is a pretty flat curve for a long distance north of 125th, so there's no reason to go into the extra deep boonies to save money. I was on 139th on the West side.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#264

Post by x0x0 » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 4:15 AM UTC

slm_HN wrote: post #139

SwellJoe wrote: post #19

I suspect the cost of living data for Austin trails reality by some significant margin. The sources don't indicate the age of the data, but even if it's only a couple of years old, it's going to be wrong by enough to be a factor. I have lived in Austin for a couple of years, and also lived here (and owned a house here) about 8 years ago. The cost of homes here has gone up tremendously since then. I was shopping for a…

>I was shopping for a house a few months ago, and was simply unable to buy one; those in my price range wouldn't accept my offer because it wasn't an all-cash offer I don't understand this. If you're pre-qualified for a $500,000 dollar loan how is your offer worse than someone willing to pay $495,000 cash?

Lots less stuff that can go wrong, too. If you're getting a loan, the bank will want at least an appraisal, plus pre-approved doesn't necessarily mean the cash will show up. It can often take a month or more to close a loan.

With a cash offer, once a title search is performed (a few days assuming no liens), the owners and buyers can swap keys and a check. If the seller wants cash sooner than later, this can be very attractive; for example, he or she may well be bidding on another house and need to make a deposit or down payment.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#265

Post by hollerith » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 7:17 PM UTC

eranation wrote: post #186

kingnothing wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also surprised Atlanta isn't on the list. I live here for now, but my main gripe is that there isn't much to do in or near the city. We don't have any worthwhile natural features like mountains, lakes, or beaches, and the cultural scene (museums, etc) is a joke.

We can change that! :) If more companies will move from SF / NY to Atlanta / Alpharetta - there will be more things todo. I agree that seeing the Aquarium, Fernbank, High museum once is pretty much enough for a lifetime, but what about top golf? the new avalon? things are getting more and more interesting... ;)

Ah yes, Atlanta boosterism. I remember that about Atlanta.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#266

Post by V-2 » Thu, Feb 26, 2015, 10:14 PM UTC

kokey wrote: post #261

V-2 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did live in London on my own, on a budget tighter than that. Admittedly, a few years ago

Interesting, average rent in London is around £1000/month, plus £44 council tax (e.g. Wandsworth), plus monthly travelcard £120, gas and electricity £45, broadband/phone £16, mobile phone £15. Leaves about £60/week for food, clothes, etc. If you do manage to find a studio flat for £700/month then that brings it up to £130/week, so you could actually go to a pub sometimes.

I'd pay 65 quid for a mothly bus pass (I didn't have to use subway on a typical day), and the rent was £65 a week plus electricity (3rd zone just outside of the 2nd, Streatham Hill) - for a bedsit, kind of a shithole, but I've seen worse. It was around 2010.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#267

Post by coned88 » Sun, Mar 01, 2015, 5:33 AM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #135

I would guess that New York is getting underrated, because in finance, once you get a serious, adult job, you're usually called something other than software engineer. "Vice President" is the typical title for someone of my age (31) even if you're a full-time programmer with no reports. Only at Managing Director (30-35 if you're lucky or good, 40-45 more typically) are you culturally expected to start having reports.…

Nobody is getting VP titles and is still doing much programming. There would be maybe one VP per dept.