What is the minimum salary one needs to live (safely) in New York?
 

Hi,
I am considering taking a post-doctoral position at the Rockefeller Univeristy in NY. Unfortunately this type of position only pays about 40 000 per year (before taxes, and without medical/dental insurance). I am a single young woman who would love to live in New York, but only if I could be in a safe neighbourhood. I also need to start paying back student loans/line of credit (about $600 a month). Is this doable?
Kate

You could live in a basic apt. and still afford that. Fun area to live in...thats what you pay for...well worth if your young and have no considerable ties to where you live now. Good luck

Lots of people live in NYC based on yoru money situation, but it may mean having roommates, not living in the most desirable neighborhoods, doing with less, maybe willing to live outside of Manhattan.

One word: Brooklyn

On that type of salary living alone in Manhattan - esp while paying back a $600 loan is not really an option. You will either need to share a small apartment or look for a studio in one of the outer boroughs. the latter will be safe - but may involve significant travel time.

(For perspective we had to hire a new admin asst about 6 months ago and were looking for someone with at least 3 years experience and good skills. We could not find any qualified interviewees for less than $45,000 - most were asking at least $50,000.)

Keep in mind that you will not need to have the expense of a car payment, gas, upkeep and car insurance so you can budget that back into your rent.

Personally, I wouldn't do it for less than $100,000 a year but I'm not a 22 year old fresh out of college.

I think you really ought to think about it in two ways the salary to live safely and the salary to live well.

According to this research piece, you are less safe in Fairbans, AK then in NYC. On an FBI list of major metropolitan cities by crime, NYC is somewhere in the 60's or 70's on a per capita basis.

The NYPD does numerous crime studies that breaks crime down by neighborhood. What most charts show is that most residential areas are very safe and that crime is centered in a few, very bad neighborhoods. You avoid those and generally you'll be fine.

In terms of the second question, living well, that is really a function of what kind of lifestyle you want and how much you plan on spending on things like going out to dinner, drinking, clothes, etc.

At $40K per year, figure after taxes that's about $30K. Per month, that works out to about $2,500. After the $600 loan payment, what do you need for spending money once rent is paid?

Plenty of people live in NY and make that or less as the average per capita income for NYC is about $40,000.

Sorry, here's the information link on crime stats.

http://www.morganquitno.com/cit05pop.htm

I can tell you to be prepared to pay at least $1000 for rent. That's even with having a roommate and living in Manhattan or living in the other boroughs on your own (of which Queens and Brooklyn are good options, but be prepared for a half hour commute or so).

Also living and working in the city costs dough. You will be paying federal, state and city taxes, which equal about 28% of your salary. You will also pay more for groceries in Manhattan, another thing to consider.

Your best option may be Queens or getting a roommate. If you can keep your rent in the $1000 or less range, you may be able to pull it off.

Raindrop,
Ten years ago I was making 40K and paid $300/month in loans. I had my own apartment (a tiny but clean studio on 1st Ave) which cost me $785/mo. I spent close to zero money on travel and clothing at the time. And I STRUGGLED. I lived from paycheck to paycheck and it was TOUGH. Now that same apartment would cost about $1300. You will definitely either have to find roommates (& not have your own room) and/or move out to Queens. You should really keep your rent under $800/month.

The ONLY way you could do this is to have at least one roomate and more likely, 2. You will have very little left over to enjoy NYC as well due to dinner, drink and anything else prices which are inflated. I know others have said that people live in NYC on lower salaries but I imagine their quality of life is not so good.

My daughter lives and works in NYC - has since March of 2001. She is an elementary school teacher in the South Bronx and makes about $38K, she's also a grad student at Hunter. She has lived with roommates -- first was in a house on Staten Island, for $600/mo. Fine, but the trip into the city via ferry/bus was tough, and after 9-11, particularly difficult for her, so she moved with two friends to a great 3 bedroom apt in Queens (Astoria) area for about $750 (her share). This was fantastic and worked out well for a year...when she decided she wanted to live in the city (as she was starting grad school). She lived this past year at 120-something and Park (essentially Spanish Harlem) in a big 2-bedroom with 1 roomie @$875/mo which wasn't as adventurous as it may have once been (it's just a neighborhood -- helps if you Speak Spanish fluently, although her roomate doesn't.) She's now moving to a fantastic location, Stuyvesant Town, near Grammercy Park...again in a shared apt situation, and it's costing her like $950. That $600/mo loan payment you've got is a killer. You will REALLY want to look for a roommate situation, and I think you'd have the best luck sticking to Astoria Queens or Brooklyn (Williamsburg is great) to stay in your price range. Checkout Craigslist.com for NYC to see what's offered to give yourself an idea.

My son and his wife live in lower Manhattan (border of Little Italia and Chinatown).
They both claim it's impossible unless your annual income is < $50K and have subsidies or >$500.K. if you are actually living on your income.
DIL is newly PG with my first GC and they are looking in Brooklyn - no surprise as the dump 2 BR apts in Manhattan start at $1.0M.
Spent six years in post doc "education", so I feel your pain - mine was tempered a bit as I lived in San Diego's University City while @ UCSD for the last two after I resigned from the USN.
The next President, Rudy Giuliani (Manhattan '65) made NYC way safer than Dallas.
Best wishes!
M

You say you will do this with no medical insurance, as the job does not give you any? Where in this budget will you pay for dental/ medical- even bare-bones policy?

I know that people go without any insurance for long periods of time when schooling or doing post-doc work, but it is NOT a good idea to do this. You need hospitalization insurance, at least.

you can rent up in Inwood (still Manhattan) for about 800/mo. It is a safe stable area. The train down to midtown is about 40 minutes. Upper West side (way up) is about the same for a share.
Astoria is a safe area in Queens, about 30 minutes to midtown, about the same $$ to share.

I moved to Chicago around 7 years ago making that salary. I sold my car so I didn't have to deal with that. My rent was $700 a month (and that was with utilities included). I didn't totally struggle, but I certainly had to watch my budget. If I had a $600 loan payment on top of that, I wouldn't have been able to eat. Sorry, but the decision sounds like simple math to me.

Yes!! Astoria, Queens would be your best bet. It's safe, and it's one of the "in" places for young people to live since it's so close to Manhattan and the rents are relatively low. If Rockefeller University is where I think it is (East 50-something Street) the subway ride from Astoria is only a few stops.

I think you could do it, if you REALLY want to, but I believe that your budget would have to be so tight, it would squeak.

$40,000 pre tax and single, puts you in 25% tax bracket, so $30,000 after tax. Per month is $2,500, with $600 in loans = $1900/month. Food = $10/day MINIMUM, so at least $300, maybe $450. 30 day unlimited ride MetroCard = $85. I've got you with $1365 to $1500 to cover rent, clothes, insurance (which you need), entertainment, and other expenses. Seems doable with a roommate, a modest apartment, and some dedication to keeping a tight budget. (Of course, that said, I wouldn't be able to live off of it.)

Honestly, I don't know how you'll get insurance and still make the budget work. Maybe just catastrophic health insurance, but even that might make a significant dent in your monthly funds.

40K with a $600 per month negative right out of the gate? Forget it unless you have one or two roommates. Cost of living in NYC is very high. Try Riverdale. Beautiful area and an easy commute by subway into the west side. About 20 minutes on the train. Is there a way to negotiate that loan down to about $400 per month?

Consider also a consulting job on the side on a cash basis to keep your uncle from causing you to run in the red. Nudge, nudge. Wink, Wink.