40-year-old homeowner says economy doesn’t add up: ‘I’m making the most money I’ve ever made, and I’m still living paycheck to paycheck’ - eviltoast

“There’s this wild disconnect between what people are experiencing and what economists are experiencing,” says Nikki Cimino, a recruiter in Denver.

      • just_change_it@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Greater boston area, not inside boston. Malden/Medford/Everett/Chelsea area. Everett and Chelsea are NOT desirable.

        The smallest of places are 650k+ here for 2br minimum. You can find 1br condos for 500-600k sometimes.

        We’re talking about 20-100yo+ homes. Not new construction. There’s no “luxury” involved. No yard or acreage. Often no parking included.

    • Patches@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      At a certain point - isn’t it just cheaper to move to a cheaper area?

      Not that it’s easy. It’s what I had to do. 6 hours away from friends/family.

      Wages took a 25% hit. Bills took a >50% hit so came up on top.

    • Classy@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      In order to keep your mortgage at 1/3 your income, you would need to be making $700,000/yr.

      • just_change_it@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        You’re calculating it based on take home pay or something? because 1/3rd of 700,000 / 12 = $19,250/mo

        Household income is about 230k. Mortgage comes out to less than 50% of take home pay. 230k/12 = 19166/mo (gross) 4500 is 23% of gross income.

        Afaik every couple around here by 30 with professional experience and a degree is making over 200k (so 100k per person.) I’ve seen IT support roles for 100k+ (example from the highest paying company i’ve ever seen, liberty mutual insurance: https://searchjobs.libertymutualgroup.com/careers?location=Boston%2C Massachusetts%2C United States&department=Technology&pid=618496295577&domain=libertymutual.com&sort_by=relevance )

        • Classy@sh.itjust.works
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          8 months ago

          Nah I’m probably just dumb and did the math wrong. Those figures are still dizzying to me, as a BA in the Midwest. $100,000/yr is considered pretty decently middle class, I can’t imagine anyone here paying $4,500/mo on rent. Maybe I’m just very lucky.

          • just_change_it@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            A room is basically ~1k/mo here if you’re renting with roommates, maybe up to 1500 if the place is really nice. 1800 for a studio, give or take.

            Entry level roles are usually 60kish+ but everybody hits 100k very quickly in any kind of white collar gig. With the pharma industry being here a huge portion of roles in greater Boston are pharma or pharma adjacent with 200k-400k salaries(+bonus/options) which drive up the cost of housing like crazy. Plus some finance and legal too. There’s a few ad agencies, plenty of healthcare companies and some world class hospitals. Plus a significant amount of highly desirable colleges that lure in the rich foreign exchange students. It makes for a really expensive housing situation unfortunately.