US vs UK cost of living
Discussion
I've been to the States enough to be pretty familiar with the costs of food, drink, accomodation, fuel[gas], white goods, cars, property etc etc. And pretty much without exception, they're cheaper than the jolly old UK. But what about the other costs the vacationer/business visitor doesn't get to see like electricity/gas/water charges, property/car/health insurance, tax (is there the equivalent of a poll tax?), mortgages etc etc. All in, is the cost of living actually significantly less than the UK?
I'm certainly guessing that the same gross salary in the US as compared to the UK will go a lot further? Put another way, and taking a round figure as an example, any ideas what the equivalent gross earnings in the UK have to be to match a US $100K gross in terms of standard of living...ignoring the non-financial stuff like weather etc.
I'm certainly guessing that the same gross salary in the US as compared to the UK will go a lot further? Put another way, and taking a round figure as an example, any ideas what the equivalent gross earnings in the UK have to be to match a US $100K gross in terms of standard of living...ignoring the non-financial stuff like weather etc.
A general rule of thumb is to match pounds to dollars for an equivalent standard of living, i.e. £100k for a $100k lifestyle. This varies from state to state as your tax bill is made up of both federal and local taxes, some being cheaper than others, for instance Alaska give a rebate each year based on interest earned from oil money !
Ben
Ben
benyeats said:
A general rule of thumb is to match pounds to dollars for an equivalent standard of living, i.e. £100k for a $100k lifestyle.
That's what we use broadly speaking now we are in the States, but cost of living varies massively by region in the States, more so I'd say than the UK.
Live in New York/California and a lot of your expenses, especially house buying/rent will be similar to the UK.
Live in Iowa like we do and it won't. In fact nowhere near. Property here is well under half price, especially if buying. We bought our place for roughly $150,000. We estimate buying a similar property at home in Oxfordshire would be 300,000-400,000 GBP.
Off the top of my head...
We have found all of the following to be $1=1GBP: car purchasing, energy costs (electric), phone, gym fees, clothes, shoes.
The following are better than half price: car servicing (had a main dealer service my Honda - all fluids etc, tyre rotation - under $50!), petrol, eating out, meat in supermarkets, hotels out of the big cities, internet access.
The following is not such good value, more like 1 pound = 1 dollar: Some groceries in the winter i.e. peppers - $2 for 1 pepper, $4 for 4 tomatoes, beer ($8 for a 6 bottle pack of Becks or similar), wine, spirits, bread ($2 a loaf often).
No council tax but overall the tax burden on us is roughly the same so in total, I would say $1=1GBP in this part of the country, maybe better than that even. Seeing as we earn more in GBP than we earned in the UK, our standard of living has improved markedly
But then of course is healthcare.......
) and most normal items are $/£ parity or better. 
The "varies hugely by zones" posts are spot on. Here is my particulars for Baton Rouge:
Electricity/gas = $132/month (4,000 sq. ft.House)
Water/sewerage/garbage pickup = $32/month
Cable(TV, Telephone, & Broadband Internet) = $128/month
Insurance (3 cars & house)= $220/month
As it it between 90-100 degrees farenheit with 100% humidity 9 months a year, air con is a must. The A/C is the biggest part of my monthly electric bill.
I beileve that's about it. If I think of something else, I will update.
>> Edited by jimbeaux on Wednesday 22 February 15:59
Electricity/gas = $132/month (4,000 sq. ft.House)
Water/sewerage/garbage pickup = $32/month
Cable(TV, Telephone, & Broadband Internet) = $128/month
Insurance (3 cars & house)= $220/month
As it it between 90-100 degrees farenheit with 100% humidity 9 months a year, air con is a must. The A/C is the biggest part of my monthly electric bill.
I beileve that's about it. If I think of something else, I will update.
>> Edited by jimbeaux on Wednesday 22 February 15:59
minimax said:
Water/sewerage/garbage pickup = $32/month
jesus that's cheap!
jimbeaux said:
Cable(TV-$40, Telephone-$40, & Broadband Internet-$48) = $128/month
jesus that's expensive!
swings and roundabouts I suppose...
Yup! Now, bear in mind that the phone charges covers all long distance (in country) at no extra charge.
>> Edited by jimbeaux on Wednesday 22 February 16:08
I live in Florida. I have a 2300 sq foot single family home.
My property taxes are $1900 a year and that includes trash removal.
My utility bill is about $300 a month but that includes water and I water my lawn quite a bit.
I pay about $1200 a year for medical insurance with a 5 million dollar limit.
I have four cars, a Vette, an Elise, a Mini and a Monaro. My car insurance with 100K / 300K coverage runs about $3,000 a year.
I pay about $150 a year for the license plates, there is no other road tax.
I have DirecTV with some 600 channels including all the pay ones. That runs about $120 a month.
Sales tax is 7%. After adjustments and deductions, I pay about 28% of my income in federal income tax. (Thats a high bracket, most pay in the 15 - 30% range).
>> Edited by joecooool on Wednesday 22 February 16:41
My property taxes are $1900 a year and that includes trash removal.
My utility bill is about $300 a month but that includes water and I water my lawn quite a bit.
I pay about $1200 a year for medical insurance with a 5 million dollar limit.
I have four cars, a Vette, an Elise, a Mini and a Monaro. My car insurance with 100K / 300K coverage runs about $3,000 a year.
I pay about $150 a year for the license plates, there is no other road tax.
I have DirecTV with some 600 channels including all the pay ones. That runs about $120 a month.
Sales tax is 7%. After adjustments and deductions, I pay about 28% of my income in federal income tax. (Thats a high bracket, most pay in the 15 - 30% range).
>> Edited by joecooool on Wednesday 22 February 16:41
minimax said:
Water/sewerage/garbage pickup = $32/month
jesus that's cheap!
jimbeaux said:
Cable(TV, Telephone, & Broadband Internet) = $128/month
jesus that's expensive!
swings and roundabouts I suppose...
Top sky package at £40, BT line at £20ish, Broadband £20
=£80 total, which is slightly over $128 !
Ben
Joe Letaxi said:
The following are better than half price: car servicing (had a main dealer service my Honda - all fluids etc, tyre rotation - under $50!)
This always annoys me - are we really just being so ripped off here?
Joe Letaxi said:
... eating out, meat in supermarkets,
I travel to the US quite a bit, and it always amazes me how cheap you can eat out for (and for waay better quality than you'd get in the UK unless you spend a fortune) yet supermarket food prices seem broadly similar to ours.
Joe Letaxi said:
But then of course is healthcare.......
Everyone I know in the US in my age group (late 40's) is starting to think about how the heck they're going to afford healthcare when their company cover stops and they have to pay it themselved. Apparently it's *very* easy to be looking at $1M hospital bill, and expensive drugs for the rest of your life.
RobM77 said:
I once worked out how much of my income ends up in the government's pockets and it was about 45%. It'd be interesting to see what that figure would be if I lived in the US.
$120 a month for TV!!blimey!
does that include the 250% petrol tax and VAT on everything, mine worked out nearer 75%.
i did the calculations a while ago when i was feeling particularly grumpy
whenever i am on a cruise i make a point of speaking to our american friends to try and figure this question out and the answer i usually come to is that taxation wise it is pretty close as an overall burden but "stuff" costs a lot less on the whole hence more disposable.
ps the us tax system is really complicated, their %agers are pretty high, but you can claim just about everything against your tax to get the bill down so i understand.
joecooool said:
I live in Florida. I have a 2300 sq foot single family home.
My property taxes are $1900 a year and that includes trash removal.
My utility bill is about $300 a month but that includes water and I water my lawn quite a bit.
I pay about $1200 a year for medical insurance with a 5 million dollar limit.
I have four cars, a Vette, an Elise, a Mini and a Monaro. My car insurance with 100K / 300K coverage runs about $3,000 a year.
I pay about $150 a year for the license plates, there is no other road tax.
I have DirecTV with some 600 channels including all the pay ones. That runs about $120 a month.
Sales tax is 7%. After adjustments and deductions, I pay about 28% of my income in federal income tax. (Thats a high bracket, most pay in the 15 - 30% range).
>> Edited by joecooool on Wednesday 22 February 16:41
I forgot about that! House and property tax is $600 year. Car license is $18/year.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff