Top HCOLS are obvious, but I’m curious where people draw the line. And I’m never sure what the line is between MCOL and LCOL. Obviously not a hard science here, just curious where peoples thoughts are at specifically when these divisions are made. My thoughts (and some probably good examples excluded because I’m not too familiar) HCOL: SF Seattle NYC Boston DC MCOL: Chicago Philly (?) Miami (??) Tampa FL (?) LCOL: Syracuse NY Utica NY Springfield MA Hartford CT (??) Thoughts?
Phoenix - MCOL
Are Boston and DC really hcol?
DC is definitely not HCOL according to recruiters. I think it is on a cost perspective.
DC has a terrible TC:COL. I’m still confused why companies pay so little where rent is so high in DC.
How about Au..Austin?
I know nothing about Austin specifically except it’s growing, so you tell me
Consider texas and north carolina. Hartford is definitely not lcol. I live here.
Lol I live near Hartford. May I ask what you pay for housing/rent?
Manchester. 2k. Better school districts such as farmington, glastonburry, south windsor are even more expensive. I don’t have kids so it’s fine for now.
Iowa is definitely LCOL
Raleigh NC - MCOL
It’s hard to argue with any of this, except I think Nashville is climbing into MCOL these days.
good list what about austin?
High CoL: NYC, LA, DC, SF Bay Area, Seattle, Boston, San Diego Medium CoL: Orlando, Tampa, Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Riverside, Minneapolis, Denver, Portland, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Austin, Raleigh Low CoL: Houston, Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore, Charlotte, San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Kansas City If all expenses before food and car with a 2-bedroom are below 1000 then it's low cost. 1k-2k MCOL, 3K-4K HCOL and 5K+ VHCOL
Houston is MCOL now. Homes inside the loop are going for $700K these days. A 2 bedroom apartment is $1500-$2000, we are paying $4.3K for highrise.
Live in KC and you can’t find much of anything to rent for less than $1000 that isn’t a shit 1br. Moved back to KC from Austin making 105k. Now making 210k and renting an old 3br house for $1300 in a super nice part of town (Prairie Village). TC: 210k (175 base, 10k sign on, 25k bonus)
Consider moving NYC and SF into VHCOL
Good point. Probably needs a vhcol and vlcol category honestly. I refrained from listing a couple cities I know because they are gonna be so unknown (and cheaper than my lcol examples)
Agree. Boston etc are def HCOL but don't compare to NYC/Sf
Is AZ MCOL?
Living here I think so
I live in Tempe lol, you went to asu or what