I think one of the most difficult things about moving to a different area is trying to figure out what your income will get you there. Can you afford to buy a house in Salem Oregon? Clearly real estate in Manhattan is just a tad bit more expensive than real estate in Salem Oregon. I typically turn green when I hear about how much people will pay for a 600 sq foot condo in NY. I don’t understand how people can live there.
People that relocate here come from all parts of the country. Some will be more expensive than Salem and some of you will think we are really expensive here. So…how far will your money get you here, compared to where you are?
CNNMoney.com has this cool little cost of living calculator to help you try and compare your area to one where you are considering moving. Now unfortunately, they don’t have Salem Oregon as one of the choices for Oregon…despite the fact that we are larger than Bend and the capital…but I digress. So, I would use Eugene instead. Eugene is a bit more expensive than Salem, but for basic comparison purposes, I think it is close enough.
You can enter in your current salary for your area, where you live know, and where you are thinking about living. It will tell you what kind of salary you would have there to have comparable expenses. Since I’m originally from Illinois, I used a $50,000 salary in Rockford, Illinois compared to Eugene, Oregon.
The result…a comparable salary here to compensate for cost of living would be $61, 575. Housing is a lot more expensive here in Oregon than in Illinois (Chicago excluded) because of our urban growth boundaries. That is probably one of the biggest reasons folks seem to decide not to move here. According to this quick calculation, housing would cost 106% more here.
So if you are looking to relocate to Salem Oregon from another part of the country and aren’t sure how the cost of living differences, this is a neat and super quick comparison tool for you.