Attending jobs...NYC region vs Chicago region

[ibarne242]

I'm in residency, currently just outside Philadelphia in south New Jersey (I'll be licensed in NJ).

My favorite city is NYC, but I originally hail from the Chicago area and I love Chicago as well.

Thinking about post-graduate jobs. As a musician and someone who loves arts and culture, I loved NYC when I lived there, and would love to practice there or nearby. However, Chicago also fares well in those departments too, not as amazing as NYC but still pretty amazing. Also, noticeably colder in the winter/spring in Chicago, which I don't like.

Would it be worth it for someone like me to take a job close to or in NYC for less pay with higher cost of living?
Or should I just bite the bullet and go back to Chicago where I'll likely make more money with lower col.
I know this is a personal choice and no one can make this decision for me but I want to know what people think!

PS I'm interested in how much different the pay really is between these two cities. It's kind of hard to actually gauge this since salary info online is kind of bull crap a lot of the time, haha.

edit: family is irrelevant. I'm not married and I couldn't give less of a crap if I'm close to family or not.

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[AMEHigh]

Where do you see yourself longer term?
Yes it’s pretty easy to find a new FM job if you have to move, but it’s nice to kind of be in an area a little settled for your first job or 2 as you get the lay of the land. Plus making friends, etc.
I’ve moved a lot in my life and I’m thankful for those experiences, but the past few years I’m kinda over moving every few years.

I’m biased to the east coast for a variety of reasons, but yes that’s personal preference. I hate hate the cold so moving to chicago would be a huge deterrent for me personally.

 

[betamale]

Try Austin or Nashville, cheaper

 

[dr.huxtable]

I was hoping for some more replies because I'm interested in family medicine and torn between those two cities as to where I would like to settle. It would be really cool if I could get some sort of academic position in medical schools in both cities and spend the Fall semester in N.Y. and the Winter semester in Chicago. I'm a M1 so I have a long time to decide. The funny thing about N.Y. is that I know of residencies there that have affordable housing for their residents, but I don't know of such programs in Chicago. I might end up doing my residency in N.Y. because of its' affordable housing.

 

[wamc2021psych]

I was hoping for some more replies because I'm interested in family medicine and torn between those two cities as to where I would like to settle. It would be really cool if I could get some sort of academic position in medical schools in both cities and spend the Fall semester in N.Y. and the Winter semester in Chicago. I'm a M1 so I have a long time to decide. The funny thing about N.Y. is that I know of residencies there that have affordable housing for their residents, but I don't know of such programs in Chicago. I might end up doing my residency in N.Y. because of its' affordable housing.

but the COL in NYC vs Chicago at baseline is like 200%. you don't need housing stipends or subsidized housing to live well in Chicago.

 

[Dave1980]

NYC is not a good place for doctors. Chicago rocks.

 

[FrustratedFamDoc]

What sort of job are looking to do after you leave residency? Do you have student loans? If so, how bad are they?

Seeing all of your income go towards loans, inflated rent/mortgage, taxes, etc gets really old, really quickly.

 

[SXMMD]

NYC is not a good place for doctors. Chicago rocks.

just an FYI re: Illinois

Madigan leaves trial lawyers with parting gift: up to 2 years of 9% interest

Lame duck lawmakers and the outgoing Illinois House speaker are trying to hand trial lawyers some extra cash. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is being urged to veto the bill.

www.illinoispolicy.org

Sitting on the governor’s desk right now.

 

[ibarne242]

I want to be a pcp but also do nocturnist moonlighting work...in either chicago or northern jersey I think my income potential is about the same...I won't EVER work or live in nyc proper again. The closest I'd get is working in northern NJ and living in jersey city or hoboken or something like that.
Obviously hoboken and jersey city are still a good deal pricier than chicago...but also I kinda like the east coast and nyc better overall...

Also considering philly (actually live in philly now)...great east coast city very close to nyc and much cheaper. idk