Cost of Living

[zeloc]

Should it be a factor in where to go to residency?

I am planning on renting and am wondering what the difference would be in terms of housing, for example, if I go to Boston I can expect high renting prices and probably won't be able to live in as nice a place as Texas. Is there any way to compare the cost of living in various cities? I'm also wondering about living near a big city vs. living in a rural area. A bigger city means access to night life, but a rural area could allow better living arrangements, not to mention more money available for transportation to a bigger city on weekends, eg, airfare, subway, etc.

How much money do you really have available to spend month by month after expenses?

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[icare4u]

Go to customresidency.com. For $20.00, you can get comparisons of all of the different programs and cities. I found this very helpful.

 

[m1234d]

this is something i have been looking into too. i live in chicago, and the apt. prices on this site are appropriate for my neighborhood, and it also gives the neighborhood map, etc:
http://www.apartmentsavvy.com/neighborhoods.htm
(if anyone actually moves to chicago, i wouldnt necessarily recommend using one if these agencies if you have enough time to call numbers and make appts by yourself, rent can be cheaper or sometimes they have a consulting fee, or whatever they call it. if you dont have time though, these guys can be pretty helpful)

for NY i found this site, but i have no idea if the prices are appropriate:
http://nymag.com/realestate/articles/neighborhoods/chelsea.htm

 

[mmag]

There are a lot of cost of living calculators online if you want to just get a rough estimate.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html

 

[pballa24]

CNN's Cost of Living Calculator:
http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html

although pretty generic and not very specific, you can at least get a comparison of housing/groceries/etc costs in different cities.

I also recommend their Best Places to Live 2007 study:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/

It gives great data about a city's demographic. Again, it doesn't go into particular housing units in a city but you can get a relative sense by comparing average salaries, house prices, etc.

 

[elwademd]

i'd like to think that something more important than cost of living would be if the residency program offers what you like/feel that you need. i'd suggest looking at that portion of residency first, and then look at cost of living between programs that you find to fit your needs.

looking at cost of living first may hinder you from finding a residency program that's suitable for you.

 

[Llenroc]

Go to customresidency.com. For $20.00, you can get comparisons of all of the different programs and cities. I found this very helpful.

LOL what a waste. Go to www.bestplaces.net to comapare cost of living. The main differences in America tend to be cost of housing, which you can easily compare with any number of property websites.