# salaries in NYC



## ag1 (Jul 5, 2008)

Hi. I will soon be moving to NY (Manhattan), from London. I have asked my employers for the dollar equivalent of my Sterling salary (ie, basically my GBP salary * 2). Will this take me further in NY?

And can anyone tell me, really broadly speaking (and i know this is v subjective), but what is considered a good salary in NY? when i say good, i mean to have a decent standard of living (ie, not penny pinching). I'm essentially just trying to work out whether my US salary is 'good'/suffcient.

thanks guys!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

A may not be able to survive on what is a great income for B. You have to be more specific. Industry, experience, location, benefits ...


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

London is much more expensive than New York, largely because the dollar is so weak. There was an article recently about the most expensive cities in the world, and London was second, while New York was 15th. If you are comfortable in London, you should do fine in Manhattan.


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## ag1 (Jul 5, 2008)

twostep said:


> A may not be able to survive on what is a great income for B. You have to be more specific. Industry, experience, location, benefits ...


banking industry. 6 yrs experience. im aiming for a salary range of $110-150k. 25-27 days holiday. health, vision, dental covered. these are the main things. i just not sure if this salary is reasonable for NY. am hoping to rent a 1 bedrm appt in murray hill area, hopefully for less than $3000.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

You can pretty much forget about the 25 to 27 days' holiday. Standard for a new hire (which you will be, no matter how much experience you have) is 2 weeks (i.e. 10 days) after a year - IF you get to take the time accrued. You are normally expected to arrange your holiday time to suit the company's convenience. (No swanning off in the middle of a busy period, even if that means postponing a planned vacation at the last minute.) And generally you are expected to leave a phone number or e-mail contact so they can reach you while you're gone.

You may qualify for an additional week (i.e. 5 additional days - for a total of 15) after 5 years or so with the same company. Some companies make you wait 7 or 10 years for the extra week. If you change companies, you start over again with 2 weeks.

Vacation is normally a matter of overall company policy in the US. It is not negotiated with individual employees (due to problems with anti-discrimination regulations).

Health care may or may not be covered 100%. Vision and dental may be optional (and paid for by the employee).

Other benefits to ask about are educational benefits and retirement plans (usually a 401K self-savings plan, in which case you want to ask what their matching policy is).

What you're asking for is probably adequate for NYC. It's above the average for Manhattan salaries - though last summer $115,000 was quoted as the average salary for lower Manhattan. That's changing a bit, however, thanks to the current "difficulties" the banks are facing. Don't forget that there is a city income tax in addition to state and federal income taxes.
Cheers,
Bev


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## TNTRower (Aug 15, 2008)

I grew up in the Northern New Jersey area and still have family and friends in the local area. Here is my $.02

Your salary that you are quoting is nice if you live in a subburb. If you are talking about the Murray Hill in New Jersey that is nice. The key to finding a good place to live in the NYC "Tri-State-Area" (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) is to be close to a major railroad line. If you are looking in New Jersey then this will help immensely:

New Jersey Transit - Home

If you have a place to live near a train station you only need one car even if you are a family of four.

If you are looking at living in Manhattan proper your salary puts you at lower middle class.

Another thing to keep in mind is property taxes. The closer you are to the City (NYC) the higher your taxes are. My parents pay $11,000 per year in Property taxes, and they are retirees! That is in Maplewood, NJ. My roommate from College and his family live in Summit, NJ and they pay about $16,000 on a 2,500 sqft house that they paid $850,000 for (it was a fixer upper).

The good news is that the realestate market is a Buyer's market right now. Good deals are growing on trees in the New York Metro area.

Oh and by the way, your Holiday time? Are you joking? 25 days off? Maybe if you count Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, etc. Europeans enjoy a much better holiday schedule than us pathetic Americans.


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

I think that three weeks is more the norm, now, Bev. I got that on my last job, and two of my friends who have changed jobs several times in the last fifteen years have all gotten three weeks. However, years ago when I worked for a man who was transferred from Germany, he retained his four weeks (the legal minimum at that time in Germany) in the US, and they even let him take it all at once. Of course, back then there were no cell phones, and calling someone out of office hours was considered to be rude, and perhaps to be a bit of demonstrated incompetence on the caller's part.

So, make sure the vacation is spelled out, and don't call it 'holidays' as in the US that refers only to special days off, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Independence Day. And don't expect all US holdays to be honored. There are some holidays where the banks and stock market close, and others where it is business as usual.


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