Upstate NY (Elmira) to Cincinnati (Columbus, Dayton: apartments, rent, student loan)

[Rv16]

Hello,

How is the living cost in Cincinnati? I am trying to make a decision between multiple job offers in different cities. I am currently living in upstate NY half an hour from Ithaca. The town is so boring so I am trying to move to a city. I never live in Ohio before. I am currently making $80k after incentives in NY. The offer I have in Cincinnati is $103k after incentives. I know that is decent salary in most places (except San Francisco, NYC, etc), but I also have a crap ton of student debts lol. Luckily, no kids. Unluckily, no partner so only 1 source of income

[Cincygrad2015]

Originally Posted by Rv16

Hello,

How is the living cost in Cincinnati? I am trying to make a decision between multiple job offers in different cities. I am currently living in upstate NY half an hour from Ithaca. The town is so boring so I am trying to move to a city. I never live in Ohio before. I am currently making $80k after incentives in NY. The offer I have in Cincinnati is $103k after incentives. I know that is decent salary in most places (except San Francisco, NYC, etc), but I also have a crap ton of student debts lol. Luckily, no kids. Unluckily, no partner so only 1 source of income

Cincinnati is one of the cheapest cities in the country, having that kind of salary you can basically live anywhere in the city that you want (assuming you are renting), also depends on how much student loan debt you have but most luxury apartments for a 1 bedroom in the city are between $1200-2000.

[wrightflyer]

Agree. The OP can live well on $103K +/- a year in the Cincinnati region. I would certainly rent just to get familiar with the region. The OP could rent on a single income in most places and still have plenty of disposable income for a car (like most cities in the US, a must have) and other discretionary spending (save into a retirement fund!).

Having family and friends scattered around upstate NY, I will tell you Cincinnati has a lot more to offer amenity wise. And would be more exciting than Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo. Also, its cheaper than NYC, DC or Chicago. Though smaller than those latter three when it comes to amenities, it would be considerably larger than Elmira. And many are plesenatly surprised with the amount of stuff you can do. Plus you can easily reach other major metros (Indy, Columbus, Lexington, Louisville, Dayton) in 2-3 hours. Chicago is about 5-6 hours driving depending where in Chicago you go as well as traffic.

[thunderstruck666]

Property prices here are a good bargain compared to the rest of the country; property taxes as a percentage of assessed value are not. The average for the entire US is 1.16% of assessed value, in Cincinnati proper it goes up to at least 2.5%. We are actually in the top 10 states in the country for tax burden. https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/taxes...inger-tax-map/

[Misfit Toy]

I'm familiar with Elmira. You'll definitely be better off here in Cincinnati on multiple fronts. I can't imagine being young and single in Elmira. I don't know how the singles scene is here these days, but it has to be better than Elmira. You're probably paying state taxes out the nose in NY. Taxes are more reasonable here. The overall cost of living is good for a metro area this size.

Cincinnati and similar cities are becoming more attractive to young professionals as the larger, more "hip" cities are just flat out unaffordable for most people. And people have been coming here for years from more rural areas because the pace of life is too slow or because of the lack of job opportunities in rural areas.

If you feel the need to be closer to Elmira, then maybe someplace like Pittsburgh would work. Otherwise, you might as well give it a try here. My two cents.

[joyeaux]

Originally Posted by wrightflyer

Agree. The OP can live well on $103K +/- a year in the Cincinnati region. I would certainly rent just to get familiar with the region. The OP could rent on a single income in most places and still have plenty of disposable income for a car (like most cities in the US, a must have) and other discretionary spending (save into a retirement fund!).

Having family and friends scattered around upstate NY, I will tell you Cincinnati has a lot more to offer amenity wise. And would be more exciting than Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo. Also, its cheaper than NYC, DC or Chicago. Though smaller than those latter three when it comes to amenities, it would be considerably larger than Elmira. And many are plesenatly surprised with the amount of stuff you can do. Plus you can easily reach other major metros (Indy, Columbus, Lexington, Louisville, Dayton) in 2-3 hours. Chicago is about 5-6 hours driving depending where in Chicago you go as well as traffic.

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Well said!