What's a good salary for Bozeman? (Belgrade, Manhattan: sale, insurance, mortgage)

[Vmanninut]

Can someone tell me if a salary of $80K is enough to live in Bozeman with a family of four? Sounds like Bozeman is very costly and I didn't know if a guaranteed salary like this (with medical benefits) was sufficient. Thanks for the info!

[rangerider]

For most of us here a salary like that would be a godsend! I guess it all depends on your spending habits and what level of comfort and activity you consider the norm for your lives.

In general, if you're an average family without a desire for a huge home and the trappings which generally accompany that lifestyle, 80k will afford you a comfortable living and savings program, no sweat. The only real startling statistic here is cost of living and tax-to-income ratio. The bulk of the c.o.l. is your mortgage and home cost. Having medical insurance is a significant savings in a budget, so that helps a lot with family in tow.

There are quite a few folks around here who survive on half or even a third of 80K, but the going is tough. I haven't looked lately on what the median salaries are doing, but I would say that most of the people in my immediate circle have a household income of between 30K-55K. I really only know two that have stayed in Bozeman proper. High taxes and the opportunity to make a significant gain on the sale of their homes were driving factors for them to move to Belgrade and Manhattan.

If someone were to hand me a guaranteed 80K salary, I guess my first question would be, "Just how long is that guarantee good for?"

[Vmanninut]

Thanks for the quick response. We are currently living in NH and my husband may have a job relocation opportunity with the govt.

How are the winters there? We just survived Ice Storm '08. The temps here can normally get into the teens in the winter. While we love snow we used to live in Salt Lake where it was generally pretty sunny in the winter with storms blowing in overnight to make for great skiing conditions with blue-bird days. Not like that in NH!

[Mt-7]

Originally Posted by rangerider

For most of us here a salary like that would be a godsend! I guess it all depends on your spending habits and what level of comfort and activity you consider the norm for your lives.

In general, if you're an average family without a desire for a huge home and the trappings which generally accompany that lifestyle, 80k will afford you a comfortable living and savings program, no sweat. The only real startling statistic here is cost of living and tax-to-income ratio. The bulk of the c.o.l. is your mortgage and home cost. Having medical insurance is a significant savings in a budget, so that helps a lot with family in tow.

There are quite a few folks around here who survive on half or even a third of 80K, but the going is tough. I haven't looked lately on what the median salaries are doing, but I would say that most of the people in my immediate circle have a household income of between 30K-55K. I really only know two that have stayed in Bozeman proper. High taxes and the opportunity to make a significant gain on the sale of their homes were driving factors for them to move to Belgrade and Manhattan.

If someone were to hand me a guaranteed 80K salary, I guess my first question would be, "Just how long is that guarantee good for?"

good point! sorry I can't rep ya.

[rangerider]

Originally Posted by Vmanninut

Thanks for the quick response. We are currently living in NH and my husband may have a job relocation opportunity with the govt.

How are the winters there? We just survived Ice Storm '08. The temps here can normally get into the teens in the winter. While we love snow we used to live in Salt Lake where it was generally pretty sunny in the winter with storms blowing in overnight to make for great skiing conditions with blue-bird days. Not like that in NH!

Gallatin valley winters vary quite a lot, especially in the last ten years or so. Generally winters are fairly dry here, by that I mean low humidities. Snowfall amounts can vary widely around the valley with the mountains generally receiving between 200"-450" a year. I have seen three feet of snow laying in the valley, and other winters we went from December to May with just a couple light snows, maybe a bit more towards Bozeman.

I guess if I had to make a generalization, you'll see daytime temps in the teens to twenties, nighttimes 0 - 15F. We might have two to three below zero stretches during the winter, lasting anywhere from two or three days to a week or even more. Winds aren't the worst here due to the ring of mountains around the valley, but that also means we have some air stagnation from time to time. Winter happens as early as the first end of November to as late as the middle of May. More common is end of November to about the first end of April. I would think if you have done time in Salt Lake you'll find Bozeman reasonably comparable; on some fronts, anyway. We generally have quite a bit of sun here, or at least partly cloudy. Storms lasting more than a day or two are rare. Lots of times it will be going at it in the mountains and the valley is pretty nice. Ice storms are exceeding rare, as is freezing rain.

All in all, if you don't mind "winter", the valley is fairly friendly most years. The roads get bad from time to time, sometimes you shovel snow until awful words for it start popping into your head, and there are "bluebird" days when you're skiing or out on snowshoes that just make you glad to be alive. Biggest complaint I hear from folks who move here is the fact that winter stretches well into what they used to consider spring. Remember, altitude/latitude ratio - every thousand feet you gain in altitude is like a move three hundred miles north.