How much of a salary do you need to live ok on Long Island (Levittown: crime, daycare)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just my 2 cents, when we were looking for homes we were told by the mortgage broker that we were approved for a certain amount. We were not delusional that we could afford other. No staging to sell the house was what is was. My only thing was no busy streets. Pat/Med was one of the areas, Sachem, Middle Country etc. We bought in Pat/Med is it the best no, is it the worst no. There are a lot of stay at home Mom's in the community as well as working Mom's we all try to help one another out. Like for the summer I will be watching a classmate of my son's for free, because his Mom helped me through the year when I had a conflict for practices for sports or dance. I know people will say that Pat/Med is horrible, but my son in kindergarten is reading, my othere son in 3rd grade is reading above grade level. Are there issues in Pat?med sure, but there are issues everywhere.
I am in the Pat-Med Sd. My only problem is that the district lost about ?25 Million somewhere and no one is taking responsibility. I usually just advise people to check the neighborhood out first. There are good neighborhoods and bad ones. I would not trade Patchogue village for Sayville. We have a beach club, TONS of events during the summer, snow plows that clear the road too much . I am within walking distance to a "Nancy's crab shack, the beach club, the beach, tennis courts, a play ground and a deli.
I ended my day yesterday at the beach and then Nancy's Crab shack and started my day with a bike ride to the beach to hunt for Hermit crabs. Sounds awful right Next Friday I am going to the opening of the pool, on Saturday I am watching the FD races, then on the following Friday is Alive after Five and the next week end it is a Music Festival. Most events are free.
Hey momix5 did your son have Mrs. Charach as the Kindergarten teacher?
I think if people are looking for a great buy with a decent school district, Pat/Med is an answer, there is good and bad like patch2007 said, I think there are a lot of districts that "lose" money. I think they all need to be investigated. They are putting a Starbucks, Applebees and Lowes and possibily a walmart, we have Target that is pretty new. It is easy accesss to hwys and rails. Is it perfect? no but it does have benefits. My son had Mrs. Methven.
There are so many different opinions here but all in all it's how you WANT to live.
Depends on what your needs are. If you NEED a nice car or two or three, If you NEED to eat out a lot, If you NEED to shop from time to time, take vacations etc.
If you are comfortable living without certain materialistic things but can be comfortable with a decent car, shopping less, less vacation time etc. then you can afford to live here.
Delusional to think youll be living well on LI under 100k
The only people I know getting by under 100k a year bought their homes before 2000.
It's more ore like 130k if you want to live well.
What I mean by well is maybe you can buy a 1200 sft ranch and take your kids to Disney every 3 years....forget about any extras.
Im moving to CT for some relief.
Sad when you consider CTs the wealthiest state in America
Up near Hartford is a steal considering what were paying to live here.
Pretty soon it only be Millionaires, Migrant workers, and Suffolk County Cops who can afford to live here.
(130k a yr to dodge a donut is total bs)
Welcome to hell.
You can thank the Boomers for whoring the Island out, taking the money to Fla. and sticking their kids with the tab.
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
8,900 posts, read 16,000,645 times
Reputation: 1819
My boyfriend and I are probably going to buy a house on Long Island in a few years, we're both teachers in NYC. I'm 23 and he's 26 and we just make over 100k. Don't forget about the teachers.
We actually would rather not live on Long Island and prefer the Las Vegas suburbs. It's just that the teacher salaries there don't match up with the cost of living. We would live a lot more comfortably on Long Island.
Not only do you need an unbelievable salary but you need a home equity line of credit, credit cards and very wealthy, generous parents to survive here!!!!
My husband & I live in eastern LI, probably in one of the least expensive areas that is safe & clean. we both work full time. Our combined gross is over 130k, after taxes, health insurance, 401k, and the child support DH pays we end up with less than 50% of that to live on. We live VERY modestly by choice. No car payments, no flat screen TVs, we love to cook & usually eat home. We are into saving not spending.
Honestly, when I know there are people that earn much less, but still own homes & have car payments & they buy everything under the sun I just don't see how it works. Even if I spent every dime I put into my savings, I still don't think we could have 2 $400 car payments, crazy CC bills, multiple vacations & starbucks everyday. The numbers don't jive, so I really don't know how those making less than 100k are doing it.
I forgot....the other guys who make out well here are our tax evading gray market Landscapers and Contractors who exploit illegal labor and claim 40k on their w2s.
Its a travesty...these guys are hiding every nickel under a BS S-Corp while the rest of us are out working two jobs.... too busy to cut our own lawns.
(And why shouldn't a landscaper have a 100k Boat and a 80k Mercedes to entertain "Clients" with? My personal favorite is the Hummer, while they expense all their gas receipts on the public dime....I digress.)
It amazes me that the IRS cant cross reference income with Zipcodes because Ill tell you right now NOBODY is living here on 40k.
They just put up a Habitat house around the corner from me...sad the way we treat our working poor.
F Brian Foley....I had hoped the Dems would halt the sellout of Brookhaven...but no.
Did somebody give you a house or did you buy in 20 years ago?
We're broke on 100k, driving a Ford in a 1100 Sft house.
If people could get by on 50k then thats what we should pay our cops instead of 130k to dodge a donut at the 711.
This party sucks
Were outta here
Clamboy
RPNY
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I am within walking distance to a "Nancy's crab shack, the beach club, the beach, tennis courts, a play ground and a deli. 
Delusional to think youll be living well on LI under 100k
