Moving from Belfast to Boston

Hi Guys,

I posted here a couple of months ago about possibly transferring with my company from Northern Ireland to Boston. The time has now come to finalise everything and I was wondering if I could get a steer from people.

Can you tell me in the first instance if around $60,000 per year salary would let me lead a decent life in Boston?

I don%26#39;t want to commit to anything until I know if this is a good salary or not.

I%26#39;m a single guy with semi-expensive tastes :-)

Thanks

KC

Moving from Belfast to Boston

Hi,

That is a very tough question to answer, mostly because I%26#39;m not familiar with what a ';decent life'; in Belfast would be. I%26#39;m assuming that would be your frame of reference.

The big expense of living in Boston is housing. Unfortunately, rents are high, especially if you want to live in a trendy area like Back Bay, South End, Beacon Hill, Cambridge, or Brookline. In any of those areas, you should expect to pay $1200 per month MINIMUM for a ok 1 bedroom apt. A more available price would probably be $1600 or so, and you can easily spend over $2000 per month if you want a luxury place with lots of ammenities and a top location. Studio apartments usually go for around $1000-1200 per month.

If you are willing to be more flexible with location, and look in Dorchester, or some of the close-in suburbs like Malden or Quincy, you can find very nice 1 bedroom places for $900-1000/month. Of course, many people decide to have roommates, in order to cut expenses, and that%26#39;s certainly an option for you too.

At that salary, I think you%26#39;d be hard-pressed to afford a really nice apartment on your own, unless you were willing to live further out of the city. Rents are much cheaper once you get out to the burbs, places like Framingham, Wakefield, Woburn. In those areas you could get a 1 bedroom for probably $700/month.

Then, as far as other costs, they tend to be high. Things like drink prices in bars, restaurant prices, etc.

Overall, I don%26#39;t think that salary will allow you to live like a king here. But, if you manage your costs properly, you can certainly have a nice time here.

Moving from Belfast to Boston

Boston is much more expensive to live in now more than ever before. I myself could live on $60 thous. a year very easily, I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll do fine!

The rent is the most important bill of the month out of your expenses unless you end up buying a condo or house. That 1st or the 15th of the month comes around awfully fast whenever the rent is due! Ouch...it%26#39;s pretty high all over the City now too. So do your homework good on where you%26#39;d like to live. Which neighborhood in Boston or area in Boston itself, such as the Back Bay, Brookline, the North End, or the Waterfront.

Good luck, you%26#39;ll love being in Boston!

Is the company giving you relocation money? It%26#39;s rare that a company doesn%26#39;t foot the bill for the relo expenses, and then give the employee some cash towards rent or a down payment.

There are other options rather than renting a 1 bedroom by yourself. Visit craigslist.org and check out the ';shares'; option under ';real estate.'; You can share a nice place for much less money than a 1 bedroom. Granted, you%26#39;ll be with one or two complete strangers, but if you%26#39;re adventurous enough to accept a job in a different country, then sharing an apartment shouldn%26#39;t be a problem.

Thanks guys, I guess I should have put more info to narrow it down.

My offices are on Franklin Street, MA 02110 so I don%26#39;t particulary want to be too far from there if I can help it.

Don%26#39;t think I%26#39;ll want to share with anybody as after all these years of living alone, I think I would drive somebody else mad :-) I guess I wouldn%26#39;t mind paying a bit more if it meant I could get a place with everything rolled in like a gym. Also what about utility bills like gas and electricity, are they often included in the monthly rent?

One final question, what about taxes in Boston? The dreaded T word. What would I expect to pay?

Thanks for all your help.

Kiron

Hi Irish,

Most of the time, heat and cooking gas is included in rent, but not the electric, if you are renting an apartment in a large building, like those you%26#39;d find downtown. Also, in a few buildings, especially the newer ones, they have central AC which is included in the rent.

However, if you are renting someone%26#39;s condo unit, which is also a likely option, you%26#39;d be responsible for all utilities, including heat, separate from the rent.

Here%26#39;s an example of a full-service luxury apartment building, which is only a few blocks from where you will be working, and is exactly what you probably would want. You can call or email them to see what they charge, but I have to warn you that you might not like what they say :)

http://devonshire-boston.com/home.php

Given that you are working in the Financial District, you%26#39;d most likely want to look in the North End/Waterfront area, OR the Leather District, OR the South Station/South Boston areas. The Leather District is a former industrial area, which has become a very trendy loft district, similar to SOHO in New York. These areas would be walking distance to work for you.

As regards taxes, sales tax in MA is 5%, and is NOT collected on clothing items less than $175, or food that you buy in the supermarket to cook. However, the 5% is charged for take out and restaurant meals.

The Commonwealth of Mass also charges a flat 5% income tax on all income you earn here. However, there are deductions and so forth, that mean you don%26#39;t end up paying a full 5%, usually.

Then, there are federal Income taxes, which will be the same no matter where you are. Figure those to be around another 15% or so, ROUGHLY. If you figure about 25% of your salary to taxes, you will be fairly close to the mark. I don%26#39;t know what might be different for you as a foreign national, so you can always ask at your company when you get here.

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