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In Mississippi and South Carolina, you can buy a house in many areas for sub-$100k, for a 1:2.5 salary-price ratio. Compare to Silicon Valley, where good tech
by beambot 12y ago
In Mississippi and South Carolina, you can buy a house in many areas for sub-$100k, for a 1:2.5 salary-price ratio. Compare to Silicon Valley, where good tech salaries of $200k and 2 bdrm homes for $800k give a 1:4 ratio.
$40k is middle class for that part of the country.
- Quizz 12y agoBut is $40k on offer in these more affordable parts?
- sliverstorm 12y agoSouth Carolina is not large. If you were willing to commute for an hour, if you lived in the center you could work almost anywhere in the state.
- fixedd 12y agoA one hour commute could easily cost ~ 5k/yr in fuel alone (50 weeks * 5 days * $3/gal fuel * (60miles / 20mpg)), instantly cutting that increase from 30k to 40k in half.
- ulfw 12y agoPlus with progressive tax rates and high taxes in CA that ratio realistically goes more towards 1:6 or higher
- fixedd 12y agoThe difference in costs for everything else is similar or worse in rural areas though. For instance, a 32" TV costs the same on Amazon no matter where you live, but when the water company only has 900 customers instead of a few hundred thousand the cost-per-gallon sky rockets.
- noonespecial 12y agoAs a counterpoint, there are some places (like this one) where more water than you can want just falls from the sky. The water here is cheap no matter how many people are connected. If it weren't, you'd just dig a modest hole in the ground and suck out what you need.