Cost of Living NY State?

It really depends on the specific spot. We lived in the Southern Tier region of NY for 2 yrs and found the cost of homes to be tremendously cheaper than most areas we had lived in prior. We bought a 3bd. 2bath full finished basement home on a double city lot with a 2 car garage for $115,000! And it was a gorgeous home, hardwoods, etc.

I would say the biggest expense will be NYSEG (gas, electric, etc) It's horrendous! Our monthly bills ranged from $200 in the mild months to over $600 once during blizzard season. There's expenses you might not have elsewhere too, washing your car often to get salt off of it from the snow, state income taxes.

If you haven't lived in a snowy climate previously, consider that as a cost too, the clothing, coats, boots, snow shovels, etc.

There are many toll roads in NY state as well. A lot of little expenses that add up, but many costs in my opinion and in our particular area were cheaper.

Hope that helps, good luck on your move!

Things may have changed. However about 15 years ago the company I worked for had several employees who lived in upstate NY (most in small towns north of Albany). The cost of living for the NY residents was substantially less than the CT residents. The largest difference was in housing.

I'm from Oregon so when I moved to NY for college the lower minimum wage and the sales tax were both major adjustments. If you have an idea what your income will be (I assume you are moving for work or with work set up), you can start to plan your budgetting. I am mostly used to sales tax now (I still grumble) and I HATE pumping my own gas, but such is life.

Rent is a bit higher than in other places, but that can vary from city to city or areas within a city. In the Rochester area this week I have seen gas from the low $2.70s up to over $2.90 per gallon. I have a Sam's membership and we try to gas up there whenever possible. It is hard to know what kind of cost differences you are concerned about without more specifics. For example, one could expect to pay a babysitter anywhere from $5 or $6 an hour to $12 or more per hour, depending on what area of the city or suburbs you live in. It might be easier to look at a few specific areas you are considering moving, go to the local grocers' websites and take a look at their price flyers to see what groceries will run (Wegmans, for example, posts their flyers online and the prices vary from store to store). I'm sorry that's not so helpful.

I'm sure it has to do with tourism, if you are in an area not known for tourism the cost of living probably isnt all that bad, but if you are in the tourist areas expect things like milk and bread to be pretty expensive. I have a cousing that goes to NYC every year to visit a friend and she told me it's really expensive for everything there. I would pull up the local newspaper for that area and read it, you will probably see ads and things that will give you an idea.