Smitte Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Hi,We want to compare the cost of living and quality of life in each state versus the wage in IT, as hubby is in IT.The question is where will you have a balanced life/work relation, like don't have to travel to far to work, life in a good suburb etc. Or how far can you stretch your dollar in each state.If we earn $80 000 in Brisbane, $90 000 in Melbourne,$110 000 in Perth or $115 000 in Sydney? Which will make the most sense. I am not sure if I express myself correctly, but hope you understand!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 It's a really tough question to answer because it depends on many more factors than just city and wage. House prices vary so much in different suburbs and people have different ideas on what is comfortable or what is a good income. People living 20km apart in the same city will probably have different answers on what cost of living is like in their city because house prices, schools and fees, transport, etc could vary greatly between the two areas in the same city. Prime example is our situation. We're moving from the outer suburbs where we had a huge new house, small mortgage, huge commute (60km), and will have to send kids to private school (expensive) because the government schools aren't great. The area we're moving to is a lot closer to the city, we'll have a much older house, much bigger mortgage but an easier commute (20km) and won't have to pay private school fees because the govt schools are excellent. Same city, different circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 Smitte, you are trying to compare apples to pears, as Hansa says, it is different for each city, and can be vastly different.I would say that you should concentrate on where the most jobs are, especially if you are coming on a 457. If anything happens to your work, you will find it easier to get another. I know of a lot of people that have moved from the destination that they first arrived at to another where they are happier.The other factor to think about is if you have any great friends or family in a city, then check on cost of living and jobs there because then you will have some level of support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 (edited) I Agree with Mara, go were the maximum number of jobs are and that would be Sydney & Melbourne, I am also here on a 457 in IT (In Melbourne)My thoughts on the various cities:http://www.saaustral...post__p__319457Number of jobs in IT:http://www.saaustral...post__p__322242 Edited October 26, 2012 by Nev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 It is a really tough question to answer and agree with all the replies above. It will depend on a lot of factors, i.e., do you have kids to support, will there be a dual income, obviously where will you be located in each city (bearing in mind Sydney has suburbs about 2 hours drive from the CBD). Obviously, the further away from the CBD you stay, the cheaper the housing. Then there is the other factor that you might find a job not in the CBD itself but in one of the suburbs. I think there is a general thinking amongst South Africans that jobs are only available in the big cities and that comes from what we were used to. I think it would've been quite rare to find a decent paying job in South Africa in a suburb location, anyway, just my opinion.I guess all these questions you have are quite reasonable to ask and we can sometimes over analyse the issue at hand. If I'd spent half my time worrying about how we were going to cope financially here, I probably wouldn't have gotten around to make the move at all. In the end, it all seems to work well and falls into place. We knew from the get go we wanted to settle in Sydney because we thought that the major motor companies (hubby's a qualified motor & diesel mech) would be in Sydney, right......WRONG. Most are in Melbourne. We haven't moved down to Melbourne, but have made Sydney our home and hubby settled into another line of the motor industry quite well - we made it work for us here as best we could. We also plan to move to either Brisbane, Sunshine Coast or thereabouts someday when the kids are financially independent because we would be able to make it work their as well. No matter where you end up settling down, you will soon find that it all will turn out OK.Good luck with the rest of your planning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 (edited) I Agree with Mara, go were the maximum number of jobs are and that would be Sydney & Melbourne, I am also here on a 457 in IT (In Melbourne)My thoughts on the various cities:http://www.saaustral...post__p__319457Number of jobs in IT:http://www.saaustral...post__p__322242Yes, and it wouldn't be a good time to come to Brisbane looking for IT work right now with all the cuts.@OP, with respect to your other question....hard to answer for the whole country but I do know that Brisbane is significantly cheaper for housing than places like Sydney (as you would expect)...have seen a few articles now stating Brisbane is the cheapest mainland capital to buy a house atm. I think it is to the point that the extra wages you get in Sydney do not match the significant increase in housing. On the other hand Sydney has some very reasonable housing that did not boom anywhere near like the rest of Australia but it is in far away in places you may not want to live. Places that might defeat the purpose of living in a great city like Sydney. While Melbourne is also quite a bit dearer for housing anywhere near the CBD, it's renting costs are reasonable I think due to over-building in outer suburbs.Brisbane also seems to have cheaper things like childcare than Sydney and Melbourne from what I have noticed from posts on forums but this might just match salaries? Edited October 26, 2012 by Fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.