Avian Gamers Network

Today I got a job offer for a company in Michigan. Salary was not nailed down at this time. Before I talk to the company again, I would like to find a good salary calculator where I can enter my expected income for Baton Rouge, and have it tell me what I should expect in Michigan.

I searched several websites. Some websites want you to pay for some services, others are just basic. Some need your profession others dont. I have gotten anywhere from a 9K increase to a 79K increase. That 79k has to be wrong.

Anyway before I make any life decisions, I would like to know if any of you guys favor a particular salary calculator/cost of leaving calculator.

This is a reasonable calculator

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp

_________________
Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

That's the exact same one that I use.

_________________
--The Hermit

hate to tell you but that calc is borked.... being the son of a real estate appraiser, I know approximate home values for the Middle TN area.... if you run the calc on Nashville, TN and Morristown, TN.... you will see house prices in the 200k range.... the most a house on average sells for in Morristown, TN (way out in the sticks) is 90k..... the average house price in Nashville varies between 100-600k depending on the neighborhood and comparible sale values....

it's pretty cool. I did Chicago and it seemed really right on. Housing costs and rent seemed right on.

_________________
Moge

Housing costs are usually tough to know the average unless you verify from multiple sources. In my area house typically go from 350K-475K, but the average is probabll much closer to 200 (or even lower).

_________________
Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

Thanks for the link. However something seems fishy?

It is telling me I can take a cut in pay if I move from Baton Rouge to Detroit. In fact I tried several cities around me, and then some bigger ones like Phoenix Az and they all say I can take a cut in pay to maintain my standard of living. I can take a cut in pay if I transfer to many cities except for the crazy ones like New York… Everything I know tells me wages should increase as you move north.

So then I tested it out on more foliature places for me: Baton Rouge La to Houston Tx, and it says "You may take a 13.18% decrease and still maintain your standard of living."

Something seems fishy, or is Baton rouge that expensive?

Anyway, thanks to everyone trying to help out with this, I really appreciate everything you guys are doing.

This could be the case. You may not have the average living costs in your area though.

_________________
X2-PB

Pathfinder Kingmaker Campaign:
Gednan Malithanar - Wizard (1)
Dukin Thunderstrike - Ranger (1)

Star Citizen: - https://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/
AntanKarmola on their forums

Star Wars: The Old Republic: - Not really playing
Antare Karmola - Jedi Guardian (32)
Antan Karmola - Jedi Shadow (21)
Arianae Karmola - Gunslinger (20)

http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank29.html

Look at that link. In a ranking of average income, Louisiana ranks 43rd out of 50 states.

http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/regional/bea ... earin=2003

And in that link Baton Rouge is ranked 5th in per capita personal income for our state. So we are one of the worst states, and city is 5th in state income...

http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/newsrelarchi ... pi0405.htm

And in the list on that link, it says Baton Rouge is ranked 203 out of all the cities in the US in terms of personal income. Houston is ranked 36, and Phenox is ranked 131, and Detroit is ranked 27... yet the calculator says I can live with a decrease in income if I move to any of those cities.

Conclusion: Many other places in the US should pay better than Baton Rouge. The calculator's value for Baton Rouge must be messed up. Would you agree? Or am I overlooking something?

Sounds right, but income and cost are different things...still i suspect you are right

_________________
Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

Seems accurate for the Virginia Area.

_________________
"Chatfield, I think there's something wrong with our bloody ships." Admiral David Beatty, upon watching the battlecruiser Queen Mary explode at the battle of Jutland.

My name is Tobias Smith and I approved this post.

Hmm.... No St. Paul or Minneapolis, MN?? How is that possible? Unless of course I've missed it.

Reducing a city to one set of economic values isn't a good idea imho. Granted, I don't live int the USA but I don't see why things would be different: in a same city, neigborhood differences can be abyssal. I suppose upper class Baton Rouge is still more expensive than lower class NYC.

My point? Don't calculate, grab whatever salary you can get. There's no reason why you should accept a decrease in revenue, your health insurance, etc, won't give you price reductions if your salary goes down. Or the guarantees will go down too and you will lose in the end.

Such calculators can help make yourself a rough idea, but one doesn't take big decisions on rough ideas. Try maybe going there and watch the prices in the stores, visit a renting agency to check the prices in a neigborhood that would suit you. Check other job offers in the same line, and check what the offered salaries are.

Cyrus, where in Michigan are you planning on working? Any ideas where you want to live? I grew up in Ann Arbor, which is 40 miles from Detroit, so I know that area very well. I would say that any cost of living calculator for that area would have a hard time being correct.

You do not want to live in Detroit! It is too dangerous, and it's hideous right now. If you are gonna be working there, there are some very nice suburbs within driving distance... no more than an hour drive. If you look at housing in Detroit, it will be extremely low, but it is unlivable... and, depending on which direction from Detroit you go, there are a large variety of suburbs with a large variety of price ranges. Ann Arbor is one that I would highly recommend, but I'm a bit biased... it may be more expensive than you can afford right now as well. At any rate, I would say that you should have no problem finding a nice town/city to live in in the suburbs of Detroit for whatever price range fits your budget.

Send me a PM if you want to talk about the area or if you have any questions...

_________________
TheMole
Section 5
Section 5
Section 5
Now Playing: WoW
--------------------

Yeah, there's even talk of ceding Detroit back to Canada, but the Canadians won't take it.

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Yeah, we pretty much just laughed at you when you gave that offer.

_________________
~Ravage™
~I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
~The problem with facts, is that sometimes they don't support your opinion.

The the company is actual in Davison, which is NNW of Detroit. I just used Detroit because at that time it was the only city around there that I recognized on the calculator. I thought Detroit was close, but after looking at the map I think I may get better results if I used Flint instead.


Thanks Sluggy, I think I agree with you. In the past I knew if I wanted 50K in Baton Rouge, I would expect ~60k in Houston. Anything less would actually be a decrease. I know this because I have spent a lot of time working and living in the greater Houston area. Everything just costs a little more over there than here in Baton Rouge. Plus the demand for my profession is higher over there so I know I can expect them to pay me more to retain me.

The sad thing is even though I worked in Cleveland, Dayton, Bloomington, and Evansville, I never really paid attention to the cost of things up there. The company paid my housing, and I hardly ever went anywhere outside the plant…. So I am clueless.

All I want to do is convert everything to equal units. That way I can be more confident when comparing offers. Then I will likely take the highest offer from a competent company who scores well on my "Things that matter to me -List". I have until December to graduate, and I hope to have several offers to choose form by then.

Cost of Houses/Rent will typically determine most other factors...as a general rule. It will be one of your largest expenditures. expect grocieries and the like to increase incrementally...not always the case

_________________
Dalaran: Arindel - Frost Mage (Mining/Alchemy)
Dalaran: Roran - Paladin (Weaponsmith/Blacksmith)
Dalaran: Baine - Rogue

One thing that might be worth comparing is petrol (gasoline or whatever you call it!) prices. Over here petrol prices can be indicative of the relative cost of living.

_________________
X2-PB

Pathfinder Kingmaker Campaign:
Gednan Malithanar - Wizard (1)
Dukin Thunderstrike - Ranger (1)

Star Citizen: - https://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/
AntanKarmola on their forums

Star Wars: The Old Republic: - Not really playing
Antare Karmola - Jedi Guardian (32)
Antan Karmola - Jedi Shadow (21)
Arianae Karmola - Gunslinger (20)

Yeah, but over there, people are scared of aliens in movies.

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense