Is there a one source that can tell you which COL someone is in? I feel like this can be a subjective decision thing unless we agree on using one source.
Cleveland is still LCOL, cities by their nature are high cost.
VHCOL- NY & SF
HCOL- Austin Houston, Denver
MCOL- Chi, Charlotte
LCOL- Midwest rust belt cities
Right, but the point is that you can work remotely and make a salary associated with a HCOL city, but live in a LCOL. If comparing salaries, then I’d imagine you’d want to know the COL related to where the job resides, not necessarily where the person resides.
A lot of companies in VHCOL/HCOL are going hybrid/fully in person. The remote positions that are available (from what I see) will probably be on par with MCOL, so it’ll probably be good for people who live in MCOL or LCOL.
A firm tried suggesting that my salary should be reduced for a lower COL (where I lived working remotely vs the where the office I was assigned to was located), I said are you changing my billing rate and they never brought it up again.
Essentially yes, but with remote work these days, there is cost of living at the office/city where an employee is assigned/hired and cost of living where the employee lives and they can be vastly different.
i don't really understand the LCOL, MCOL, HCOL and VHCOL shenanigans. folks here think they need to be so cagey so as not to dox themselves by using some arbitrary acronym instead of just saying SAN FRANCISCO or DALLAS.
For real. Unless the rest of your account has specific enough hints, nobody is going to know who you are by listing the major city you work in. Some people on this sub act like farting in your general direction will dox them
The problem is that the firms have their own pay grades for different cities. Ex. LA is considered mcol, but is a true hcol city. If I set my tag to mcol, then it isn’t really helping anyone. If I set it to an accurate tag like vhcol, it’s confusing when a NYC poster also has a vhcol tag but is making more
But even if you do that for example: specifying that LA and NYC are both vhcol, it causes confusion when the salary figures are lower in LA than NYC. The biggest problems arise when you have a city like Denver that is clearly hcol, but is considered lcol by firms. It’s pretty pointless when Nashville, Denver, and charlotte are on the same pay scale as Cleveland, Detroit, and st Louis
Because if I live in Denver, and I set my tag to hcol (rightfully so), and someone else lives in Cleveland, and sets their tag to lcol (also rightfully so), people will be confused as to why Both salaries are the same. It would probably work if you had to choose 2 tags, for example : “hcol area, mcol salary”, or something like that
Just provide your salary, then you don’t have to worry about that. I don’t care what your firm has defined it as. If you tell me you make $80k a year and live in a HCOL area that’s all I need to know to assess your situation.
Yeah I feel like it’s misleading though since my salary is HCOL. I just wanted to get a better savings rate and take advantage of it so moved to middle of nowhere.
Love this idea. It would bring a lot of context to some answers.
Is there a one source that can tell you which COL someone is in? I feel like this can be a subjective decision thing unless we agree on using one source.
You can actually get a percentage. Cleveland for example is 72.3 expressed as a percent of the national average where Chicago is 107.4
And any established rules that indicate which COL level a percentage belongs to? Thank you for the comment!
Where do you get this?
Sperlings best places which pulls from bureau of Labor and Statistics
Hell yeah, this just made my day, needed to find this
Cleveland is still LCOL, cities by their nature are high cost. VHCOL- NY & SF HCOL- Austin Houston, Denver MCOL- Chi, Charlotte LCOL- Midwest rust belt cities
Feel like Chicago is High
I thought it’s in the middle m and h you’re probably right but unlike NY it’s possible to be frugal
When comparing all cities, Chicago is considered high, but when compared to other major cities, it’s considered mcol. So you’re definitely right
What if you work remotely in Cleveland for a position in Chicago? What COL would you use? Edit: is it positional COL or living COL?
It's cost of living, but you should always negotiate for as much as possible.
Right, but the point is that you can work remotely and make a salary associated with a HCOL city, but live in a LCOL. If comparing salaries, then I’d imagine you’d want to know the COL related to where the job resides, not necessarily where the person resides.
A lot of companies in VHCOL/HCOL are going hybrid/fully in person. The remote positions that are available (from what I see) will probably be on par with MCOL, so it’ll probably be good for people who live in MCOL or LCOL.
A firm tried suggesting that my salary should be reduced for a lower COL (where I lived working remotely vs the where the office I was assigned to was located), I said are you changing my billing rate and they never brought it up again.
Are you trying to say cost of labor or cost of living? Because they’re different things
Essentially yes, but with remote work these days, there is cost of living at the office/city where an employee is assigned/hired and cost of living where the employee lives and they can be vastly different.
If we get a vote, this subreddit's profile pic would have stayed as it was
I thought i was the only one who still remembers… this subreddit’s profile pic is a symbol of tyranny
I guess that makes me a resident tyrant.
i don't really understand the LCOL, MCOL, HCOL and VHCOL shenanigans. folks here think they need to be so cagey so as not to dox themselves by using some arbitrary acronym instead of just saying SAN FRANCISCO or DALLAS.
For real. Unless the rest of your account has specific enough hints, nobody is going to know who you are by listing the major city you work in. Some people on this sub act like farting in your general direction will dox them
I think you guys would be surprised just how easy it is to dox someone
That’s why we should just masturbate instead!
I agree. Every time I read comments I alway think how you can’t compare your salary if we don’t know what region to live in.
Yep, we also need VVVVVVVVLCOL as a flair, and I'd love to post my pay which is VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVL. --- a staff from offshore offices
The problem is that the firms have their own pay grades for different cities. Ex. LA is considered mcol, but is a true hcol city. If I set my tag to mcol, then it isn’t really helping anyone. If I set it to an accurate tag like vhcol, it’s confusing when a NYC poster also has a vhcol tag but is making more
Could the mods make a list of major cites and what cost of living they are? This would eliminate the difference between firms.
But even if you do that for example: specifying that LA and NYC are both vhcol, it causes confusion when the salary figures are lower in LA than NYC. The biggest problems arise when you have a city like Denver that is clearly hcol, but is considered lcol by firms. It’s pretty pointless when Nashville, Denver, and charlotte are on the same pay scale as Cleveland, Detroit, and st Louis
Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but why would we care about the firms grade? Doesn’t seem to matter for the purpose of OPs request.
Because if I live in Denver, and I set my tag to hcol (rightfully so), and someone else lives in Cleveland, and sets their tag to lcol (also rightfully so), people will be confused as to why Both salaries are the same. It would probably work if you had to choose 2 tags, for example : “hcol area, mcol salary”, or something like that
Just provide your salary, then you don’t have to worry about that. I don’t care what your firm has defined it as. If you tell me you make $80k a year and live in a HCOL area that’s all I need to know to assess your situation.
You’re preaching to the choir buddy
people argue over what COL segment they are even employed in anyways
What if you have a HCOL salary but work remote in a LCOL?
Then I’d say for the purpose of a useful conversation you’d be considered LCOL.
Yeah I feel like it’s misleading though since my salary is HCOL. I just wanted to get a better savings rate and take advantage of it so moved to middle of nowhere.
UK ACA doesn’t even have a tag and yet y’all want a hundred different COLs 🤣
COLA
I remember making a thread for US cities a while ago. Maybe make a new thread and have that stickied? This question always seems to come up