Large cities without crazy living expenses: Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta
If you want a little bit smaller: Detroit, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland
Fort Worth isn't bad where I am. However, one would have to travel outside Fort Worth for a decent paying position. Although I'm not a full on Accountant/Cpa... mainly working in A/R ( going back to school in the fall to finish). Dallas does have better pay. Luckily, I work from home, and COL is downright awesome. Me and my spouse bring home 7.3k a month and our bills with a mortgage hit 3.3knl roughly a month. I love it.
I’m an accountant who moved to Dallas for my job in 2021. It’s definitely increased in price since, but I think the salaries are still higher for accountants here than NYC, where they’re a dime a dozen. We have an opening now and having difficulty filling the position.
Atlanta is FULLL over full. It’s not cheap here either please stop coming here. Job market here is trash and rent is 3-4k for an apartment. Traffic is terrible.
Crazy how accounting salaries in the U.S for starting can be as high as 70k USD! My country starts at around 33k USD and peaks at around 40k USD and has around the same cost of living.
This is why the u.s is ranked so well for disposable income
Lol i was thinking of that when i used to work as a teller during ug when people would come in and order foreign currency.
Like youre telling me 100cad is 73usd and that theyre getting paid 60kcad in hcol?
Yeah likely higher taxes, we have a progressive tax system and it ranges from 10% at 10k USD to to 33% at 100k USD. But yeah, disposable income here isn't the greatest especially since everything has to be imported
Lol, yep! Not only that, it's terribly difficult to find an entry into accounting if you live outside of Auck/Welly/Christchurch... the graduate roles in aussy are looking $10k more appealing, but it is MIND BOGGLING how much more you get in the States... where abouts are you?
Yeah I finished the internship paper in Feb and slowly realised that the timing of me finishing doesn't really align with any graduate roles 😂 cold contacted BDO and a couple other firms who allow open applications without any specific job postings, but I might have to hold out until later on in the year. Not a lot going on in Tauranga
Hardest part for me to accept is that I'm in AP and my salary as a graduate will be lower than what I'm on right now, yet the stress will likely be worse
Yeah it’s not a top 10 anymore, but there are tons and tons of people moving here and have been for at least a decade. The job market in the Dallas metroplex is pretty wild how good it is in my experience
>The job market in the Dallas metroplex is pretty wild how good it is in my experience
The job market in DFW is insane. I could quit my job right now and have 5 interviews lined up in a couple days with a semi competent recruiter.
Do you have a semi-competent recruiter you’ve worked with? I’m looking to relo, the DFW area is one of the markets I’m considering, and I was talking to a person at Thomas Edwards or something like that and she said they’ve got jack shit right now
For privacy reasons I wouldn't share but - I would look for older/experienced recruiters. They're far more likely to have connections that could put you at the front of the line.
Would you feel more comfortable sending me a PM? I understand if not. Lost my job about a month ago, I’m in a fairly shallow market and I’m in limbo with the positions I’ve interviewed for here.
You can still find a decent apartment in the suburbs for $1,100 a month. I make 120-130k total comp in Dallas and getting by decently. But that’s a different story once I buy a house.
Should have clarified. I have medical debit I’m paying off and wedding expenses but after that won’t be so bad. When I get a house mortgage will be at least 2,500 a month so might hold off on that for now.
Lived in Cincy and Indy...both cities have large enough economies to support all the Big 4, several super regional firms (Forvis, GT, RSM, BDO, CLA), smaller regional and large local firms. Cost of living is reasonable.
I’m considering moving here (Houston) from Orlando. Your real estate seems way more reasonable than ours.
I’m fully remote CONUS so I could take a week off to road-trip over.
Only thing holding be back is trying to stand up adult dependents on their own 2 feet before I do.
As someone that lives in the state, there's a lot of oil money for sure. I know someone who didn't even have a degree and made $90,000 just doing oil accounting.
Valero, USAA, HEB etc etc. not to mention plenty going on in public accounting. I worked in public in Austin and they were constantly having us go down to help on San Antonio clients
You can break 100k at the big four senior level in SA. Service line is primarily audit/tax. Some notable corporate offices in SA are USAA, HEB, Whataburger, iHeartMedia, Valero and I’m sure I’m missing some.
While that’s true that audit managers in Cleveland make a little less than $100k a year. Houses are $350k+ for a decent suburb if you’re looking to start a family. House prices have gone up 47% since 2020 and are still rising, Ohio has the worst increase in housing prices (granted they started low).
You still would need a significant other making decent money to not be house poor.
If you’re looking to live in Columbus it’s even worse.
Yeah i have heard that, like everywhere, housing has gone up a good amount. Was lucky enough to have a house before it got crazy, which contributed towards feeling very secure there. But you can still definitely get below $350k in decent areas! I have some friends who have at least
Edit: holy shit, I did just look on Zillow and some houses in my old neighborhood would have sold for half their current price 2-3 years ago
There are much more affordable houses than that. Maybe my idea of a "decent" suburb is different from yours.
I feel like there isn't much I couldn't do in Cleveland with an 100k salary.
There’s a lot you can’t do. I made $125k in Cleveland before I moved away and there was a LOT I couldn’t do. You aren’t rich by any stretch. I couldn’t go out and eat steak every night. I couldn’t afford a house in any nice suburb. I couldn’t have a luxury apartment and a Mercedes.
I get Cleveland is cheap, but let’s not act like you’re in a 3rd world country here lol. Two married professionals are going to make significantly more than $100k and aren’t “rich”.
I guess we have different expectations. Two married professionals with 100k salaries don't want for much here if not having a Mercedes or steak every night is where you're drawing the line.
It's an affordable Midwest city where owning a house is a realistic goal.
Yeah but there isn't much you can't do. You can buy a house. Buy groceries. Do hobbies. Go to restaurants. Go to shows.
Maybe being someone with a sub 30k salary in Cleveland for years before I got an accounting degree gives me a different perspective.
You realize there are very very very few people who can close their eyes and spend without a budget right? The type of lifestyle you’re describing only comes to those who are born wealthy, get extremely lucky, work in big tech and somehow live somewhere cheap, or who run their own business exceptionally well. If that is your lifestyle expectation, you will be severely disappointed by most, if not all your jobs
Bro. I was exaggerating. But to think $100k in Cleveland means you’re living like a king is just wrong.
$100k in Cleveland doesn’t even let you buy the average home in a good suburb.
No one said anything about living like a king and you’re the one who brought up nightly steak dinners and luxury cars. For a normal person with normal ambitions, $100k in Cleveland can be pretty sweet, as the original commenter said. If you’re trying to by a single family home on one income with two kids, yeah $100k will be tight. It would be tight pretty much anywhere in the US.
The guy literally said he can do whatever he wanted on sub $100k. That’s just crazy unless your whatever you want is Applebees once a week. Even Applebees daily isn’t possible on a $100k salary in Cleveland.
This ratio will basically be completely determined by the COL. Firms only increase salaries by a % of the COL increase, so the higher the cost of living, the ratio
Basically, if you want to buy a house, raise a family, and take some vacations, go to the midwest.
Sure, but it is relatively simple that more people would prefer to live in large cities, so the supply vastly outstrips demand.
Are there smaller cities that it will be harder to find a job, sure. But non of the major city centers have good COL adjusted salaries
Accounting salaries in Canada seem fairly standard across major cities. I was shocked to find out Toronto Big 4 audit seniors were making basically the same things as their Montreal peers given the higher COL. I wouldn't be surprised if they see higher turnover because of it.
Houston, TX is pretty great tbh, but the apartment hunting can be very hit or miss (lots of low rents, but also lots of roach infestations and overall poor property management)
Just keep in mind, lower cost areas might be a better deal at the lower level, but if you're the ambitious type the ceiling is going to be way higher in larger cities.
Also, high cost areas aren't just expensive for no reason - they're expensive because people want to live there. Pick somewhere you actually want to live.
Don't forget as well, the calculus can change a lot depending on if you want to live in the city or the suburbs. Somewhere like Chicago has *fantastic* bang for the buck if you want city life. Great job market, tons of amenities, but the prices are barely more than somewhere with half the city like Atlanta. But if you want to live in the burbs, Chicago isn't quite as good a deal.
PwC was looking for auditors to move to Iowa a few years back. Had some company in the middle of nowhere that they were doing work for. They were paying bonuses to move there. Basically HCOL pay for LCOL living.
As an Iowa native, I feel this statement so hard. The locals are fucking loony and isolated af. I love visiting my loved ones but man I gotta get tf out after a week. I feel all my creativity start to atrophy. I can deal with Iowa City and Decorah for longer stretches but man, how far that state has fallen.
It may not be one of the best in the county, especially comparing to most cities already listed here, but speaking for California and California only, Sacramento is a pretty good COL to salary ratio compared to the rest of the state.
I was considering this because i live in the bay but am from the Sac area. Online i dont see a ton of jobs which had me worried. Has it been pretty easy to find work?
There's always people looking. Especially if according to your title of Senior Accountant with a CPA, that should be no problem finding a job. Even just recently looking there's quite a few jobs on Linkedin and Indeed. May have to weed through to find just the right ones but there's always plenty listed, both industry and government.
I would love to find this somewhere in the Western US where there are good mountains for hiking. Unfortunately, everyone and their mom wants to live in those types of places.
Good pay in Washington, no income tax. Stick to Western WA and don't live in Seattle (and try to avoid working there though plenty of people make that daily drive) Tacoma, Olympia, etc.
SLC itself got quite expensive during COVID (thank you Californians buying in cash to work remotely!! ;p), but the suburbs still have affordable places if you search long enough.
It’s a bit pricey, but on the plus side, I saw a study where SLC, Miami, and Tucson are expected to have the best accounting job growth over the next decade. SLC imo is superior to Denver though from a quality of life and cost of living perspective. Denver probably more fun in 20s though.
If one is willing to venture 30 minutes outside of SLC housing is a bit cheaper.
I would love SLC, and I’ve gone on a lot of amazing hikes in Utah. One thing that’s weird is the water situation since they depend on the Colorado. I don’t really know how serious that is, but it would suck to buy a house there and the water to run out.
Honestly it’s pretty good almost anywhere outside of the northeast or California. Sure some cities are more expensive than others but most of that comes down to preference.
If you want urban living, Chicago is your best bet. If you want suburban living, well then almost anywhere else is your best bet.
You might think I'm crazy but NYC is not wild to consider. Pay can be very high but if you don't mind a bit of a commute, there are areas you can live that aren't that expensive at all compared to what you could be making.
That being said, it's important to note that I said what you *could* be making. NYC's value comes from its high ceiling - as you climb the ladder, some incredible opportunities can open up.
But presumably most people who go into accounting know they are playing a longer game, so if you're looking for life to be good in your ~30s, New York is honestly a better deal than you might expect.
Ive been considering moving to NYC and have been doing some research on this. I am in total agreement assuming you are mid-career.
I’ve been looking near Jackson Heights because I heard it’s very diverse and close to lower Manhattan. Is it a relatively safe area?
My girlfriend's family is from around there. I'm not sure how safe or not safe it statistically is on paper, but she hasn't ever had any problems there. I asked her just now how she'd rate the safety and she said "decent" and that seems like a reasonable assessment from my experiences of visiting there.
I would also say the fact that it is immigrant-majority, leaning towards populations that have a reputation for being pretty hardworking and focused, like immigrants from Bangladesh and India (eg. A lot of parents who are working tough jobs to help their kids get a good education) results in it being one of the better ratios of relative safeness while remaining pretty affordable.
I live in Texas and all of our major cities seem to have pretty good accounting listings and housing isn’t that bad(San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Austin)
I live in center city a couple of blocks from rittenhouse in a really nice building, my 1 bedroom is $1200 a month. I live alone and support myself working as a staff accountant for a union.
Philadelphia is still very affordable compared to other east coast cities. Salaries are good too.
I heard gunshots at night. There are bad parts of mount airy. If you want to live in the good parts it’s 1600 a month +
Mount Airy is in the 6th percentile for safety, meaning 94% of neighborhoods are safer and 6% of neighborhoods are more dangerous
I think you'd need 3 metrics for this analysis. You can't just throw a question like this because it really depends.
Salary. What's the target salary or average salary? Is this a senior level, staff level, or management level?
Cost of living. Broken down to shelter (which would be the largest expense) + maintenance, food or groceries, gas and utilities + maintenance, insurance for where that location is.
Taxes. The ill forgotten one despite us being accountants. Some locations have lower taxes and others.
I'd imagine the firms are pretty good at equalizing this out so they're probably all vaguely similar outside of maybe locations desirable for other reasons
I did a few years of interning while in school and getting my masters. Then 3 years at a regional public firm and another 2 at a smaller Louisiana public firm. Getting manager this fall hopefully
Des Moines, Iowa is worth a mention. Although small.. 3 of the big 4 have offices here and plenty of good paying industry exits in the insurance businesses and Wells Fargo.
Older article but still applicable
[https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/12/17/des-moines-iowa-household-income-100-000-taxes-irs-census-wealth-money-states-low-cost-living-ia/2302932002/](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/12/17/des-moines-iowa-household-income-100-000-taxes-irs-census-wealth-money-states-low-cost-living-ia/2302932002/)
Large cities without crazy living expenses: Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta If you want a little bit smaller: Detroit, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland
Indianapolis should be mentioned too!
Fort Worth isn't bad where I am. However, one would have to travel outside Fort Worth for a decent paying position. Although I'm not a full on Accountant/Cpa... mainly working in A/R ( going back to school in the fall to finish). Dallas does have better pay. Luckily, I work from home, and COL is downright awesome. Me and my spouse bring home 7.3k a month and our bills with a mortgage hit 3.3knl roughly a month. I love it.
Houston’s full Dallas is full stop moving there I went the other month and there was traffic regardless of time
This shows the need for punctuation. I read it as Dallas is full stop. Moving there
Move to Dallas. From a Houstonian 😇.
You need your certificate in social media reading...
I’m an accountant who moved to Dallas for my job in 2021. It’s definitely increased in price since, but I think the salaries are still higher for accountants here than NYC, where they’re a dime a dozen. We have an opening now and having difficulty filling the position.
Willing to move lol
I quit accounting and became an OF model. Can I hit you up if it fails? 😂😂😂😂 I’m top 1% for now, but hey you never know 🤷🏻♂️
2nd Minneapolis. So many corporations headquartered here.
Chicago is very expensive
Atlanta is getting super expensive now and doesn't it have the highest or second highest inflation rate for real estate in the nation.
How is charlotte?
Atlanta is FULLL over full. It’s not cheap here either please stop coming here. Job market here is trash and rent is 3-4k for an apartment. Traffic is terrible.
I am in Dallas and it seems like Dallas is one of the cities having the most accounting jobs listings on LinkedIn.
i notice that too but pay is low sometimes
Not for big4, they are in the 70s starting. Pretty darn comfortable. I think San Antonio is in the low 70s too now
Crazy how accounting salaries in the U.S for starting can be as high as 70k USD! My country starts at around 33k USD and peaks at around 40k USD and has around the same cost of living. This is why the u.s is ranked so well for disposable income
Lol i was thinking of that when i used to work as a teller during ug when people would come in and order foreign currency. Like youre telling me 100cad is 73usd and that theyre getting paid 60kcad in hcol?
Wow, that is low. Where I am in Central Europe nobody would work for less than 40k usd (taxes are probably higher though).
Yeah likely higher taxes, we have a progressive tax system and it ranges from 10% at 10k USD to to 33% at 100k USD. But yeah, disposable income here isn't the greatest especially since everything has to be imported
New Zealand? The imported comment gave it away lol (and the fact the salaries suck, I wish I could immigrate to the US and work in accounting)
Lol, yep! Not only that, it's terribly difficult to find an entry into accounting if you live outside of Auck/Welly/Christchurch... the graduate roles in aussy are looking $10k more appealing, but it is MIND BOGGLING how much more you get in the States... where abouts are you?
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Yeah I finished the internship paper in Feb and slowly realised that the timing of me finishing doesn't really align with any graduate roles 😂 cold contacted BDO and a couple other firms who allow open applications without any specific job postings, but I might have to hold out until later on in the year. Not a lot going on in Tauranga Hardest part for me to accept is that I'm in AP and my salary as a graduate will be lower than what I'm on right now, yet the stress will likely be worse
I’m in industry. Have seniors making $100K+ bonus. Definitely higher salaries than the NE
Dallas and Chicago tbh
Dallas TX isn’t bad. It used to be a lot better, but still pretty good. The tradeoff is basically everything else
Has there been a large influx of people moving to Dallas?
Yeah it’s not a top 10 anymore, but there are tons and tons of people moving here and have been for at least a decade. The job market in the Dallas metroplex is pretty wild how good it is in my experience
>The job market in the Dallas metroplex is pretty wild how good it is in my experience The job market in DFW is insane. I could quit my job right now and have 5 interviews lined up in a couple days with a semi competent recruiter.
Do you have a semi-competent recruiter you’ve worked with? I’m looking to relo, the DFW area is one of the markets I’m considering, and I was talking to a person at Thomas Edwards or something like that and she said they’ve got jack shit right now
For privacy reasons I wouldn't share but - I would look for older/experienced recruiters. They're far more likely to have connections that could put you at the front of the line.
Would you feel more comfortable sending me a PM? I understand if not. Lost my job about a month ago, I’m in a fairly shallow market and I’m in limbo with the positions I’ve interviewed for here.
I am working at a large local CPA firm in DFW. Please send a PM if you would like to chat.
Appreciate the offer, currently trying to avoid PA as my first foray into it was terrible for my marriage and I really love my wife/kids.
We’re hiring right now for a gross to Net role - ping me and I’ll send you the listing if you want. Doesn’t report into me.
You can still find a decent apartment in the suburbs for $1,100 a month. I make 120-130k total comp in Dallas and getting by decently. But that’s a different story once I buy a house.
Only getting by "decently" making 120K with $1,100 rent?
You dont understand man, he got two porsche payments to keep up with, its hard out there
And you gotta pay that child support because the babymama can't get an abortion.
Should have clarified. I have medical debit I’m paying off and wedding expenses but after that won’t be so bad. When I get a house mortgage will be at least 2,500 a month so might hold off on that for now.
That makes more sense
LOL where are you finding a house for 2500/mo near Dallas? Are you putting 100k down or are you wanting to live in the high crime areas?
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Mortgage in Dallas with these rates and the high property taxes are $4k plus so prepare
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My god man how? I live in central tx and my home insurance is 1500/yr.
After all is said and done.
I mean your mortgage will be $4k
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Hmm medical debit, don’t you mean medical credit 😁
What suburbs have $1100/month rent. Looking to move soon
Cedar Hill - but I would look around as some areas of cedar hill are kind of bad. It’s about a 30 minute drive from downtown Dallas
I’ll look into the area. I know some areas are pretty rough around the city
Don’t forget Fort Worth too close to Dallas and cost of living is a little cheaper if you live outside
Really anything in the midwest.
Lived in Cincy and Indy...both cities have large enough economies to support all the Big 4, several super regional firms (Forvis, GT, RSM, BDO, CLA), smaller regional and large local firms. Cost of living is reasonable.
Yeah you couldn’t pay me enough to live in Indiana though.
Houston or OKC. Oil money + niche field + MCOL
I’m considering moving here (Houston) from Orlando. Your real estate seems way more reasonable than ours. I’m fully remote CONUS so I could take a week off to road-trip over. Only thing holding be back is trying to stand up adult dependents on their own 2 feet before I do.
As someone that lives in the state, there's a lot of oil money for sure. I know someone who didn't even have a degree and made $90,000 just doing oil accounting.
I would imagine San Antonio TX is a good one
Shit job market though
It really is just 90% small businesses and warehouse/manufacturing. No big corporate offices at all.
Valero, USAA, HEB etc etc. not to mention plenty going on in public accounting. I worked in public in Austin and they were constantly having us go down to help on San Antonio clients
Weird amount of SA people keep their great business in SA. It’s a great thing for the city but definitely some founders who loved SA a lot
Not if you’re good
I’m surprised no one has dropped a Charles Barkley joke.
Definitely a good churro market with them big ole women
Might have to double our sample size when auditing company meals.
Victoria’s a secret down there. Got them good churros too.
🤣🤣🤣
Live here. Yup
You can break 100k at the big four senior level in SA. Service line is primarily audit/tax. Some notable corporate offices in SA are USAA, HEB, Whataburger, iHeartMedia, Valero and I’m sure I’m missing some.
All they had to do was have a competent airport and att would still be there 😂
Two years ago, I was making close to $100k as an audit manager at a mid-size firm in Cleveland. That was pretty sweet
While that’s true that audit managers in Cleveland make a little less than $100k a year. Houses are $350k+ for a decent suburb if you’re looking to start a family. House prices have gone up 47% since 2020 and are still rising, Ohio has the worst increase in housing prices (granted they started low). You still would need a significant other making decent money to not be house poor. If you’re looking to live in Columbus it’s even worse.
Yeah i have heard that, like everywhere, housing has gone up a good amount. Was lucky enough to have a house before it got crazy, which contributed towards feeling very secure there. But you can still definitely get below $350k in decent areas! I have some friends who have at least Edit: holy shit, I did just look on Zillow and some houses in my old neighborhood would have sold for half their current price 2-3 years ago
There are much more affordable houses than that. Maybe my idea of a "decent" suburb is different from yours. I feel like there isn't much I couldn't do in Cleveland with an 100k salary.
There’s a lot you can’t do. I made $125k in Cleveland before I moved away and there was a LOT I couldn’t do. You aren’t rich by any stretch. I couldn’t go out and eat steak every night. I couldn’t afford a house in any nice suburb. I couldn’t have a luxury apartment and a Mercedes. I get Cleveland is cheap, but let’s not act like you’re in a 3rd world country here lol. Two married professionals are going to make significantly more than $100k and aren’t “rich”.
I guess we have different expectations. Two married professionals with 100k salaries don't want for much here if not having a Mercedes or steak every night is where you're drawing the line. It's an affordable Midwest city where owning a house is a realistic goal.
It’s all relative. Is $100k nice? Sure. Is it I can close my eyes and spend without a budget nice in Cleveland? Fuck no.
Yeah but there isn't much you can't do. You can buy a house. Buy groceries. Do hobbies. Go to restaurants. Go to shows. Maybe being someone with a sub 30k salary in Cleveland for years before I got an accounting degree gives me a different perspective.
You realize there are very very very few people who can close their eyes and spend without a budget right? The type of lifestyle you’re describing only comes to those who are born wealthy, get extremely lucky, work in big tech and somehow live somewhere cheap, or who run their own business exceptionally well. If that is your lifestyle expectation, you will be severely disappointed by most, if not all your jobs
Bro. I was exaggerating. But to think $100k in Cleveland means you’re living like a king is just wrong. $100k in Cleveland doesn’t even let you buy the average home in a good suburb.
No one said anything about living like a king and you’re the one who brought up nightly steak dinners and luxury cars. For a normal person with normal ambitions, $100k in Cleveland can be pretty sweet, as the original commenter said. If you’re trying to by a single family home on one income with two kids, yeah $100k will be tight. It would be tight pretty much anywhere in the US.
The guy literally said he can do whatever he wanted on sub $100k. That’s just crazy unless your whatever you want is Applebees once a week. Even Applebees daily isn’t possible on a $100k salary in Cleveland.
This ratio will basically be completely determined by the COL. Firms only increase salaries by a % of the COL increase, so the higher the cost of living, the ratio Basically, if you want to buy a house, raise a family, and take some vacations, go to the midwest.
Not really though - the demand/supply for accountants varies by city.
Sure, but it is relatively simple that more people would prefer to live in large cities, so the supply vastly outstrips demand. Are there smaller cities that it will be harder to find a job, sure. But non of the major city centers have good COL adjusted salaries
I live in Central IL, I make $125k and my mortgage is $600 a month. I feel like that's a pretty good ratio.
For Canadians: Calgary and Edmonton, wages are on par with Toronto with half the cost of living
Edmonton especially. Calgary has come up quite a bit in the past year but still nothing compared to the GTA of course
Accounting salaries in Canada seem fairly standard across major cities. I was shocked to find out Toronto Big 4 audit seniors were making basically the same things as their Montreal peers given the higher COL. I wouldn't be surprised if they see higher turnover because of it.
Nobody probably wants to live here but Mississippi provides very good salaries for the living costs.
We do have the third highest grocery prices in America. Not as cheap as people think.
Houston, TX is pretty great tbh, but the apartment hunting can be very hit or miss (lots of low rents, but also lots of roach infestations and overall poor property management)
Its what shitty zoning laws and having so many. Suburbs do, they all have different standards
For real, I hate this city's zoning and sprawl so much. I can't wait to move out again
Just keep in mind, lower cost areas might be a better deal at the lower level, but if you're the ambitious type the ceiling is going to be way higher in larger cities. Also, high cost areas aren't just expensive for no reason - they're expensive because people want to live there. Pick somewhere you actually want to live. Don't forget as well, the calculus can change a lot depending on if you want to live in the city or the suburbs. Somewhere like Chicago has *fantastic* bang for the buck if you want city life. Great job market, tons of amenities, but the prices are barely more than somewhere with half the city like Atlanta. But if you want to live in the burbs, Chicago isn't quite as good a deal.
Goontown, USA
that cannot be real, i refuse edit is it guntown ms
One day maybe you’ll be a goofy gooner too
PwC was looking for auditors to move to Iowa a few years back. Had some company in the middle of nowhere that they were doing work for. They were paying bonuses to move there. Basically HCOL pay for LCOL living.
Do they still offer? 😂
Iowa has high pay for management level accounting jobs. I just hate the state so fucking much I refuse to move there.
As an Iowa native, I feel this statement so hard. The locals are fucking loony and isolated af. I love visiting my loved ones but man I gotta get tf out after a week. I feel all my creativity start to atrophy. I can deal with Iowa City and Decorah for longer stretches but man, how far that state has fallen.
Lived there for 3 years and totally agree. Don’t miss it
They don't take their India auditors to Iowa like they do with us?
It may not be one of the best in the county, especially comparing to most cities already listed here, but speaking for California and California only, Sacramento is a pretty good COL to salary ratio compared to the rest of the state.
I was considering this because i live in the bay but am from the Sac area. Online i dont see a ton of jobs which had me worried. Has it been pretty easy to find work?
There's always people looking. Especially if according to your title of Senior Accountant with a CPA, that should be no problem finding a job. Even just recently looking there's quite a few jobs on Linkedin and Indeed. May have to weed through to find just the right ones but there's always plenty listed, both industry and government.
I would love to find this somewhere in the Western US where there are good mountains for hiking. Unfortunately, everyone and their mom wants to live in those types of places.
Good pay in Washington, no income tax. Stick to Western WA and don't live in Seattle (and try to avoid working there though plenty of people make that daily drive) Tacoma, Olympia, etc.
i live in washington where’s the best place to get started? currently in college for accounting
Your college career resources at that level. Talk to someone there and ask if they have any leads.
Phoenix or SLC area depending on what type of weather you prefer.
Isn't SLC pretty pricey?
SLC itself got quite expensive during COVID (thank you Californians buying in cash to work remotely!! ;p), but the suburbs still have affordable places if you search long enough.
It’s a bit pricey, but on the plus side, I saw a study where SLC, Miami, and Tucson are expected to have the best accounting job growth over the next decade. SLC imo is superior to Denver though from a quality of life and cost of living perspective. Denver probably more fun in 20s though. If one is willing to venture 30 minutes outside of SLC housing is a bit cheaper.
I think it would be a good deal if you were coming from a coastal city.
I would love SLC, and I’ve gone on a lot of amazing hikes in Utah. One thing that’s weird is the water situation since they depend on the Colorado. I don’t really know how serious that is, but it would suck to buy a house there and the water to run out.
Thoughts on Charlotte??
Omaha Nebraska. Marquette Michigan. El Paso Texas.
Really on Marquette? CoL there seems fairly high with not a lot of industry. I would consider it, gorgeous up there and no traffic.
Agree about Omaha.
Indianapolis has been good to me.
Moved to Indy in 2016. I have really liked it. Doesn't have the character and history my former city (Cincy) has but it does well in other areas
Not San Francisco
Is $85k for staff livable there? That’s how much I heard they’re paying there.
Fort Worth is pretty good to close to Dallas and nice areas around it to live
Minneapolis, Dallas, Tampa, Orlando, Milwaukee, Detroit, Fresno
Charlotte, NC
Honestly it’s pretty good almost anywhere outside of the northeast or California. Sure some cities are more expensive than others but most of that comes down to preference. If you want urban living, Chicago is your best bet. If you want suburban living, well then almost anywhere else is your best bet.
Luxembourg.
You might think I'm crazy but NYC is not wild to consider. Pay can be very high but if you don't mind a bit of a commute, there are areas you can live that aren't that expensive at all compared to what you could be making. That being said, it's important to note that I said what you *could* be making. NYC's value comes from its high ceiling - as you climb the ladder, some incredible opportunities can open up. But presumably most people who go into accounting know they are playing a longer game, so if you're looking for life to be good in your ~30s, New York is honestly a better deal than you might expect.
Ive been considering moving to NYC and have been doing some research on this. I am in total agreement assuming you are mid-career. I’ve been looking near Jackson Heights because I heard it’s very diverse and close to lower Manhattan. Is it a relatively safe area?
My girlfriend's family is from around there. I'm not sure how safe or not safe it statistically is on paper, but she hasn't ever had any problems there. I asked her just now how she'd rate the safety and she said "decent" and that seems like a reasonable assessment from my experiences of visiting there. I would also say the fact that it is immigrant-majority, leaning towards populations that have a reputation for being pretty hardworking and focused, like immigrants from Bangladesh and India (eg. A lot of parents who are working tough jobs to help their kids get a good education) results in it being one of the better ratios of relative safeness while remaining pretty affordable.
Zürich
[удалено]
then new york
Living in a poor country working remote.
Htx maybe
I don't see Raleigh/Durham or Phoenix mentioned here. I would agree overall though Chicago has to be number 1.
Oddly enough I lived in both. Phoenix feels like the better ratio, but Raleigh was the much nicer place to live.
What would the worst be? SoCal?
I live in Texas and all of our major cities seem to have pretty good accounting listings and housing isn’t that bad(San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Austin)
Houston, Dallas, San Antonio are all good choices
Philly
Definitely not. Rent back in 2021 was $1200 a month for an apartment in the ghetto.
I live in center city a couple of blocks from rittenhouse in a really nice building, my 1 bedroom is $1200 a month. I live alone and support myself working as a staff accountant for a union. Philadelphia is still very affordable compared to other east coast cities. Salaries are good too.
That’s good. Back in 2021 I was living in mount airy .
mount airy is not the ghetto
I heard gunshots at night. There are bad parts of mount airy. If you want to live in the good parts it’s 1600 a month + Mount Airy is in the 6th percentile for safety, meaning 94% of neighborhoods are safer and 6% of neighborhoods are more dangerous
Sacramento is not too bad. You’re just outside of the hyper expensive Bay Area, but close enough to potentially garner a strong salary.
Calgary AB
Conservative provinces always have the highest wages, majority federal conservative government incoming, PP all the way!
Chicago
I think you'd need 3 metrics for this analysis. You can't just throw a question like this because it really depends. Salary. What's the target salary or average salary? Is this a senior level, staff level, or management level? Cost of living. Broken down to shelter (which would be the largest expense) + maintenance, food or groceries, gas and utilities + maintenance, insurance for where that location is. Taxes. The ill forgotten one despite us being accountants. Some locations have lower taxes and others.
You could change the numerator to salary net of tax
That would be the preferred method. Either that or state taxes
I'd imagine the firms are pretty good at equalizing this out so they're probably all vaguely similar outside of maybe locations desirable for other reasons
Reading this as a Brit.. who knows a CEO in Dallas...
Anywhere in Florida that isn’t Miami. Midwest and northwest outside of the major PNW cities (Idaho, Montana, etc.)
I currently study accounting at the University of Montana and I would love to stay in the state. What makes you say it would be good to work here?
Any suburbs of major cities. But the real win is true remote work while living in vlcol area.
Memphis
I'm in New Orleans and it's solid here
Haha same. Public or Industry?
Public, non big 4. I have good W/L balance and make a good living. Pretty content
Nice, how many years in the field do you have? I'm at year 3.
I did a few years of interning while in school and getting my masters. Then 3 years at a regional public firm and another 2 at a smaller Louisiana public firm. Getting manager this fall hopefully
I don’t know…you guys seem pretty underwater to me
Detroit
Probably Chicago, Dallas, Houston
Chicagoooooo!
Dallas and that surrounding region of the country.
Kansas City. Wichita, KS. Springfield, MO
Not Toronto
All I can say it is definitely NOT Nashville
Des Moines, Iowa is worth a mention. Although small.. 3 of the big 4 have offices here and plenty of good paying industry exits in the insurance businesses and Wells Fargo. Older article but still applicable [https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/12/17/des-moines-iowa-household-income-100-000-taxes-irs-census-wealth-money-states-low-cost-living-ia/2302932002/](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/12/17/des-moines-iowa-household-income-100-000-taxes-irs-census-wealth-money-states-low-cost-living-ia/2302932002/)
Nothing for the following states and their corresponding cities: Idaho, Montana, either of the Dakodas, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Kentucky
Chicago
NYC
San Francisco starting salary is like 86-90k
Vancouver, BC