The cost of living everywhere in the world is going up as the days go by. But life is quite costly when you live in New York. And it doesn’t matter where you live, the cost of living isn’t fair here. For example, the cost of living in Brooklyn is 80% higher than most major cities in the cities. At this, it isn’t even the most expensive place to live in. But what is the actual cost of living if you’re considering moving to Brooklyn, New York?
Breaking Down the Expenses
To determine how expensive a city is, you need to calculate several factors. The major points you want to look at are food, rent, utilities, and mortgage prices. And with life in New York being quite expensive, you can expect the same in Brooklyn. The index used here is an average of 100. That’s compared to the other cities in the US. Below 100 represents Brooklyn being cheaper than the average cost of living in the US.
Renting an Apartment
You can pay upwards of $10,000 for a family home per month when you live in Brooklyn. The index of housing is at around 330.9 as opposed to the average. You can also rent on the cheap, but not in new build houses. Cheap also means a small space. However, you have to consider that you’re not paying top dollar in New York with that price. This is around an average of $ 2900 cheaper than those living in Manhattan. Another thing you need to look at before renting is if the apartment is rent-stabilized. With rent-stabilization, the landlord can’t up and increase rent on you. It has to be determined by the Rent Guidelines Board of New York City. Before you make the move, contact a specialist in the area for local feedback, this could be a realtor, or New York Movers 101, just find someone that knows the area and ask questions.
Transport
When moving to another city, you also have to consider commuting. In Brooklyn, you don’t need to own a car as you have many cabs with quite fair fares. And while taxis are an expensive way to move around, fares start from $2.50 in New York. This is rated at an index of around 192.6, with the average in the rest of the US being around 100 points.
Home Cost
According to Zillow, when it comes to owning a home in Brooklyn, you have to part with an average of $730,000. This is relatively high considering the average of other cities being around 231,200.
Groceries
Groceries are a lot more expensive in New York than expected. The prices are at least 24% higher than the average of other cities. When you break it down, milk, chicken, and eggs are around 30% more expensive.
Health
Health being quite essential, you’ll have to pay more to have access to medical services when you live in Brooklyn. While other cities average an index of around 100, Brooklyn averages an index of 112.6.
Brooklyn Is Expensive
Taking all into consideration, you find out that life is quite expensive in Brooklyn as opposed to other cities. Brooklyn just about trumps the average of the other cities on the cost of almost every essential aspect.