Massachusetts salary?

[Almondbut]

Hey, wonder if anyone can help! DH has been offered a job in US, salary $130k a year. Good healthcare, good annual leave, and they’d cover shipping costs for the move. Once here this would be a permanent move so we would get no help with housing etc on top of the salary.

My question is - is this salary sustainable in the US or should we negotiate more?

We currently live in Surrey commuter belt, small mortgage, current household income is around £110k (but would drop to £55k if I was SAHM). We would want a similar quality of life to what we currently have.

We’ve got no kids at the moment but TTC and (fingers crossed works soon), I would be a SAHM if we moved. We are looking at living in Massachusetts but don’t need to be near Boston (so can be further out and therefore cheaper housing costs). Good school districts would be important to us but it seems all of Massachusetts has pretty good schools?

thanks for your help

ps. Don’t want this thread to become derailed into benefits of UK/US…I’m aware of gun crime and abortion rights. Thanks

1. I think you want more $$ if just one salary
2. I'd want to be able work even if it's after kids (being completely financially dependent on another person in this age seems dangerous/unfair/wrong)
3. I don't know what passport you have nor if you can dual US passports (thinking about any kids you have) - if it's a one way trip maybe it's not a issue but you can't work everywhere freely in the world.

What visas are you both getting?

I live in Massachusetts - 5 miles or so from Boston in one of the 'greater Boston" areas.

Honestly that salary is low. My son is a recent engineering graduate and is earning 80k

What is the motivation for the move? Is it career for your dh? If so then 130 is a very low offer for someone they want.

Think seriously about how it will affect you not having a visa to work.

Living here is lovely - it is a great place to have children. But I think your dh's offer is very low to make that move. at 200k plus maybe I'd think about it.

We moved here because of essential career advancement for dh. wouldn't have done it otherwise.

and pm me if you want an opinion on the towns you are thinking of outside of Boston.

Tbh I wouldn't want to live in western Mass myself.

First of al, “offered a job” is meaningless with no path to a visa, unless you are already US citizens. I’m in an ex Pat group and we have people every day joining the group saying they have been “offered a job” in the US. Anyone can be offered a job. It’s whether the job qualifies for a visa, and whether the company is aware of/prepared for the expense and masses of paperwork involved in getting the visa, that counts.

“Offered a job” sounds like it’s not a transfer with the current employer. Sounds like a brand new job. So the L visa is out. The L visa category would at least allow the spouse to apply for a work permit. Heads up - there is a substantial backlog of work permit applications so you would need to make sure you have enough to tide you over until you can start working. But since it doesn’t sound like an L visa type, that point is moot.

Do people live here on $130k a year? Absolutely. But they haven’t uprooted their lives and moved 300 miles for it. Also, they have more family support and access to public assistance. As non-citizens you would not be eligible for any form of public assistance. I certainly wouldn’t move here for that money. For context, we are west coast (also pretty high cost of living compared to the national average), I make $182k a year, we have no children. My husband doesn’t work. We are comfortable. Could we survive on less? Of course we could. But I don’t want to. You are responsible for a lot more on your own here than you are in the UK and a good contingency fund is necessary for unexpected healthcare costs, being unexpectedly off work, childcare costs (in the future), etc. There’s no nanny state here paying for everything, but your taxes will be lower.

I would find out which visa they are organizing, and whether that will allow you to work, before you start looking at neighborhoods on Zillow. Without an eligible visa path, the whole discussion is a non-starter.

I also think that the salary is low by US standards but to me the comparison here is £55k to $130k and that’s still a pay rise to me. This is based on my understanding that you plan to be a SAHM in the UK as well at some point anyway.

when you say the pay is $130k, is that just the base or total compensation ie will there be any bonuses or stock awards etc?

Another way to look at it is when/if you decide to go back to work you can have a nice household income. Another factor to look at is career prospects in the job/ career path in the US. I think there is more career opportunities and growth in the US so if the move is permanent tThen looking longer term also matters eg when I moved to Chicago with one of the big 4, I went from £50k to $120k with an 8 month old and we made it work fine ok that one income. Since my wife went back to work household income grew, and with promotions and one job change for me, and my wife moving from clinical research in a u over dirt to a biotech company, (she was I to clinics research with the NHS in the UK), our household income has grown so much in the past 5 years and there is no way we would be close to this in the UK so I wouldn’t just look at that one first salary as everything.

as others have also said what’s the visa plans and path to green card? While I moved with an L1 visa my wife and daughter already had green cards which made life easier so 2 years later I was able to get my green card. And if it’s a short term move you can also have fun and move back when you decide to.

I found the groceries to be double, so our £75-£80 weekly shop was easily £150 in the US.
House prices were lower, petrol much lower. I think $130,000 sounds fine as health insurance is already included in the role.

Yes groceries are much higher than in the UK. I'm always amazed at people in the UK talking about 20p cans of beans etc. Petrol is lower but house prices aren't lower in Massachusetts - renting and buying are both very expensive here unless you are way out in western Massachusetts. Go on zillow and take a look at house prices/rentals in areas you are interested.

Yes, your eyes are going to water at groceries. Between inflation, less competition here (UK prices are apparently particularly low) and the low value of the pound your eyes will water. Eggs are $5-6/dozen for regular cage eggs. They were $2 a year or so ago. In CA they are more. What's awful is that we're still better than Canada; there was a post going around about a pack of chicken breasts for C$37!

(This has led to a spate of egg price memes, e.g. an egg sitting in an engagement ring box with the tagline "He went to Kroger" (grocery store--parody of a jeweller chain's ad)

My sibling lives in that area on $204k (before whatever deductions they do over there). It's not enough for a good standard of living with 2 very young children.

$204K as a single salary with a SAHP or as a joint salary with child care?

I agree that $130K is less than I would want, but you do need less if someone is staying home. Also, the US tax system is on joint income rather than individual, so you're not disadvantaged by having one high and one low or no earner.

when it comes to health insurance there's quite a lot of complicated calculations to do--not just the quality of the coverage but how much of the premium you pay and how much you have to pay out of pocket to use it.

We moved to Tx on $125k 10 yrs ago and it was tight, with it being cheaper than MA. 2DC. Take off 6% for 401k contributions (you’ll want to get that started and a lot of employers match up to 6%) $500 a month toward health insurance. Rent then for a decent home in a good neighbourhood was $3500. We couldn’t afford that but thankfully had enough for a house deposit. (Needed 20% as non citizens) Mortgage/taxes/insurance was about $2100 in comparison. The house across the road currently for rent is asking 4500!! (Still couldn’t afford that now) we had nothing left for vacations and very few days out. Couldn’t afford preschool for our youngest either at $1k a month. It was really tight and stressful.

now we’re a bit better off, the kids do activities, and I’m working again finally so have savings for vacation and towards college. And touch wood didn’t have any major health expenses last year so had some of the annual bonus left over. Car insurance for 2 cars is 2200 a year. House insurance about 3k. Food shop easily 350-400/week. About $50-65 to fill a car.

i would just say don’t underestimate your expenses. I didn’t know about property tax and there was $8500 a year off our earning straight a way.

apart from taxes there is a social security you pay, up to the 117k threshold I think it is. So you should have a bonus month or 2 you don’t pay it and if your H works OT you reach it quicker which is handy.

I'd add that food prices both groceries and eating out have notably increased in the past couple of months as well (nowhere near MA, but in an expensive-ish town).

I'd say that's kind of the low side until I saw you don't yet have children. For a couple, you're not going to live like millionaires but it is doable, as long as your healthcare is separate (check what your co pays and add ons are too). For reference we moved to the East Coast well over a decade ago and DH was paid that PLUS we had our rent paid so we could send our kids to good public (ie state) schools. It really depends where you want to live.

Grocery shopping has sky rocketed to the point it's actually a bit obscene how much I spend on groceries. Try going on Instacart and typing in a zip code of the kind of area you would live and do a virtual shop to get an idea how much stuff costs. Trader Joes is the most famous of the more budget grocery stores. Wegmans is a well known more high end one.

Once you have children, bear in mind that kid activities are insanely expensive. I think that was the biggest shock of all!

Us salaries are normally double UK. Cost of living is higher.

So your husband earns £55k now and is being offered the equivalent of £105k due this new job? Well done him- even if the cost of living is higher, that seems like a huge salary bump.

can he progress further? I have no first hand advice about US cost of living as I was an expat on the other side of the world, but if he has the chance to progress then maybe you manage on what is offered now, which sounds fine for 2 people and a baby, but aspire to him getting a future promotion or Patrice. Good luck!

Outside of Boston housing costs are a lot cheaper (lived there for several years) and it's not a crazy expensive US city. However, DH and I earn at least 2x that, live in a west coast city (not bay area), have one DC and while we are doing fine, we also don't feel loaded by any means. No state income tax where we live, but we do have high property taxes where we live so our monthly tax bill is half our mortgage and total housing costs are $3K a month.

We DO have gold plated healthcare but still spent about $1000 out of pocket this year (mostly on a surgery I had), but our out of pocket max is $2500 as a family, NOT including premiums. You will likely pay $200-$400/month to insure your family via salary deductions. I have unusually good insurance. Most people pay that much monthly + much higher out of pocket costs. That said, it is a million times better than the NHS.

Other major cost is preschool/nursery - ours is $2K/month for a 4yo, infant care is more like $3K/month, if you can get a place, which we couldn't so we paid $4K+ for 3 years for a nanny.

Stuff like car insurance and petrol I think are cheaper than UK, our car insurance is about $800/year for both drivers on one car, but I think cars are more expensive and you'll need one where you are, if for no other reason than it's so bloody cold in the winter if you're living in the sticks, public transport can be brutal!!

Definitely echo the PP on the weather - you will die in the summer without AC, it is humid AF and have to have heating on a reasonable (ie 18C) in winter or you risk pipes freezing when it's -20C outside.

Lastly, I have had a couple friends who had great relationships with their partners, find that the dynamic changed pretty brutally once they moved and they couldn't work/didn't work without kids for an extended period of time so would think carefully about the effect on your relationship (was not my personal experience at all, just know of a couple divorces that resulted from immigration/extreme inequality that followed because of work restrictions).

Agreed, $130k is too low for Boston/MA but would be plenty in other US cities.

Oh, and make sure that his company gets him on a sensible visa, not all have a path to a green card and companies do screw this up all the time!!

I moved from England to the Northeast US. $130k is not extravagant for Massachusetts but I would look at the potential career path for him. Depending on his field it is quite likely that if he does well he will advance quickly. It is not uncommon for US companies to bump someone from $130k up to say $180k in one promotion with more to follow. Salaries are quite competitive here and companies want to keep people that do well, so by the time you have children he may be making quite a bit more. You can also always negotiate for a higher offer, and IME having moved from overseas is a good bargaining chip here because they want to keep you happy.

I would negotiate higher, try to get 150 out of the gate. It's not bad though for outside Boston, and there's only two of you yet, as others have said promotions can provide a big bump. It sounds like a huge increase on his current salary? Your home is likely to be much larger than what you could afford in the UK. Even though you intend to SAHM I would try to get a visa and find something at least part-time to start, it will be helpful in making friends/building community!

For those saying healthcare is expensive even when good, that's not always the case. We pay zero monthly through my husband's work for the whole family, vision is $11 per month, dental $24. If we went through my work instead it would be $35 per month. Both plans provide excellent coverage. Our deductible is $2500. I never have to wait for any appointment, no wait times in local ERs. And I've never heard of a hospital that didn't have private birthing and post natal recovery rooms, which might make a difference if you're planning to give birth here. I used a lovely midwife group at my local hospital.

Groceries are expensive, gas is generally cheap. Nature and outdoorsy activities are easily accessible to most places. It's quite easy to get around MA by train/public transport, you may only need one car. I think Massachusetts is lovely!

I live in a neighboring state, so know Massachusetts well.
If you have good insurance, health care is better than the UK. The waiting lists, especially for mental health care, are much shorter.

Schools are best in the most expensive suburbs, and worst in some cities such as Holyoke, Lowell, and Worcester. Private schools are far more expensive.. Day school tuition is $25,000-45,000. Catholic parochial schools are $ 8000-18000. Classes are smaller than the UK, especially for elementary students. Most are two or three form entry with bus rides.
Diversity is short in most suburban and rural districts, except for a few places near Boston. There are many towns 90+% white.
Groceries have undergone huge price hikes in the last year. I’m eating less red meat because it’s so high. Walmart is cheapest; small artisan independents and Whole Foods most expensive. Trader Joe’s is midrange, not budget.
Public transportation is very poor, except for in and very near Boston. There aren’t many walkable neighborhoods.

I have no idea about US living but please make sure you protect yourself in this move.
You say you’d be a sahm but what if you can’t conceive? Are there options for ivf? Are there options to work?
Everyone thinks it won’t happen to them but you do need to consider the possibility of splitting up later down the line. You will presumably be stuck in US if kids are born there and so you need to be able to work. Also if your dh became unwell/died.

Im not trying to be negative but please consider how you would support yourself in the future and make sure you have the visas etc to be able to get a job.

Check out a cost of living comparison on Numbeo, the figures there are pretty reliable.
Also just to emphasise as someone upthread has that if you have children resident there (even if you bring them from another country) and the marriage breaks down and one wants to return to the UK, this is not possible without both parents consent.
It doesn't matter that you are all citizens of another country.
I don't think many people realise that, and expat postings can be fraught.

But it doesn't work like this. Salaries are different in each country. You can't compete the salary converted in to US income. They earn a lot more than us because costs are higher. One big cost is health care for a family of 4, you just need more money. Food costs more. Another is since the working hours are longer, you need to be paid more to get the same hourly rate.

I manage those in the US and they are paid much more for the same job.