It is important to be prepared to adjust to new costs of living when on a travel assignment to a new city.
There are many factors that must be considered when locating to a new city on a travel therapy assignment. One of them that often is overlooked when making the decision to travel for a job is how you will fare adjusting to the change in cost of living in your new location. People who have not lived anywhere different for a while especially find it can be easy to become accustomed to your hometown’s prices for everyday things. In many cases, average salaries are higher because the cost of living is also higher. However, many aspects must be considered when deciding to relocate so that you are ready to handle a different standard for pricing.
Business Insider wrote an article last year listing the top ten most expensive cities in the U.S. :
- New York (Manhattan), New York
- New York (Brooklyn), New York
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- San Francisco, California
- San Jose, California
- New York (Queens), New York
- Stamford, Connecticut
- Washington, DC
- Orange County, California
- Boston, Massachusetts
Some of the cheapest cities in America according to CBS include places such:
- Harlington, Texas
- McAllen, Texas
- Norman, Oklahoma
- Ardmore, Oklahoma
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Wichita Falls, Texas
- Muskagee, Oklahoma
- Pueblo, Colorado
- Ashland, Ohio
Some things you want to look into when comparing cost of living:
- Current salary and location compared to the new city’s equivalent pay scale.
- Cost of rent comparison.
- Cost of groceries compared to current location. For example; a gallon of milk can run about $5 in Manhattan, NY.
- Will you need a car in this area? And, is affordable parking or transportation available?
- How much is gas in this area?
- How much does clothing and other items compare in price?
[Note: Rent may be cheaper in some areas while groceries are more expensive, and vice-verso. Researching the cost of living is important when relocating for a travel therapy job. ]
Although there are many online “cost of living calculators” that you can use to attempt to calculate how a new location would affect your financial situation, they produce very different results. They still can be a beneficial tool to help guide through the research it takes to adjust to a new cost of living.
Some of the free cost of living calcuators are:
- http://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/
- http://monster.salary.com/CostOfLivingWizard/LayoutScripts/Coll_start.aspx
- http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx
