Reply to What do people mean when they say that DC is a “high cost of living“ area?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes, obviously housing costs more. But let’s break that down a little bit. Let’s say that a house that costs $800,000 here in the suburbs would cost $400,000 somewhere in the Midwest. Assuming a 20% down payment, because the house costs $400,000 more, you’d have to come up with an extra $80,000 for the down payment, which could be hard when you’re just starting out.

But once you actually buy the house, if you assume 5% interest rates on a 30-year loan, the DC house costs $3,436 per month (principal and interest) versus the Midwest house at $1,718 per month.  That’s an extra $1,718 per month or $20,600 per year ([b]some of which is principal and is therefore really an investment and not an expense[/b]).  Yes, we have to factor in taxes as well, but it still doesn’t seem like it would be *all that much cheaper* to live in other parts of the country.

As I understand it, housing, food and transportation comprise about 70% of household expenditures. We already talked about housing.  Can food and transportation really be that much less expensive outside of major cities? If Pizza Hut sells a pizza here for $12, I doubt they’re selling it for $5 in Iowa. Same with cars – if a Toyota Corolla costs $25,000 here, I doubt they’re selling it for $10,000 in Montana.

Can you explain if you think I’m missing something?[/quote]

Not to pile on, but the bolded, while technically correct, also demonstrates how out of touch OP is.  [/quote]

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