Recently on sage-members folks have been having a discussion about just how expensive it is to work in the Bay Area. I think Dustin Puryear started the thread as he’s thinking of moving from Louisiana. Anyway, someone posted the following link:
Bill Manning’s Blog >> A crazy little chart about the Bay Area
The numbers in there seem astonishing. When I told my girlfriend, who’s lived in the Bay Area (working for Sun), she wondered how it compares with Toronto. So, after some research at the Toronto Urban Affairs Library, I give you numbers for Toronto. (Here’s a PDF illustrating this in a similar manner to Bill’s original post.)
First, some metadata about wages:
Gross Minimum Wage | $7.45 per hour | |
Federal Income Tax | $1.19 per hour | |
Ontario Income Tax | $0.45 per hour | |
EI Deduction | $0.15 per hour | |
CPP Deduction | $0.13 per hour | |
Net Minimum Wage | $5.54 per hour |
Now for some rental rates from CMHC‘s research report:
Private Apartment Average Rental Rates for 2004
York Region$851.00$212.7538.43
Zone | Avg. Rent/Month | Avg.Rent/Week | Hours Needed @ Minimum Wage |
---|---|---|---|
Toronto (Old City) | $950.00 | $237.50 | 42.91 |
Etobicoke (South) | $841.00 | $210.25 | 37.98 |
York | $811.00 | $202.75 | 36.63 |
East York | $844.00 | $211.00 | 38.12 |
Scarborough | $831.00 | $207.75 | 37.53 |
North York | $865.00 | $216.25 | 39.07 |
Mississauga City | $890.00 | $222.50 | 40.20 |
Brampton City | $887.00 | $221.75 | 40.06 |
Oakville | $918.00 | $229.50 | 41.46 |
So, assuming you were to spend your after-tax income on nothing but accommodations, you could work a regular week in Toronto and be able to rent an apartment. This is about 1/4 the effort it would require in the Bay Area. Pretty shocking!