Dragan,

For a single person to live comfortably in NYC - over $100,000
For a family....

Everything costs twice as much and you burn through money quick here!

I've lived here since 1997 – the Fox job market and pay was much better then. The pay offered by most Internet postings these days is simply not enough to live here.

I live on the Upper Eastside and work on a project downtown close to the former WTC. My commute takes 40 minutes on a good day and I live in Manhattan! People are packed in like sardines on rush hour subways. Here's an example of a bad commute that happened to me last month.

I got on the 5 express at 8:45am and thought I'd be in by 9:30am. On route to 59th street the jam packed train stops. There was a sick person on the train in the 59th street station and we were waiting for the paramedics. About 35 minutes later an announcement that the train ahead of us had an asthmatic person having an attack and we would be further delayed. After 55 minutes they announced we were going back to the 86th street station. On the way back to the 86th street station a pregnant women in the car I was in past out and someone push the alarm.... We finally got back to the 86th street station 75 minutes after we had left and I was standing the whole time. Then going up the crowded stairs from the express to the local I got pushed down on one knee into a cold puddle of muddy water. I worked from home that day. :-)

The commute at rush hour from anywhere is a nightmare. Many people I work with have 2 to 3 hour commute.

NYC is a great place to visit. It's a great place to live if you’re rich. It's a tough place to live if you're not. NYC is a crazy, fast paced and unforgiving place where your quality of life is directly related to money! It's certainly an experience you'll never forget.

Luckily I have a house in the country Upstate I escape to.

If you do come for an interview or want to check the place out first you're welcome to crash at my place!

Good Luck,
Will

>>>I need some answers today, if possible. I'm considering an offer to work in New York, and I want to know whether the offered salary is anywhere near enough or not.
>>>
>>>So, how much do programmers (in general, but Foxers specially) make in the Big Apple?
>>
>>If you're going to be in Manhattan if you're not making AT LEAST $130,000 a year its almost impossible. Cost of living in that area is outragous.
>
>I'm only supposed to work on Manhattan, but I can live anywhere - though I figure a two hour commute would be a real killer.
>
>So I'm correcting my question to "living within an one-hour commute to Grand Central".