Would You Rather Earn $150K in NYC or $80K in a Low-Cost-of-Living City?

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Choosing where you live can be a costly decision, especially when it's tied to your income.

Investopedia asked financial advisors which they'd take: $150,000 in New York City or $80,000 in a low-cost-of-living city. Their answers turned less to the math than to what each city makes possible.

In an expensive city like New York, your dollars won't go as far as they would in a city like Tulsa, Oklahoma, but big cities can also offer more career opportunities, enabling you to advance more quickly in your career or to more easily find new jobs.

Major metros like New York and San Francisco offer career and cultural access that smaller cities can't match, but at prices well above the national average. The right call often depends on your career stage, family size, and what you want your money to buy.

The advisors said the choice comes down to your preferences. Are you willing to pay more for the restaurants, attractions, and cultural experiences available in New York City? Or do you prefer lower taxes and having more affordable housing in a cheaper city?

While $150,000 is nearly 1.8 times the U.S. median household income, it doesn't necessarily cover a family's expenses in New York. A report released by the NYC Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice found that the median estimated cost of living for a family with children in New York City was $159,197.12

In New York City, housing, in particular, can take a big bite out of a household's income.

The median rent advertised for rental properties listed on Realtor.com was $3,616 as of the first quarter of 2026. However, many tenants pay less than that. Since almost half of the apartments in the city are rent-stabilized, the median contract rent, which reflects how much tenants pay, was $1,855 in the same quarter.34

Costs in the New York metropolitan area run about 13% higher than the U.S. average, according to 2024 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).5 That makes New York the fourth-most-expensive metro area in the country. Meanwhile, cities like Oklahoma City (9.5% below the national average) offer a much cheaper cost of living. Nonmetro areas as a whole in the U.S., per the BEA, offer a greater cost break, about 11% below the national average.

Residents must also pay a New York City resident tax—which is more than 3%—in addition to state and federal income taxes.6

Yet depending on what you prioritize, the benefits of living in New York City may outweigh the costs.

"You only live in NYC if you want the experience of NYC," wrote Bill Shafransky, a senior wealth advisor at Moneco Advisor, in an email. "The nightlife, restaurants, attractions, networking, and an energy that can't be described unless you've been in NYC. People are able to look past how expensive it is to get all those experiences."

Living in the city can also offer career benefits (such as more jobs and networking opportunities) not always available in smaller cities, especially for workers in certain industries like finance, tech, and media, wrote Jeff Judge, a managing partner and certified financial planner at Chesapeake Financial Planners, in an email.

"NYC's network density can carry a decade of career acceleration that cheaper rent never will," Judge said, noting that some workers may have a higher earning potential in New York than they would in a more affordable city—though the higher cost of living could offset that.7

But living in a smaller city doesn't necessarily prevent you from having some of the career prospects available in New York City, points out Michael Espinosa, a certified financial planner and president of TrueNorth Retire.

"With remote work becoming much more prevalent, you might still be able to choose a low-cost-of-living area and still make a good living," wrote Espinosa in an email. "It doesn't have to be one or the other."

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