For Upscale NYers, a Move to Miami Can Save Close to $200K in Taxes & Cost of Living

Edited by: TJVNews.com

If affluent New York City residents are chomping at the bit to leave the Big Apple behind for greener pastures, it has been reported by a recent study that New Yorkers can save close to $200,000 by heading to Miami.

New York has earned the dubious reputation for high taxes and exorbitant rents and according to a recently published story in the New York Post, big bucks can be saved by moving to the Sunshine State.

The Post also reported that SmartAsset, a financial information provider, analyzed how much people raking in six figures in cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago would save if they packed their bags for Florida’s biggest city.

A Manhattan resident with a $650,000 salary would save $195,000 because of Florida’s lack of a state income tax and cheaper cost of living, SmartAsset found, the Post reported.  Workers with a $650,000 salary in New York face an effective tax rate of 45% in New York — when you factor federal, state and local taxes — which drops to 35% as Miami resident, the paper reported.

The same Manhattanite making $150,000 could save nearly $50,000 by decamping to Miami, according to the study, according to the Post report. The skyrocketing cost of living in New York would be dramatically reduced if a move out of Manhattan would be given serious consideration. The Post reported that the average overhead is 137.6% above the national average.

The study found that in Miami, costs are only 22.8% above the national average. For the third consecutive month, Manhattan came in as having record-high median rent.

According to the latest rental market report from appraisers Miller Samuel and brokerage giant Douglas Elliman, the borough’s median rent price was $4,395 per month in May — a 3.6% month-over-month climb from April’s $4,241-per-month median, the Post reported. Get ready for even more eye popping numbers. That April figure marked a 1.6% month-over-month increase from March’s $4,175 median, which broke last July’s record of $4,150.

According to figures by Zumper, the median rent in Miami in May was $2,900 which represented a slight increase from the $2,840 monthly median in April, as was reported by the Post.

Because many New Yorkers split the scene for Florida during the Covid-19 pandemic, out of fear of rampant spread of the virus, concern about the escalation in crime as well as the general lack of quality of life in the city, it created a situation where rents increased in Miami and around the South Florida area. Home sales in the Sunshine State also were on a rise and home prices also increased.

What seemed to be a motivating factor for Manhattan residents to pick up and relocate to Florida were lower taxes, warmer weather and more lax COVID restrictions.

It is not only New Yorkers who would benefit by moving to Florida. The Post reported that SmartAsset found that those paying high taxes in San Francisco and Chicago would also bolster their savings with a Miami move.

In San Francisco — where the cost of living is 83% above the US average and the effective tax rate is 46% — people making $650,000 per year will pocket $153,000 more in Miami, according to the study, as was reported by the Post.

Wealthy Chicagoans may have less incentive to move, aside from the weather. A Windy City resident making $650,000 would save just $10,000 because Chicago’s cost of living 17.1% over the norm, even though the effective tax rate is 40%, the study said.