how do salaries compare with style of living?

I am planning on moving to Watford to live with family while i get set up starting a career in england.  My mother was born in the UK so i can get an ancestry work visa.  I'm serving as an intern in the US right now and my appointment finsihes in August.  I'm going to enter an entry level position as a chemical engineer/materials scientist.  here stateside average pay for an entry level chemical engineer is between $45-65k.  In London the average salary is from 20-30k pounds.  with the exchange rate the money seems comparable.  my question is this: i know that in the US i could live very comfortably on the salary.  would the 20-30k pounds afford me the same lifestyle in london?
thanks in advance.
chris

Unfortunately not.  Housing and travel here is much more expensive, especially if you're anywhere near London.  You can certainly survive on that salary, if you're willing to have a small place or share a flat with someone, or commute from a smaller community somewhere.  But £20-30k doesn't go far here.  The cost of living in the southeast is outrageous!   

That is a really good question, but not one very easy to answer. It's a case of being able to walk in your shoes. What's important to you? Lifestyle isn't really a case of fitting to one's income in a like-for-like comparison, more of what you can live with and what you can't live without.

One silly example, but it might help to get across my point:
- McDonald's. In my view, they seem to take the US price, and translate it to be about the same worth as the UK price.
- Burger King. I might be wrong, but they seem to take the price of the US burger and simply take off the dollar sign, then slap on a pound sign. (I KNOW Hooters did this when they were around a few years back...they didn't last, BTW.) By doing so, it makes the price of a Burger King burger almost double in the UK than in the US.

So, are you a McDonald's person, or a Burger King fan?
(rhetorical question: my question really has nothing to do with whether you even go for fast food, so please everyone, don't veer off the purpose of this thread...just making food for thought, okay?)

Where you live certainly makes a difference. London prices are certainly higher for day-to-day services than they are here in Wiltshire, where I live. Restaurant prices higher, but you might get a better cut of meat, too. Hairdressers are more expensive, but I might spend money on transportation to London for a haircut just because it would be better.

My own personal take is that you'll do great on 20-30k in the UK in general, perhaps not as well in the London area. But, unless you're bringing some collateral for downpayment with you, it may take a while to break onto the poperty ladder. But get on with everyday things and have enough left over for a treat, yes, I think it's do-able.

Now, about that career...I LOVE the fact that I live in a country with so much opportunity to be heard. You will have access to some pretty great resources and influential people. Far more easy to be seen here than in a relatively faceless US, where there is a lot of competition for the same position.

These are just my own thoughts and gut feelings. Check out a site that will give you more of the facts and statistics about Watford, specifically: Up My Street - Watford

I have no idea what kind of lifestyle you could have in the US with that sort of salary, so can't possibly compare, but I do know that £20-30K is a pretty good salary here-especially for starting out. 

For starting out, 20k-30k pounds is ok, and since you will be living with family, you won't feel the pinch that much.  It would seem your commuting cost from Watford to London would be your biggest expense if you were to get a job in London.

bvamin

well i am only planning on livign with my family until i can get a position somewhere.  also, i dont have any set places of where i would like to live.  im basically planning on moving whereever i can find work.   is 25k going to be going to mainly living costs? or will i have some money to save? i looked at some of the apartment costs and they looked to be about the same amount of pounds as i pay for my apartment here in dollars. just as lisaE said. so basically twice what my rent is now.   im living on $35k at my internship which is fine for living, but it doesnt really leave me much to put away in savings.

depending on how much travel etc. you are planning on doing.

so many things here are $=pound.....which is a hard adjustment to make.  But if you budget properly you should be ok.

I don't know much about costs outside of london, so i can't speak of watford!

  My mother was born in the UK so i can get an ancestry work visa. 

I'm no expert, but i dont think there is any such creature as an ancestry work visa for Americans...
Are you eligible for British citizenship?

i think there is a visa if you grandparents were born in the uk.( i can get a 4 year work visa?)  anyways, im going to apply under the uk(m) first for citizenship.  the visa was just going to be if my citizenship/passport doesnt go through by august.

i think there is a visa if you grandparents were born in the uk.( i can get a 4 year work visa?)  anyways, im going to apply under the uk(m) first for citizenship.  the visa was just going to be if my citizenship/passport doesnt go through by august.

I think that visa youre talking about is not for Americans, but for Commonwealth citizens... but like i said, im no expert.
Sounds like you are unlikely to need it anyway... if you are eligible for a British passport, go for it!

If you want to live really well on a salary of around £30K, you need to move out of London and head north.  While property prices are continuing to rise in the North, the cost of living is not nearly as high as it is in the Southeast.  We live in Yorkshire and my husband and I have a combined income of less than £40K, and I think we live pretty well.  No, we don't live in massive house.  Actually, we live in a very small (but nice) house, so we also have a very small mortgage.  We rarely eat out, so the money we would otherwise spend on eating out goes to fund holidays.  It all depends on how you want to live.  I'm quite happy to live frugally in my little house if I can have a nice holiday a couple of times a year.  It's all about priorities, I guess.  If you want a flash house and car and want to eat out all the time, then £30k won't get you much.

BTW, Grimsby and Hull are chock full of chemical companies.  No, they're not as pretty or posh as London, but your money will go further.  

http://www.northseanet.co.uk/humber/tide.htm

My husband and i earn less than £30k with both of our salaries COMBINED, and we have a very comfortable lifestyle.  (in Scotland).

I think that visa youre talking about is not for Americans, but for Commonwealth citizens... but like i said, im no expert.
Sounds like you are unlikely to need it anyway... if you are eligible for a British passport, go for it!

ya, im plannin on it hopefully everything will workout

I used to earn around the stated amount and was able to live comfortably AS A SINGLE in London. You could say though that around 2/3 of my income was spent on living costs (rent, utilities, etc.). Dunno but supporting a family solely on that income would require to lead a rather "modest" lifestyle here. Trouble is that cost of  living anywhere but London is much cheaper but it also reflects in lower salaries. (like me spotting that vacancy as a graphic designer in Devon the other day, for 13k/yr ... first I thought it was a part-time job but NO!   )

If you want to live really well on a salary of around £30K, you need to move out of London and head north.  While property prices are continuing to rise in the North, the cost of living is not nearly as high as it is in the Southeast.  We live in Yorkshire and my husband and I have a combined income of less than £40K, and I think we live pretty well.  No, we don't live in massive house.  Actually, we live in a very small (but nice) house, so we also have a very small mortgage.  We rarely eat out, so the money we would otherwise spend on eating out goes to fund holidays.  It all depends on how you want to live.  I'm quite happy to live frugally in my little house if I can have a nice holiday a couple of times a year.  It's all about priorities, I guess.  If you want a flash house and car and want to eat out all the time, then £30k won't get you much.

BTW, Grimsby and Hull are chock full of chemical companies.  No, they're not as pretty or posh as London, but your money will go further. 

http://www.northseanet.co.uk/humber/tide.htm

ok yah, i live pretty modestly, like i dont drive an expensive car or buy expensive things.  so im sure it will be ok. its just that i would like to be able to work towards buying a house too. but it sounds like i will have that oppurtunity too.  sounds like i should just try to get as far away from london as possible.