Living on a farm in western Cheeseland I can pretty much ditto all of this, with a couple of exceptions. I live within commuting distance to the twin cities, so if you go 10 or 20 miles to the east, housing costs drop off dramatically. But right here, it's very close to the above. There is actually a 207 acre farm, 4 beds, one bath, listed near here for 2 million. But you can rent a really nice apartment for under 1000 in this area. I've been known to park the JD utility tractor under some pine trees for a night, but an Airstream? Seriously? Give me a tent and some shore line on the Chippewa flowage up north and I'm in heaven. Of course that tornado a couple of years ago wasn't much fun. But it was free. Perhaps Maverick is correct in his assumption that you get what you pay for. But I digress.... Med insurance - 235/month just for me. Very healthy 44 y/o. $1000 annual deductible. Coke - 1.25, Big mac meal, 4.50. Angus Burger meal - 6.25. Not much different from Twin cities suburbs. College - 3500 per year at a random state Wisconsin school. Just tuition. Total estimated cost would be around 7k/ year, as opposed to Mad town, which is 22k/ year total estimated. Marquette is 31k/year just for tuition. So obviously, your college costs depend on how ritzy you want to get. A Volkswagen? Who cares? Probably free around here. Brand new Ford F-150 crew cab at the local dealership - 41k. Buick Regal will run you around 27k. A used Grand Prix with 35,000 miles on it a year and a half ago - 14k. Gas was 3.59/gallon yesterday.
Cia factbook says income is $15,400 per year($1,300 per month) with only 11% below poverty line...maybe you forgot to put a 1 in front of that $300. Still hard to imagine the "average" house price is $350k. Who is buying those houses? Of course when I did a quick search, I found this article that says you can pick up a 2 bedroom from between $41k to $86k. http://www.tripchile.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=144 Maybe we cant trust your numbers...
Austin and San Antonio, dirt cheap all around. Austin a bit more than SA but definitely cheaper than most cities in the US. Problem is, if you make the average Texas Wage, you are not loving life to much. However, if you live in Texas and make above average wages...it's a dream land come true. So, while the Texas is a great place to live during the economic storm, if you'r a typical W2 person you'r not loving it. OIl industry blue collar guys are loving it. Typical Jon Cubical Jockey pushing paper at a typical corporate office....not loving it.
this doesn't seem right the average person makes $3600/yr and the average home price is 10x that? I doubt the average home price is 350k thats double the US price. And healthcare, $4000/yr must be really good healthcare otherwise no one in chile can afford except the super rich.
I live in ultra-posh part of Surrey/London in England, although the amounts i posted are the average cost for cheaper parts of London too. 1 bedroom apartment rent: 1,695 usd Average 4 bedroom house price: 1.5million usd. Weekly food shop per 1person: 50 usd. Monthly electricity cost for 1 bedroom apartment: 80 usd. 2 litre bottle of Coke: 2.5 usd. Healthcare a year: Free on NHS. Doctor visit: Free on NHS. Plumber visit: 80 usd. School a year: 13,000 usd. University: 14,500 usd.
To Debaser, Peilthetraveler , Fusionz and other readers Chile have one of the worst income distribution. 10 billionares including President Piñera are owners of 80% country GDP CIA factbook numbers are wrong 90% of population have monthly FAMILY INCOME less than US$1800 Only 10% of population including me, have income over that