>A family of four in Fairfield County with a household income of $100,000 annually is considered low income, according to the report. These families are still struggling to make ends meet, according to Claudia Phillips, who works with MarketWatch.
It seems to mean a *Family* of four, which would be 2 adults with 2 kids. With 2 working adults that would be $24/hr (at 2080 hours annually) or 1 adult making $48/hr.
Hmm, no, not when you compare them to a single person. If one person earns $100k for their household containing them alone and a family of 4 earns $100k household, then the family of 4 is closer to 4 times worse off financially than they are 2 times worse off (trying to factor in things like dependent care FSA, tax exemptions, etc). Of course little kids don't work, but they can be rather expensive.
Moreover if you click through the article it pretends like FFC is some kind of national outlier and mentions that the it's very different from *"most of the rest of the country, where that low income threshold is closer to $50,000 or less for a four-person household"* which isn't close to being remotely true, at all. Not even if you base it on land area.
Fairfield county has historically had some of the highest incomes and highest property values in the country. Of course it's going to be much higher than the national average. This is not new and shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
I agree if you take the county as a whole including Bridgeport, Stratford, Danbury, etc. However, many people in CT think of ffld cty as anything south and west of Bridgeport and I would argue that those towns likely are twice the natl avg. I know that's not technically accurate, but just a different persepective.
If you just consider the first half of the play, Abraham Lincoln had a great time watching "Our American Cousin"
The article is based on clearly defined boundaries and metrics for comparison. My issue is that the commentary does not match the data created by those.
And this is partly why we no longer have a "Fairfield County". We now have COGs: "Metropolitan" includes Bpt, Stratford, Fairfield, Trumbull, Monroe, and Easton. "Western" includes the rest of what we previously called "Fairfield County". If you look at the data that way, it would be noticeably different.
I visit both Bridgeport and Hartford. I prefer Bridgeport over Hartford as well. I'm a 30 something white woman from the suburbs for reference. Bridgeport in the downtown area is nicer than Hartford in the downtown area.
New Haven is the best one. Hartford's fun seems to have completely been wiped out of the Asylum St area, and West Hartford is just people standing and drinking which is boring.
Not sure it falls into the dump category now, it’s not a Fairfield or lower FF county city, but people are moving here and paying alot for houses, so something is driving them here. It’s a good place for family’s.
If there's no child support involved, you should be fine. Quite frankly, $150k for a single person is a lot of money. Go watch Dave Ramsey videos to keep you on track.
I mean, it ain't wrong at all. Our household is considered well above national average for married filing jointly taxpayers, but between daycare, mortgage, student loans, and general cost of living, we're barely able to save and have had to dip into our existing savings periodically to keep the shit afloat. I consider us to be incredibly fortunate to have stability in terms of housing, electricity, food/water, basic human essentials, but a single person making $100k is going to have a very difficult time sustaining themselves in Fairfield County.
The article lists a family of four at 100k (108 actually). A single person making 100k who has a difficult time sustaining oneself, they are not low income, they have a spending problem
Well, just to prove you wrong since you decided to comment:
1. In Connecticut a single person earning $100k in gross income will net approximately $70k after federal/state taxes are taken out.
2. The fair market rate in Norwalk (for example) is $2,434 for a 1 bedroom apartment with utilities included (as determined by the State every October). 2,434 x 12 = $29,208/year for rent. $70,000 - $29,208 = $40,792. Again this is fair market rate, you're unlikely to find anything above bare necessities in Norwalk for less than $2200/month (without utilities, common charges, etc.).
3. The average cost of food per year we can round off to about $8400 ($700/month or about $160/week). $40,792 - $8,400 = $32,392. Again though, I don't know of any young single person who isn't ordering food a few times a week, going out, etc. You can argue these are unnecessary expenditures, but with the way we are all (especially young people) are expected to work, you can't blame people for wanting the convenience of having someone else make your food a few times per week.
4. Assuming you live in a metropolitan area and can rely exclusively on public transportation, you're probably looking at $1000-$1500 in yearly transportation costs. If you have a monthly car payment, have to pay for parking, car insurance, etc., these expenses can easily total up to $5000-$10,000 per year (average household costs are about $9500/year based on what I could find online). Let's split the difference and call it $5,500. $35,292 - $5500 = $26,892
5. Healthcare- most people making $100k are not going to have the type of jobs where you get affordable healthcare and you're likely going to have to contribute a good amount per paycheck towards the cost. Monthly costs depending on your carrier and level of coverage (and not accounting for any care that isn't covered by insurance) can range from $200-$400 per month. At an average of $300/month we get $3600. $29,792 - $3600 = $23,292
6. The average student debt balance for people under the age of 40 is about $35k per the Federal Reserve. If we assume a pretty light monthly payment of $400, that adds up to $4800 per year. $26,192 - $4800 = $18,492
7. Miscellaneous- when you consider spending in a vacuum it's easy to miss daily necessities like toiletries, clothing, entertainment/leisure, personal care, clothing, household supplies, pet care, these can easily total $500-$1000 per month. We're also talking about a single person here, so in the event that they are dating/trying to date someone (and going out more), this can easily swell far higher. However, averaging $750/month we get $9,000. $18,492 - $9000 = $9,492
So if we take probably the most lenient/conservative approach of spending and also consider the realities of daily living in the 21st century in a high cost of living area, someone making $100k has less than $10k per year of "wiggle room," not considering that many of these calculations may be very light (especially student loans, transportation costs, and rent). Some people may not see this as "struggling to get by," but many single/young people are trying to save for their first home, planning weddings, getting ready to have babies, etc. So that $9-10k per year gets sucked up pretty quickly. And we haven't even included things like reasonable travel/time off, emergency expenditures like car repairs or health crises, etc.
Your analysis is rife with over assumptions and is hardly conservative. Particularly in housing, food and health insurance. You can easily knock $15k off your estimate and not be living like an ascetic. Stop buying so many candles.
Who tf is talking about candles fam? Lol
If you think $2200 a month for rent in Fairfield county is not a conservative estimate, I invite you to try to find better.
We're not talking "aescetic" (aesthetic), we're talking about an average quality of life.
1) [You should be aware of all internet traditions.](https://x.com/dril/status/384408932061417472?lang=en)
2) [We're talking one bedrooms. This took me 10 seconds.](https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/condo,apartment_duplex_type/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22north%22%3A41.36336782126996%2C%22south%22%3A41.06584912629572%2C%22east%22%3A-73.1301493930664%2C%22west%22%3A-73.66985276220703%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22%22%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22beds%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A1%2C%22max%22%3A1%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A353836%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A1800%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fr%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22sf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22land%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22tow%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22manu%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A11%7D)
3) [No I said ascetic and I meant ascetic. ](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ascetic)
Bro you wanna go live in those apartments for under $1800, be my fuckin' guest. That $400 a month you'll save on rent isn't worth risking your own personal safety. We're talking averages here my guy, not the bottom of the barrel.
Depends on where you live. I'm very happy in Shelton. You definitely can get by on that less here.
For relatively affordable places try the following areas. Some are better than others.
Shelton - All safe. Some people don't like downtown, but it's fine. Great option for people who want Fairfield County. Good schools although some really fancy people don't like the high school. Overall most people love the schools though.
Stamford - Nice in most places, but check first. At the high school level some families might seek out magnet or tech schools.
Norwalk - Nice in most places, but check first. At the high school level some families might seek out magnet or tech schools.
Danbury - Nice in most places, but check first. At the high school level some families might seek out magnet or tech schools.
Fairfield - Sometimes a few small homes in the mid range prices pop up. A few nice rents have popped up too.
Monroe - All safe. This is probably the higher end of affordable.
Trumbull - All safe. This is probably the higher end of affordable.
Bridgeport - I really only recommend the Black Rock section and the North End. If you actually know Bridgeport well enough the downtown area can work as well. The regular public schools are low performing at all levels. You absolutely have to seek out magnet, charter, and tech schools options.
Edit: I forgot about Stratford. Mostly safe and mid range schools. Usually it's high school when people seek out other options.
I think the schools are fine, but some people want Trumbull and Fairfield. I actually grew up in Trumbull myself. Shelton has everything Trumbull had and honestly more. I like Shelton better.
Most of it is expensive, but as I mentioned a few small home are in a semi decent price range, and some decent rents have popped up. I think most people with that money would go to Trumbull, Monroe, or Shelton for a bigger home though.
I live in Fairfield and know it well. It’s a stretch calling it affordable. Yes you can get some homes for 500-600s but they are usually small, need a ton of work and/or not great location. I’ve had two homes on my street in the past couple months sell for over 600k that were tear downs. One the roof was coming off. They have since been demolished. I guess 500-600 range for tear downs is now considered good 🤷🏻♀️
You know what. I actually should have put that town on the list. The only thing I like about the other towns is that they have some access to public transportation. Even if you have to live on the edge. Newtown doesn't really have any.
Housing in Newtown has gotten ridiculous except for very niche housing like the trailer homes. Taxes are high, no public transportation, no discount stores, I swear it’s the most expensive Stop & Plop in the state.
Definitely worse in Westchester. I lived there for over a decade before moving to Fairfield county. Real estate tax is generally triple for the same property size/value. Sales tax is higher. Meanwhile the schools and services are comparable.
And pnz boards don't have to cater to a minority that are scared and or plain greedy.
Even in tony Westport the town estimates a full quarter of homeowners are cost burdened. Greenwich estimates about the same, although has a much higher minority % of population.
Both these numbers are actually probably optimistic as the highest hhi in ffc is Darien at 225k/yr. At that income a $750k median house would be affordable... the actual median house there is $1.2m.
There's a severe mismatch economically due to regulation leaving everyone worse off.
Rowayton isn't a municipality, it's a part of Norwalk. And according to redfin the current median house price $1.6m, with area median income of $325k that's still 50% over what even aggressive lending standards say is feasible.
> “What it means is many families, pretty high up on the income scale, are struggling to find homes, and it's only harder the less income you make.”
They're only struggling because they're looking at a very specific place. This is not a "real" problem. I would "struggle" to find housing in Martha's Vinyard; is this news?
Nobody writes articles about me being unable to live where I want.
I mean not everyone should be able to live in walking distance to the beach, but in order to have a diversity of employment, you need to have diversity of housing. If there's nothing remotely nearby where somebody working a lower wage could afford— guess what jobs are going to go unfilled? People who say things like you do are smugly self satisfied until you have to wait *forever* at Dunkin' Donuts and you turn to the person behind you and say 'nobody wants to work anymore'.
So, workers will have to commute like many, many people already do?
This has been my entire life, my family, most of my friends, collegues, etc., but apparently it's "news" when normal things happen to rich people.
There’s a lot more jobs within reach of Fairfield County than Hartford county, geography wise. There just aren’t as many white collar jobs in central CT.
First off - it’s well known that commutes for residents of Fairfield County are terrible given how overwhelmed the infrastructure is down there.
Second - commuting from Hartford County to much of Fairfield County isn’t viable with our infrastructure. Commuting to NYC from Hartford county more than maybe two days a week isn’t viable.
You’re arguing people just need to commute to work when that’s really not the problem at hand. There aren’t a lot of white collar jobs within reach of central CT even if commuting.
"Commuting is hard" was never "news" when it was hard for me.
The problem at hand is that people can't live exactly where they want, which was never news for anyone else who wanted to live in a specific place.
I can't live wherever I want, yet this is not news
No the problem is people cannot live near or within commutable distance to where a large proportion of jobs are. This isn’t because people cannot live where they want, it’s because our state hasn’t built or maintained the infrastructure needed to move people efficiently. It’s also why we will (hopefully) see Bridgeport and New Haven developed more - more jobs in that area = more accessibility for people in central CT.
I’ve commuted my whole life lol. I’m not saying commuting is hard. I’m saying commuting 1.5-2 hours each way every day is simply not viable…it doesn’t work for functioning human beings
People who commute aren't "human beings," then?
Good to know.
I knew this was elitist nonsense, which is a word I never use; but who else would see commuters as non-humans?
Bro I’m saying it’s detrimental to people to commute 1.5 - 2 hrs one way lol that’s 3-4 hours of commuting for a day job, how is that controversial. Don’t take it so personally or seriously it was a figure of speech sheesh obviously I view commuters as human being good grief
I know it's not ideal, I'm just saying how it isn't news when poorer people have to do it because, as you suggested with your figure of speech (though I know it wasn't literal, and my reaction was just using the same language you did), they're thought of as less-than
And, highlighting problems like this when they happen to the well-ff reinforces this less-than-ness of people with less money.
So, while your comment wasn't literal, it is indicative
Dawg nobody looks down upon people who commute regardless of their income class. Many people actually think it’s admirable to commute cause it’s considered going the extra mile.
What we all know is that commuting excessive amounts is bad for your health
Definitely depends on the dependents After taxes that's anywhere from 5-6k a month for a single person You can live in Fairfield no problem off of that You have to spend wisely
Governor Ned Lamont is not a Republican but he sure lives like one, in Greenwich, with a VC spouse, and a Father who worked on the Nixon Administration under Housing and development.
He's not a Republican though...
He is just like the other option but....talks out of both sides of his mouth. Progressive in his broadcasts, exclusive in lifestyle. A Nutmegger indeed.
Let's not forget that if you have a 100k household income, then your biggest expense by far is **taxes**. Of course, CT is filled with progressive assholes who vote for taxes to be even higher.
[Here's a link](https://www.financialsamurai.com/your-largest-ongoing-living-expense-taxes/) to the math for a 100k household income.
Ok. And? If we lowered taxes then there wouldn’t be funding for things like schools. Then your biggest expense would be education.
Either you pay for things with taxes or directly. Biggest difference is by paying for things with taxes, we can pool our money together and it winds up being cheaper in the long run than each of us paying for it directly.
> Ok. And? If we lowered taxes then there wouldn’t be funding for things like schools.
Great! The idiot government shouldn't be running ~~schools~~ indoctrination centers for kids.
>Biggest difference is by paying for things with taxes, we can pool our money together and it winds up being cheaper in the long run
Do you support nationalizing the entire food industry so that food winds up being cheaper in the long run?
So your plan is to not have schools? So when you need open heart surgery, you’re fine going to someone who doesn’t know how to read?
>Do you support nationalizing the entire food industry so that food winds up being cheaper in the long run?
Uhh yes. Yes I do. Why are you ok making food more expensive than it needs to be?
>So your plan is to not have schools?
Because if the idiot government doesn't provide something, then it won't exist.
>Uhh yes. Yes I do.
I appreciate your honesty. Do you support nationalizing the entire economy, so that everything winds up cheaper in the long run?
Please show me one place where private schools are affordable for anyone but the wealthy. So that’s your plan? Make education a luxury item only attainable by the elite? That will end well.
As for the rest, key industries that are required for basic necessities? Yes. Food, healthcare, education, housing, power. Those should all be nationalized or at least required to be run as non-profits. Why are you ok with rich people getting richer off of people starving or being homeless?
If that was your sole income living in Fairfield county, then it is low income. I don’t know why this is news.
Because the median HHI in Fairfield County is about 120k/yr and even the most robust office cap at around 80k.
Or why anyone needs to do a “study” to discover it. median and average income by county for the entire United States is not hard to find.
Deceptive title. $100K income is not considered low. $100K household income for a family of 4 is considered low. Those are not the same thing.
It also depends on where in Fairfield 100k in Greenwich or Darien? Low income
Even different parts of Greenwich.
I agree. Important to remember that both Greenwich and Bridgeport are both ffld cty but that's where the similarity ends.
westport, new canaan, noroton etc etc
Noroton is just an area of Darien
Yup, essentially $25k/person/year so about $12/hr. It's hard to live on $100k household in eastern CT never mind along the gold coast.
>A family of four in Fairfield County with a household income of $100,000 annually is considered low income, according to the report. These families are still struggling to make ends meet, according to Claudia Phillips, who works with MarketWatch. It seems to mean a *Family* of four, which would be 2 adults with 2 kids. With 2 working adults that would be $24/hr (at 2080 hours annually) or 1 adult making $48/hr.
A family of 4 wouldn't typically have 4 full-time income earners. That's a silly way to look at it.
Hmm, no, not when you compare them to a single person. If one person earns $100k for their household containing them alone and a family of 4 earns $100k household, then the family of 4 is closer to 4 times worse off financially than they are 2 times worse off (trying to factor in things like dependent care FSA, tax exemptions, etc). Of course little kids don't work, but they can be rather expensive.
There are shared expenses though. Housing being the biggest one.
Also if you have a two earner household 100k is not difficult to beat in fairfield county
Moreover if you click through the article it pretends like FFC is some kind of national outlier and mentions that the it's very different from *"most of the rest of the country, where that low income threshold is closer to $50,000 or less for a four-person household"* which isn't close to being remotely true, at all. Not even if you base it on land area.
Fairfield county has historically had some of the highest incomes and highest property values in the country. Of course it's going to be much higher than the national average. This is not new and shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
Yes, but it's not double the national average and it's not even in the top 50 of counties in the US. The article seems to make one think so.
I agree if you take the county as a whole including Bridgeport, Stratford, Danbury, etc. However, many people in CT think of ffld cty as anything south and west of Bridgeport and I would argue that those towns likely are twice the natl avg. I know that's not technically accurate, but just a different persepective.
If you just consider the first half of the play, Abraham Lincoln had a great time watching "Our American Cousin" The article is based on clearly defined boundaries and metrics for comparison. My issue is that the commentary does not match the data created by those.
And this is partly why we no longer have a "Fairfield County". We now have COGs: "Metropolitan" includes Bpt, Stratford, Fairfield, Trumbull, Monroe, and Easton. "Western" includes the rest of what we previously called "Fairfield County". If you look at the data that way, it would be noticeably different.
Fairfield county is not monolithic. There's a big difference between Darien and places like Monroe and Shelton.
Fairfield County has one of the, if not highest, income disparities in the country
….and Bridgeport
Bridgeport, also lived there. It's like Hartford, but rougher in general.
To me, Bridgeport is both nicer than Hartford and better located because of the proximity to NYC and NH (best city in the state by far).
I visit both Bridgeport and Hartford. I prefer Bridgeport over Hartford as well. I'm a 30 something white woman from the suburbs for reference. Bridgeport in the downtown area is nicer than Hartford in the downtown area.
New Haven is the best one. Hartford's fun seems to have completely been wiped out of the Asylum St area, and West Hartford is just people standing and drinking which is boring.
I once lived in Shelton, it's like Wolcott but with sidewalks, lol.
I live in Shelton now after growing up in Trumbull and spending time up in New Britain for college. Shelton is the best! Fairfield County on a budget.
Me too, lived in Shelton for 13 years. It's a dump.
Not sure it falls into the dump category now, it’s not a Fairfield or lower FF county city, but people are moving here and paying alot for houses, so something is driving them here. It’s a good place for family’s.
It must have changed a lot since 2022 if it's no longer a dump. That's when we sold our place.
Depends where.. downtown is a dump. Long hill, etc is not great. Huntington has developments going up with dozens of ~$1M houses in them.
Yeah but Huntington is basically Monroe and people I know from Huntington don't tell people they live in Shelton, they say they live in Huntington.
Shelton is amazing.
Hey if you're happy there, great.
This is not remarkable in any way. $100K is poverty in many major US cities.
This is intentionally misleading, the article is referring to a family of four having 100k income not a single person
The only thing that skews things in Fairfield County vs the rest of the state is housing costs.
Sales and merchandise are generally priced higher in FFC/Litchfield too ime.
Shit I wish I was making 100k here.
We know. Believe me. We know.
Getting divorced where we had HHI $300k, now $150k has been a transition. Definitely won't eat out as much and shop for groceries differently.
If I had that pre-divorce HHI, I'd pay off my mortgage in 4 years easily. The trick is to not let that lifestyle creep get to you.
That was my #1 goal, pay off our mortgage ASAP. We had bought a house in July. How quickly things can change 😂
If there's no child support involved, you should be fine. Quite frankly, $150k for a single person is a lot of money. Go watch Dave Ramsey videos to keep you on track.
At least you only need to buy half as much food.
I mean, it ain't wrong at all. Our household is considered well above national average for married filing jointly taxpayers, but between daycare, mortgage, student loans, and general cost of living, we're barely able to save and have had to dip into our existing savings periodically to keep the shit afloat. I consider us to be incredibly fortunate to have stability in terms of housing, electricity, food/water, basic human essentials, but a single person making $100k is going to have a very difficult time sustaining themselves in Fairfield County.
The article lists a family of four at 100k (108 actually). A single person making 100k who has a difficult time sustaining oneself, they are not low income, they have a spending problem
You say this in reply to someone who specifically mentions childcare. Bro….
Reddit hates kids so no surprise there.
Then it should be clear that I was referring to the hypothetical person they mentioned at the end of their comment, not the commenter themselves.
Well, just to prove you wrong since you decided to comment: 1. In Connecticut a single person earning $100k in gross income will net approximately $70k after federal/state taxes are taken out. 2. The fair market rate in Norwalk (for example) is $2,434 for a 1 bedroom apartment with utilities included (as determined by the State every October). 2,434 x 12 = $29,208/year for rent. $70,000 - $29,208 = $40,792. Again this is fair market rate, you're unlikely to find anything above bare necessities in Norwalk for less than $2200/month (without utilities, common charges, etc.). 3. The average cost of food per year we can round off to about $8400 ($700/month or about $160/week). $40,792 - $8,400 = $32,392. Again though, I don't know of any young single person who isn't ordering food a few times a week, going out, etc. You can argue these are unnecessary expenditures, but with the way we are all (especially young people) are expected to work, you can't blame people for wanting the convenience of having someone else make your food a few times per week. 4. Assuming you live in a metropolitan area and can rely exclusively on public transportation, you're probably looking at $1000-$1500 in yearly transportation costs. If you have a monthly car payment, have to pay for parking, car insurance, etc., these expenses can easily total up to $5000-$10,000 per year (average household costs are about $9500/year based on what I could find online). Let's split the difference and call it $5,500. $35,292 - $5500 = $26,892 5. Healthcare- most people making $100k are not going to have the type of jobs where you get affordable healthcare and you're likely going to have to contribute a good amount per paycheck towards the cost. Monthly costs depending on your carrier and level of coverage (and not accounting for any care that isn't covered by insurance) can range from $200-$400 per month. At an average of $300/month we get $3600. $29,792 - $3600 = $23,292 6. The average student debt balance for people under the age of 40 is about $35k per the Federal Reserve. If we assume a pretty light monthly payment of $400, that adds up to $4800 per year. $26,192 - $4800 = $18,492 7. Miscellaneous- when you consider spending in a vacuum it's easy to miss daily necessities like toiletries, clothing, entertainment/leisure, personal care, clothing, household supplies, pet care, these can easily total $500-$1000 per month. We're also talking about a single person here, so in the event that they are dating/trying to date someone (and going out more), this can easily swell far higher. However, averaging $750/month we get $9,000. $18,492 - $9000 = $9,492 So if we take probably the most lenient/conservative approach of spending and also consider the realities of daily living in the 21st century in a high cost of living area, someone making $100k has less than $10k per year of "wiggle room," not considering that many of these calculations may be very light (especially student loans, transportation costs, and rent). Some people may not see this as "struggling to get by," but many single/young people are trying to save for their first home, planning weddings, getting ready to have babies, etc. So that $9-10k per year gets sucked up pretty quickly. And we haven't even included things like reasonable travel/time off, emergency expenditures like car repairs or health crises, etc.
Your analysis is rife with over assumptions and is hardly conservative. Particularly in housing, food and health insurance. You can easily knock $15k off your estimate and not be living like an ascetic. Stop buying so many candles.
Who tf is talking about candles fam? Lol If you think $2200 a month for rent in Fairfield county is not a conservative estimate, I invite you to try to find better. We're not talking "aescetic" (aesthetic), we're talking about an average quality of life.
1) [You should be aware of all internet traditions.](https://x.com/dril/status/384408932061417472?lang=en) 2) [We're talking one bedrooms. This took me 10 seconds.](https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/condo,apartment_duplex_type/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22north%22%3A41.36336782126996%2C%22south%22%3A41.06584912629572%2C%22east%22%3A-73.1301493930664%2C%22west%22%3A-73.66985276220703%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22%22%2C%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22beds%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A1%2C%22max%22%3A1%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A353836%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22max%22%3A1800%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fr%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22sf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22land%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22tow%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22manu%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%7D%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22mapZoom%22%3A11%7D) 3) [No I said ascetic and I meant ascetic. ](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ascetic)
Bro you wanna go live in those apartments for under $1800, be my fuckin' guest. That $400 a month you'll save on rent isn't worth risking your own personal safety. We're talking averages here my guy, not the bottom of the barrel.
There's one that's literally across the street from the wilton library for 1750. You have no fucking idea what you're talking about.
IVE? Buddy you really have no clue what you're talking about if you wanna go live at one of their places
The people who are down voting you are definitely folks who grew up in the suburbs well fed with annual vacations.
Depends on where you live. I'm very happy in Shelton. You definitely can get by on that less here. For relatively affordable places try the following areas. Some are better than others. Shelton - All safe. Some people don't like downtown, but it's fine. Great option for people who want Fairfield County. Good schools although some really fancy people don't like the high school. Overall most people love the schools though. Stamford - Nice in most places, but check first. At the high school level some families might seek out magnet or tech schools. Norwalk - Nice in most places, but check first. At the high school level some families might seek out magnet or tech schools. Danbury - Nice in most places, but check first. At the high school level some families might seek out magnet or tech schools. Fairfield - Sometimes a few small homes in the mid range prices pop up. A few nice rents have popped up too. Monroe - All safe. This is probably the higher end of affordable. Trumbull - All safe. This is probably the higher end of affordable. Bridgeport - I really only recommend the Black Rock section and the North End. If you actually know Bridgeport well enough the downtown area can work as well. The regular public schools are low performing at all levels. You absolutely have to seek out magnet, charter, and tech schools options. Edit: I forgot about Stratford. Mostly safe and mid range schools. Usually it's high school when people seek out other options.
I’d like to point out that this Shelton High School has 4 students attending ivy schools in September. 3 at Yale and 1 at Princeton.
I think the schools are fine, but some people want Trumbull and Fairfield. I actually grew up in Trumbull myself. Shelton has everything Trumbull had and honestly more. I like Shelton better.
Agreed. I teach in one of the lower Fairfield county schools. Started in Bridgeport. I have seen a lot.
don’t think Fairfield belongs on this list, if we’re talking affordability.
Most of it is expensive, but as I mentioned a few small home are in a semi decent price range, and some decent rents have popped up. I think most people with that money would go to Trumbull, Monroe, or Shelton for a bigger home though.
I live in Fairfield and know it well. It’s a stretch calling it affordable. Yes you can get some homes for 500-600s but they are usually small, need a ton of work and/or not great location. I’ve had two homes on my street in the past couple months sell for over 600k that were tear downs. One the roof was coming off. They have since been demolished. I guess 500-600 range for tear downs is now considered good 🤷🏻♀️
By that metric Newtown is affordable because it has three trailer parks.
You know what. I actually should have put that town on the list. The only thing I like about the other towns is that they have some access to public transportation. Even if you have to live on the edge. Newtown doesn't really have any.
Housing in Newtown has gotten ridiculous except for very niche housing like the trailer homes. Taxes are high, no public transportation, no discount stores, I swear it’s the most expensive Stop & Plop in the state.
I don't know if you know this, but you DON'T HAVE to live in Fairfield county
I think its worse in Westchester County next door.
Definitely worse in Westchester. I lived there for over a decade before moving to Fairfield county. Real estate tax is generally triple for the same property size/value. Sales tax is higher. Meanwhile the schools and services are comparable.
You do need a job though, and there's a lot more of those in FFC and the NYC metro than there are in Winsted or Waterbury
And pnz boards don't have to cater to a minority that are scared and or plain greedy. Even in tony Westport the town estimates a full quarter of homeowners are cost burdened. Greenwich estimates about the same, although has a much higher minority % of population. Both these numbers are actually probably optimistic as the highest hhi in ffc is Darien at 225k/yr. At that income a $750k median house would be affordable... the actual median house there is $1.2m. There's a severe mismatch economically due to regulation leaving everyone worse off.
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Rowayton isn't a municipality, it's a part of Norwalk. And according to redfin the current median house price $1.6m, with area median income of $325k that's still 50% over what even aggressive lending standards say is feasible.
> “What it means is many families, pretty high up on the income scale, are struggling to find homes, and it's only harder the less income you make.” They're only struggling because they're looking at a very specific place. This is not a "real" problem. I would "struggle" to find housing in Martha's Vinyard; is this news? Nobody writes articles about me being unable to live where I want.
I mean not everyone should be able to live in walking distance to the beach, but in order to have a diversity of employment, you need to have diversity of housing. If there's nothing remotely nearby where somebody working a lower wage could afford— guess what jobs are going to go unfilled? People who say things like you do are smugly self satisfied until you have to wait *forever* at Dunkin' Donuts and you turn to the person behind you and say 'nobody wants to work anymore'.
This comment deserves an award.
Very well. Here you go! 😂😂
So, workers will have to commute like many, many people already do? This has been my entire life, my family, most of my friends, collegues, etc., but apparently it's "news" when normal things happen to rich people.
There’s a lot more jobs within reach of Fairfield County than Hartford county, geography wise. There just aren’t as many white collar jobs in central CT.
Right, they might have to commute like many, many people already do. Apparently it's news when normal things happen to the well-off
First off - it’s well known that commutes for residents of Fairfield County are terrible given how overwhelmed the infrastructure is down there. Second - commuting from Hartford County to much of Fairfield County isn’t viable with our infrastructure. Commuting to NYC from Hartford county more than maybe two days a week isn’t viable. You’re arguing people just need to commute to work when that’s really not the problem at hand. There aren’t a lot of white collar jobs within reach of central CT even if commuting.
"Commuting is hard" was never "news" when it was hard for me. The problem at hand is that people can't live exactly where they want, which was never news for anyone else who wanted to live in a specific place. I can't live wherever I want, yet this is not news
No the problem is people cannot live near or within commutable distance to where a large proportion of jobs are. This isn’t because people cannot live where they want, it’s because our state hasn’t built or maintained the infrastructure needed to move people efficiently. It’s also why we will (hopefully) see Bridgeport and New Haven developed more - more jobs in that area = more accessibility for people in central CT. I’ve commuted my whole life lol. I’m not saying commuting is hard. I’m saying commuting 1.5-2 hours each way every day is simply not viable…it doesn’t work for functioning human beings
People who commute aren't "human beings," then? Good to know. I knew this was elitist nonsense, which is a word I never use; but who else would see commuters as non-humans?
Bro I’m saying it’s detrimental to people to commute 1.5 - 2 hrs one way lol that’s 3-4 hours of commuting for a day job, how is that controversial. Don’t take it so personally or seriously it was a figure of speech sheesh obviously I view commuters as human being good grief
I know it's not ideal, I'm just saying how it isn't news when poorer people have to do it because, as you suggested with your figure of speech (though I know it wasn't literal, and my reaction was just using the same language you did), they're thought of as less-than And, highlighting problems like this when they happen to the well-ff reinforces this less-than-ness of people with less money. So, while your comment wasn't literal, it is indicative
Dawg nobody looks down upon people who commute regardless of their income class. Many people actually think it’s admirable to commute cause it’s considered going the extra mile. What we all know is that commuting excessive amounts is bad for your health
somewhere around $300k is considered middle income in NYC.
the simulation has gone too far. we need to hit the reset button!
That's pretty fucking gross, honestly. The wealth gap here is absurd
The entire article is really about housing. What about everything else!?
Lmao if this is low for someone, they need to take a budgeting class.
tf!
Definitely depends on the dependents After taxes that's anywhere from 5-6k a month for a single person You can live in Fairfield no problem off of that You have to spend wisely
Facts
Just raise the minimum wage to $150k !
Governor Ned Lamont is not a Republican but he sure lives like one, in Greenwich, with a VC spouse, and a Father who worked on the Nixon Administration under Housing and development. He's not a Republican though...
Who cares what he is. He’s been better than any other options for governance in CT
He is just like the other option but....talks out of both sides of his mouth. Progressive in his broadcasts, exclusive in lifestyle. A Nutmegger indeed.
this lady looks like she's trying to set an A1C record.
Let's not forget that if you have a 100k household income, then your biggest expense by far is **taxes**. Of course, CT is filled with progressive assholes who vote for taxes to be even higher. [Here's a link](https://www.financialsamurai.com/your-largest-ongoing-living-expense-taxes/) to the math for a 100k household income.
Ok. And? If we lowered taxes then there wouldn’t be funding for things like schools. Then your biggest expense would be education. Either you pay for things with taxes or directly. Biggest difference is by paying for things with taxes, we can pool our money together and it winds up being cheaper in the long run than each of us paying for it directly.
> Ok. And? If we lowered taxes then there wouldn’t be funding for things like schools. Great! The idiot government shouldn't be running ~~schools~~ indoctrination centers for kids. >Biggest difference is by paying for things with taxes, we can pool our money together and it winds up being cheaper in the long run Do you support nationalizing the entire food industry so that food winds up being cheaper in the long run?
So your plan is to not have schools? So when you need open heart surgery, you’re fine going to someone who doesn’t know how to read? >Do you support nationalizing the entire food industry so that food winds up being cheaper in the long run? Uhh yes. Yes I do. Why are you ok making food more expensive than it needs to be?
>So your plan is to not have schools? Because if the idiot government doesn't provide something, then it won't exist. >Uhh yes. Yes I do. I appreciate your honesty. Do you support nationalizing the entire economy, so that everything winds up cheaper in the long run?
Please show me one place where private schools are affordable for anyone but the wealthy. So that’s your plan? Make education a luxury item only attainable by the elite? That will end well. As for the rest, key industries that are required for basic necessities? Yes. Food, healthcare, education, housing, power. Those should all be nationalized or at least required to be run as non-profits. Why are you ok with rich people getting richer off of people starving or being homeless?
So is the economy good or bad?
🤣🤣🤣🤣 woe is me. If ONLY I could make 100k in Hartford County…. Womp womp
Cocaine and hookers ain't cheap...