Most profitable market? Forum

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lawschool2014hopeful

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Most profitable market?

Post by lawschool2014hopeful » Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:40 pm

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a silly question/not in the right section, but I was just wondering what is the most profitable market for a big firm job?

That is your income - (cost of living + taxes), I remember seeing a chart somewhere that if you start with a 160k in NY, you are expected to take home approximately 100k after rent/food/taxes (assume some what frugal lifestyle, 1bedroom apartment, or with a room-mate) ? Are those numbers similar for Chicago, Texas, DC and LA?

BigZuck

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by BigZuck » Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:41 pm

Probably Dallas or Houston. Cheap cost of living plus dat 160K salary.

lawschool2014hopeful

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by lawschool2014hopeful » Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:51 pm

BigZuck wrote:Probably Dallas or Houston. Cheap cost of living plus dat 160K salary.

Any estimate of how much you would take home?

I was reading that texas has no state tax, but insanely high property tax, so wouldnt those 2 cancel out?

BigZuck

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by BigZuck » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:14 pm

lawschool2014hopeful wrote:
BigZuck wrote:Probably Dallas or Houston. Cheap cost of living plus dat 160K salary.

Any estimate of how much you would take home?

I was reading that texas has no state tax, but insanely high property tax, so wouldnt those 2 cancel out?
I don't know dude. You would take a lot home, cost of living is pretty cheap. I had pretty nice apartment in TX and was able to pay all my bills, etc. for less than 30K. But I wouldn't target the TX market unless you had ties there. Maybe start here and keep googling.

http://www.nalp.org/buying_power_index_class_of_2010

lawschool2014hopeful

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by lawschool2014hopeful » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:20 pm

BigZuck wrote:
lawschool2014hopeful wrote:
BigZuck wrote:Probably Dallas or Houston. Cheap cost of living plus dat 160K salary.

Any estimate of how much you would take home?

I was reading that texas has no state tax, but insanely high property tax, so wouldnt those 2 cancel out?
I don't know dude. You would take a lot home, cost of living is pretty cheap. I had pretty nice apartment in TX and was able to pay all my bills, etc. for less than 30K. But I wouldn't target the TX market unless you had ties there. Maybe start here and keep googling.

http://www.nalp.org/buying_power_index_class_of_2010
Dude, awesome link, thanks alot.

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SemperLegal

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by SemperLegal » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:23 pm

lawschool2014hopeful wrote:
BigZuck wrote:
lawschool2014hopeful wrote:
BigZuck wrote:Probably Dallas or Houston. Cheap cost of living plus dat 160K salary.

Any estimate of how much you would take home?

I was reading that texas has no state tax, but insanely high property tax, so wouldnt those 2 cancel out?
I don't know dude. You would take a lot home, cost of living is pretty cheap. I had pretty nice apartment in TX and was able to pay all my bills, etc. for less than 30K. But I wouldn't target the TX market unless you had ties there. Maybe start here and keep googling.

http://www.nalp.org/buying_power_index_class_of_2010
Dude, awesome link, thanks alot.
That link is the bible of COL, however, keep in mind that although many Texas firms pay 1st years NYC salary and bonuses, in the past NYC salaries increased much more rapidly.

nonprofit-prophet

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by nonprofit-prophet » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:27 pm

SemperLegal wrote: That link is the bible of COL, however, keep in mind that although many Texas firms pay 1st years NYC salary and bonuses, in the past NYC salaries increased much more rapidly.
Most of the big firms have switched over to the NYC scale in the past year or so.

lawschool2014hopeful

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by lawschool2014hopeful » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:30 pm

nonprofit-prophet wrote:
SemperLegal wrote: That link is the bible of COL, however, keep in mind that although many Texas firms pay 1st years NYC salary and bonuses, in the past NYC salaries increased much more rapidly.
Most of the big firms have switched over to the NYC scale in the past year or so.
If this is the case, is there any reason for so many people seeking NYC biglaw? Is it for the partnership cash dream?

tiltedwindmill

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by tiltedwindmill » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:39 pm

lawschool2014hopeful wrote:
nonprofit-prophet wrote:
SemperLegal wrote: That link is the bible of COL, however, keep in mind that although many Texas firms pay 1st years NYC salary and bonuses, in the past NYC salaries increased much more rapidly.
Most of the big firms have switched over to the NYC scale in the past year or so.
If this is the case, is there any reason for so many people seeking NYC biglaw? Is it for the partnership cash dream?
It is the largest and least tie conscious of all markets.

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rad lulz

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by rad lulz » Sat Mar 08, 2014 8:09 pm

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Last edited by rad lulz on Thu Sep 08, 2016 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

rad lulz

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by rad lulz » Sat Mar 08, 2014 8:09 pm

lawschool2014hopeful wrote:Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a silly question/not in the right section, but I was just wondering what is the most profitable market for a big firm job?

That is your income - (cost of living + taxes), I remember seeing a chart somewhere that if you start with a 160k in NY, you are expected to take home approximately 100k after rent/food/taxes (assume some what frugal lifestyle, 1bedroom apartment, or with a room-mate) ? Are those numbers similar for Chicago, Texas, DC and LA?
160k in NYC is approx. 95k after just taxes.

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ScottRiqui

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by ScottRiqui » Sat Mar 08, 2014 8:18 pm

lawschool2014hopeful wrote:
I was reading that texas has no state tax, but insanely high property tax, so wouldnt those 2 cancel out?
For the Dallas area, property taxes range from about 2% to 3%, depending on which city you're in. By comparison, New York's state income tax starts off at 4%, and goes up to almost 9% if you're really making bank. Then if you're actually living in NYC, there's another 3-4% city tax on top of that.

lawschool2014hopeful

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by lawschool2014hopeful » Sat Mar 08, 2014 8:25 pm

rad lulz wrote:
lawschool2014hopeful wrote:Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a silly question/not in the right section, but I was just wondering what is the most profitable market for a big firm job?

That is your income - (cost of living + taxes), I remember seeing a chart somewhere that if you start with a 160k in NY, you are expected to take home approximately 100k after rent/food/taxes (assume some what frugal lifestyle, 1bedroom apartment, or with a room-mate) ? Are those numbers similar for Chicago, Texas, DC and LA?
160k in NYC is approx. 95k after just taxes.

Holy, so - cost of living - 10 year repayment of loans, 20k take home? But I suppose you can get bonuses up to 50k, are those taxable/deducted in anyway?

Also, if I am reading the buying power chart correctly, it seems like NYC is the most expensive city to live in by far, even popular cities like LA 92k = 160K NYC income?

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Tiago Splitter

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by Tiago Splitter » Sat Mar 08, 2014 9:08 pm

lawschool2014hopeful wrote: Holy, so - cost of living - 10 year repayment of loans, 20k take home? But I suppose you can get bonuses up to 50k, are those taxable/deducted in anyway?

Also, if I am reading the buying power chart correctly, it seems like NYC is the most expensive city to live in by far, even popular cities like LA 92k = 160K NYC income?
The buying power chart is unadulterated bullshit. It might make sense if you intend to live in a stand alone 3 bedroom single family home in midtown manhattan, but otherwise, use some common sense.

And no, you don't pay 75k in loans for ten years because you only need one JD to practice law, not three.

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Otunga

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Re: Most profitable market?

Post by Otunga » Sat Mar 08, 2014 9:15 pm

rad lulz wrote:
lawschool2014hopeful wrote:Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is a silly question/not in the right section, but I was just wondering what is the most profitable market for a big firm job?

That is your income - (cost of living + taxes), I remember seeing a chart somewhere that if you start with a 160k in NY, you are expected to take home approximately 100k after rent/food/taxes (assume some what frugal lifestyle, 1bedroom apartment, or with a room-mate) ? Are those numbers similar for Chicago, Texas, DC and LA?
160k in NYC is approx. 95k after just taxes.
ANOTHER reason why LS should be less expensive.

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