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Salary equivalent from going CND to US

ArchKid

Its a really weird situation when your trying to go from working in Toronto to other cities like NYC & LA.

I know there is a salary jump if you compare exact same positions between the 3 cities. I would love to see what people here think I can make in NYC and LA

Here brief history about me:

M.Arch, LEED GA, NCARB hours (65% finished), 5 years of professional experience. Currently have an intermediate designer role in Custom homes/Commerical buildings. Revit guru.

I'm looking for studios that are at least 60+ people. Is $70,000 doable for an intermediate or senior role designer in cities like LA and NYC

 
Jun 19, 21 8:40 pm
Non Sequitur

Don't forget that you don't get that sweet sweet free health care in the US... so, figure out how much health insurance is when shopping around for salaries.


Jun 19, 21 9:25 pm  · 
2  · 
JLC-1

although a 60+ people office would have to offer at least a basic plan, it's huge when you think on going on your own, depending on your family size you have to balance your yearly income if you have to buy insurance through ACA, there's thresholds to avoid paying 800 a head.

Jun 20, 21 6:48 am  · 
1  · 
rcz1001

ArchKid, keep in mind that Canadian dollars also have a different exchange rate value to that of U.S. Dollars and those shifts around. N.S. makes other good points like health care and all. In addition, different places have different cost of living (COL). The COL in New York City is pretty high and probably higher than in Los Angeles in most parts of the metropolitan area. Also, different firms have different packages and some have bonuses and other don't. Some just provides a Health Insurance package so your cost to the employers is usually going to be around 1.5x (well...... generally between 1.4 and 1.6x but sometimes higher)  your base salary. So you may get a $35K to $45K starting salary as an intern but you would likely cost the firm about $45K to $65K a year with the health insurance, social security and other indirect costs over the top of base salary. Your take home maybe a little less than your base salary so figure likely ~90% give or take. In Canada, you are under a different tax code system and health care in general is a given so your taxes will likely be a little more than in the U.S. but that may or may not be true considering Canada isn't policing the planet quite like the U.S. which a sizable chunk of our tax dollars in the U.S. goes into along with starting wars, destroying countries, and then fixing their countries up after we bomb them and often fixing them up better than they were before hand like we did in Japan..... but when fixing them up, I am talking about buildings and structures and infrastructure but not necessarily their culture and other issues that money can't fix.


Jun 20, 21 1:52 am  · 
 · 
OneLostArchitect

you should be in 75-80k range 

Jun 20, 21 11:46 pm  · 
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Non Sequitur

How far does 75kusd salary go in NYC or LA?

Jun 21, 21 6:42 am  · 
 · 
Bench

Depends on your lifestyle and obligations. Very doable for anyone even remotely responsible though

AK - $70k is probably a realistic range for you, depending on variables (as mentioned, primarily what kind of healthcare coverage is offered). However with approaching NCARB completion you can definitely get more aggressive about bumping that up to the $75-80k range dependent on finishing the licensure requirements.

This is entirely non-scientific anecdotal opinion/advice ...

Jun 21, 21 8:27 am  · 
 · 
ArchKid

thanks for your input!

Jun 30, 21 10:13 pm  · 
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