Obviously I am not a HK local & have limited familiarity with typical salary & living standards.

curious whats the typical salary for a college grad?  Seems like some people make very little money. Is roomates extremely common or people tend to live with family for long term?

I always have passing thoughts about relocating my job to HK. If it weren't for the sweltering heat, pollution, brutal work hours.... this would be an easy decision. Yes, I do have connection to people in high places in my industry of work. What kind of standard of living would I expect if I had a salary of say 1 million to 2 million hkd a year in HK?  I am familiar general ideas like how real estate is very very expensive per sq foot.  I've heard a handful of feedback from my friends in HK but would like more general feedback.  I appreciate any insights people have here.

[ Last edited by  sirtiger at 31-5-2012 14:23 ]

Some of my observations and thoughts:

Did you just graduate college or have you been working for awhile? It makes a big difference. Fresh grads are paid pay-wise just a bit more than non-college grads. After you have proven yourself over several months, you compensation can quickly rise.

You are from NYC, right? Well the real estate in HK and NYC is quite similar in pricing for the square footage. I think one of the reasons many foreigners find HK very expensive is that when they come to HK to live and work, they tend to live in a district that is of higher pricing than they would do back home.

For example, you may be living in Brooklyn, NYC now and when you come to HK you want to live in an area with alot of expats that is close to work on HK island. Like most expats, you choose the Mid-Levels. Well the Mid-Levels is like moving to the Upper East Side of NYC, so of course it will cost more. See the analogy?

A salary of 1mil to 2mil HKD is a very high pay for HK. Considering the average annual salary is about 108,000 HKD or so per year, you will be living very well. Many locals can live on that salary because they live in govt housing which is dirt cheap.

After paying for your real estate, every thing else is very affordable compared to living in NYC. Public transportation, eating (avoid most Western cuisine if you want save $$), clothing, wgs, massages, entertainment, drinking, etc are so much more affordable than NYC.

Of course if you are not from a big global city like NYC or London, then you will find HK to be a bit pricy.

no I far from being a recent college graduate.  I was merely curious after reading another thread about pulling 1k hkd a day.  Here in NY, a decent WG can pull 1k hkd an hour from each monger.

I think its more expensive to live in NY....just HK real estate is smaller I think.  Say if you pull 1 million hkd equivalence in NY which is approx 130k usd, one would barely scrape by in manhattan, NY....Go paycheck to paycheck living alone.....unless you are bunking with roomates.  a typical one bedrrom in manhattan is easiily 2-5k a month depending on amenities & location. I am comparing just manhattan to hk which I am not sure if that is a fair comparison.

If I am correct, I think london is no doubt more expensive than nyc or hk.  But again as with any city, you can live in some outskirt & save some...then we aren't comparing apples to apples.

Fresh grad salary in an industry such as journalism = 10kish or even nothing as an intern.

Fresh grad from a top university entering finance like market analyst = 20kish

The economy is shit, you'd be lucky to find a job here paying an expat salary. Most expat friends of mine are out of work/doing mindless jobs/enduring unpaid internships.

It all depends on how much experiences you've had in the past and how many references from ex-bosses you have, or it depends a lot from connections and networking.

If you manage to get help in paying the downpayment for a flat in wan chai like 30% of the 2-3mill 2beds room, I'd advise you to invest in purchasing an apartment rather than renting/sharing a rented room, assuming you're moving here.

think of the easy access to 141, China and Macau.
the decision can be made even easier.


you will get very contradicting opinions.

if you earn 2 million a year, and you want to live an extravagant life in Soho.
then 2 million is not enough.

if you stay in Lantau island, eat wanton noodles for breakfast lunch and dinner, then 2 million is very

you get to choose your own standard of living.
to most people, the more they earn, the more they spend.
at the end of the day, the amount they save monthly is no different from 10yrs ago when they just started working.

best is to come and stay in Hk for a month.
eat, drink, shop, punt.
do some calculation.
decide.

funny, a friend just came back after a year living in HK (he is HK bred) & he told me he was sick of the WG scene out there. I was almost flabbergasted at this statment.  I guess its one thing to vacation a place for a month oppose to living there.

Of course the opinions differ hence my inquiry.....Its interesting what people's response.  tks anyway

young grads working front office at the big banks get paid bank (relatively)... close to 60k a month + bonus....

but you're right. my current firm (finance-related) pays peanuts to young grads.... everybody junior is oxbridge/ivy league grad and get paid less than 20k...

2mil HKD is approx $250 000 USD, you're definitely in the top tax bracket in the US, even if they dont want to live the extravagant life in soho, they can get by on HK Island/Mid-Levels/Central etc.

For anyone saying $250 000 USD/annually after taxes is not enough is crazy, you might not be purchasing a nice house at the Peak and a Ferrari 458 Italia every year but I think you'd be able to live quite comfortable, especially when theirs ppl in HK living off of 200 000 HKD

I'd say it also depends if you have a family (SO, kids) to support or not.

comparing to the whole US is like comparing whole China.  Its not apples to apples comparison when you are referring to national tax bracket.  Major cities like HK, London, NY, Tokyo, etc can be compared to.  Honestly, if I was offered 2 mil RMB to work in major cities in china, it would be a far more interesting offer imo.

250k is very comfortable in nyc but its not what I define as rich. It isn't even close to 1%....they make 1 mil usd.  Everything is relative of course.

I agree, my two best friends are traders and bankers in NYC, even in raking 1mil USD is on the low low spectrum and raking in 2mil USD is probably "middle class" at best lol and 5+ mil where you're able to live comfortably and 10mil+ is considered rich or something like that.

if you can live very comfortably in NYC like you stated, I think he'd have no problem living very comfortably in HK, just my opinion, and it depends too, if you have more money, you'll spend more and if you have less money, you'll spend less.

My friend (who has now moved away) had a very good job for a very popular business. He earned just over HK 2million a year.

He lived quite far out, in an ex-pat area. Had a really really nice apartment - say maybe 2,000sq foot. Cheap rent as it was in NT.

He worked pretty decent hours etc etc - he had an ex-pat contract. Travelled a lot. Enjoyed the odd night in Wan Chai. He lived quite comfortably.

It just depends how crazy you want to live etc, where you want to live...

If he has the same apartment over the island it would of cost around 80/90K a month... Where as where he lived it was around 18K a month - hell, you can take a taxi everyday over the island and still save money.

Living on the HK island side is the hardest to stomach. HK island side has the most concentration of Millionaires in the world. Thus, when you earn your 250K USD a year, it's hard to feel rich when everyone around in mid-level, Peak, Repulse Bay etc are all driving in their sports cars or have drivers who drive them in their S class mercedes etc.

As you have all pointed out, it is all relative in the end. Comparing yourself with the Jones is only going to make you feel like crap.

If i had the opportunity, I would choose to live away from the Rich people if I had 250K USD a year. They did a study that if you are better off than you neighbors you tend to be happier and live a less stressful life.

Heck! I know people who live in Shenzhen and commute to HK to work!


AsnDragon

you can move to south central LA.  not sure if you will be happier & less stressful

I wouldn't mind living in some parts of Torrance and Gardena.

its really impossible to compare living in Asia vs. North america.

Remember, in HK you don't need a car - that's a huge expense. In north america, unless you wanna stay in your little world, you need a car to go explore.

Then there's other expenses like cost of food, cost of public transportation, housing, etc.

I've heard the same thing - avg grads get 10-15K per month.

But at the same time, I've OFTEN heard of chinese expats going back to HK and landing jobs in the financial world for US$150K+ no problem.

That's pretty good for young grad.  With bonus that's probably around 100K USD/yr.  Most young two year post grad professionals don't make that much in the states.  I suppose the standard of living in HK is whole lot higher too?

So what would it be the salary a western MBA graduate let's say with 7/10 years of work experience could expect in HK working for example in marketing?

curious....why those cities?  i grew up in the south bay and the wg scene isnt that great.....the abc/k/j's are very nice though!

LOL! he said South Central LA and Torrance and Gardena are the only cities close to South Central that I would consider living in. All other places like Inglewood and Comptom are pretty ghetto and scary.


But I would rather not live anywhere there. Just live in Asia!

The USA is a society built for women, Asia is a society built for Men.


AsnDragon