Cost of Living - USVI Salaries

My salary is a lot more than 27K, but I'm a contractor for DHS here on St. Croix. I don't know about other people, but i live very comfortably. I do IT work, so I guess I'm not your usual transplant.

Statistics can be made to prove about anything you want them to. The average salary in Florida, according to a survey I found on the internet, is $28,490. As I am from Florida I can state that the cost of living is nowhere near 33% higher than living in Jacksonville. Some items are higher. Some items are lower. We have no heating costs. We have no winter wardrobe to worry about. Don't take the numbers so literally. Most of us live fairly well on what we make working here. It really isn't that much different that living in an small, rural town in the southern part of the mainland.
Pamela.

i live in philly. i don't make a pile of money, and the cost of living here is pretty high. yet i survive, and i'm also able to put money aside to move to the VI. i will probably be able to survive in the VI as well.

Many of us who live here have lived on the mainland also. The cost of living in the USVI is NOT 33% higher than on the mainland. People who say that have probably never even been here. For one thing, we don't pay sales tax and state taxes. For another thing, the commuting distances are much smaller. It doesn't make any sense to get paid 60,000 per year when you pay out half of that in state and sales taxes and the rest in fuel costs. We don't incur extra costs for heating our homes in "winter" (whatever that is) and we don't have to maintain seasonal wardrobes. I could go on, but you get the idea.
As far as salary, HOVENSA is the largest private employer on STX and the average salary there is way in excess of $27, 130. Of course, not everyone works for HOVENSA but we do just fine, thank you very much.

"winter" (whatever that is) haha -- that made me laugh.
by the way i happen to be in NY as i type this... just want you to know its currently -8. That is a minus. It's very very cold 🙁 Can't wait to get back to the islands next month.

From an outsider to the islands, one thing I've noticed while looking for housing is there are a lot of houses that include an apartment built in for added income. Quite a few houses I've looked at in an average price range often have a few rooms divided up to serve as an apartment for rent.

HOVENSA employees average $27,000? Holy cow, I figured they paid huge salaries as much as I've heard about them on here. Not knocking that in any way because heck...all I need is a bed, food and a beach. 🙂

Most people have to have the extra income an apartment provides to pay hurricane insurance. The homeowners insurance is akin to Stateside, but the hurricane rider is, like 7 grand/yr.

And, if I read that correctly, NS said that the average income for a HOVENSA employee was HIGHER than 27K.

Not what I wrote, Hoosier469...you can probably multiply that figure by 2.5 to get a better idea of the average salary at HOVENSA for hourly workers...before overtime.

I wrote:
"As far as salary, HOVENSA is the largest private employer on STX and the average salary there is way in excess of $27, 130."

You also said:
"From an outsider to the islands, one thing I've noticed while looking for housing is there are a lot of houses that include an apartment built in for added income."

Well....a lot of us build on sloped sites, and we have a downstairs portion as a consequence. Why not just turn it into an apartment and rent it out? It's hard to find a flat lot to build on in St. Thomas, so the building style you wind up using lends itself well to the concept of a downstairs apartment.

Hello,

That 33% statement Erik likely got off of our web site's cost of living section and we got it from a publication put out by the Virgin Islands Legislature. I just went looking for the document and found another study which is a little dated that reports the cost of living difference to be 20-25%.

Now to be fair the cost of lving here in the VI might be 20%-25% or even 33% higher then some citiies/towns in the US mainland and it might be right about the same with others and there are some cities in the US that have a higher cost of living. So as mentioned the statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt, particularly since they lump all of the USA together and we all know living in San Diego CA or New York City for examples doesn't come with the same cost of living as say living in Slidell LA.

That said there is a gap between the cost of living and reported salaries for many in the USVI. Not everyone works at big companies; I know just as many people making 20-40K as I do making 50-150K... actually I know more in the lower bracket.

Census data is as good as what is reported but here are the numbers from the last census: Total Households: 40,648
Less then $5000 - 7,290
$5000-$9,999 - 3,290
$10,000-$14,999 - 3,516
$15,000-$24,999- 6,382
$25,000-$34,999 - 5,187
$35,000-$49,999- 5,712
$50,000-$74,999- 5,058
$75,000-$99,999 - 2,181
$100,000 or more - 2,032
Median Household Income- $24,704

Now some of the stats might be a little off because....

There are many people who work at cash jobs (taxi drivers, wait staff, bartenders, tour guides...) well how does Uncle Sam know if you made $600 in tips or $60. Grain of salt again... I certainly don't know how many people are being honest abes on their taxes and how many aren't but under-reporting certainly does affect the statistics.

And there are people that have two story houses that rent one story as an apartment... side income for many.

Most people do live modestly. Many people who moved here report finding they don't need to buy lots of stuff, others find that because there aren't many shopping options (malls) they don't spend as much. Its not easy to head down to the local mall and spend the entire day at Macy's, GAP, Sears, JCPenny, Express running up the credit cards... because those stores/malls don't exist here.

There are people with roommates. And there are people without room-mates that work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet and there are some that are doing just fine with one job.

There are federal programs here; WIC, Food Stamps, Gov't Housing programs, Health Clinic & medical programs.

You will find a variety of economic situations in the USVI from those that can joke that they spent on a dinner for two what they pay their employee for two weeks... to the single parent whos struggling to keep their head above water in terms of paying bills and juggles 2 or 3 jobs...

I'd say all stereotypes aside that the people I have interacted with in the Virgin Islands, specifically St. Thomas are extremely hard workers that do what it takes to make an income they can survive on and for many that means working 2 jobs or doing some side work (something artistic, manual labor, baby sitting, seamtress, painting or doing repair work, mechanic work, selling mangos or limes they grow in the yard on the side of the road, maid service on days off and weekends... something). It is the way most folks that aren't getting the big paychecks make ends meet.

And as mentioned by others there are people here that have good paying jobs for which making ends meet isn't really an issue and on which they live comfortably.

--Islander

My bad NS, I did read that wrong. 🙂

Islander what would you say would be a comfortable middle class household income for two working adults on St. Thomas??

$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000

??????

We're high 40's, low 50's on STX and we do ok.

is that per person Linda or couple?

That's the two of us combined.

Pamela I am moving to STT within the month, I bartended for three yrs. And built custom homes for about two. I have been there on vacations many times but I can only imagine that living there is a lot diff. Do you think that I will have a problem finding an apartment or a job? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I know you asked this of Pamela, but I'll answer, anyway...This isn't the *perfect* time to move to STT (although the weather in America seems to make it a perfect time for the Caribbean! haha!), because most of the transients that come for the season are here already. But, there are still jobs to be had. Bartenders can always find work, and I saw 3 (3?) ads in the Daily News for construction workers. And there are still a bunch of apartments. Call the Daily News and ask for "Circulation". They will mail you an Island Trader for $4. That's the best place to start looking for a place to stay.

From what I have read the 33% higher depends on where you are moving from. We are at the East cost and it would be not really more than what we are paying now. I have compaired the expense list posted here with ours.

Due to the warm clima there are also expenses you will not have anymore.
Winter cloth
Heating

Thanks to everyone for all the great info!

It sounds like anywhere else in the US, people will do whats necessary to make it. However, I'm curious about the cost-of-living/salary gap and the possibility of an average household income to own a home. In most of the mainland, it seems relatively easy to purchase a home with a household income between $40,000 - $60,000. Of course, areas like NYC and CA will require much more. From the data available, it just doesn't seem like a reality in the USVI unless your household income is well in excess of $100,000.

According to this web sites "St Thomas real estate" section the average price of recent homes on the market is $977,000, but the median range is between $300,000 to $600,000. Most mortgage lenders will typically lend 36% of your household income.

$300,000 Home = Household income of $108,000 required
$500,000 Home = Household income of $188,000 required
$977,000 Average Priced Home = Household income of $349,200 required

What household income level is required to purchase a house in St. Thomas? Maybe, I'm looking at the data incorrectly.

Thanks,
Erik

Erik: I went back to look at your original question, and I think what you are asking is; How do people do it? Many local people save up and buy a piece of land then slowly build as they save. You will see many 1/2 finished (or less) houses around. Multiple generations live in a 2-3 bedroom home. My feeling is that many people who might afford a house in the states live in apartments here. Places are smaller-I know couples that live in efficiencies, families that live in 1 bedroom units. Your guests learn to sleep on a sofa or air mattress on the floor. If you are accustomed to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a garage and fenced yard, you may find yourself rearranging your priorities. When you are talking about $300,000 homes, they are NOT what you can buy in middle Big America. But you get to look at the ocean every day and you never have to buy heating oil!

On the board you say you live in philly and that you are a seamtress. I am looking for a good seamtress to custom sew. please respond and i may be able to give you lots of work so you can move to the vi

So i can live very nicely with $35000.00 a year + having a boyfriend that makes slighly more then me?

I have a few NY bills to pay and think about?

$35K should be enough to live on, depending on your tax situation. If you end up paying 40% in taxes, that's only $403.80 take home pay, per week. You can do it, but you won't have much money left to save or splurge.

However, if you end up only paying 25% of your income in taxes, $504.75/wk net makes your life a lot easier.

Gotta love the government! Haha!

Hello Jon,

I'd say $55,000 for comfortable middle class couple (spending habits & debt would certainly affect how far your dollar goes like anywhere else).

--Islander

The discussion regarding how much you need to to buy a home in the Virgin Islands is often misleading. But, the things you should know...are...Houses here cost more than anywhere in the states for a "comparable" place to live. (with the possible exception of some places in NY & California).

A stateside home that sells for $300,000 or less will sell here for as much as a million dollars depending upon the location(view). That was not true until very recently when US mainland dollars began to drive the price of homes up (especially on St John).

The other cost of living factor differentials are not extreme and are counterbalanced by some savings. The cost of buying a home or condo however is "out rageous" . On the other hand rents are more in line and sometimes less than mainland locations because of in house apartments.

There will soon be a "crash" of home values in the Virgin Islands (and the states) due to overheated low % down finance methods. Despite the demand, most people will be priced out of the market and defaults will occur which will allow smart investors an opportunity for the future.