Are you thinking of moving to Westchester? How much does it cost to live in Westchester? Does it really cost $10,000 a month for a family to live in Westchester? Westchester is an expensive place to live in. When it comes to living in Westchester, there are many factors to consider. You will have to take into account the cost of commuting, transportation expenses, housing expenses and home maintenance expenses. For those of you with kids, you will have to take into account childcare and other child-related expenses. Use our Westchester Cost of Living Calculator below to find out how much it will cost to live in Westchester County. We also priced out how much it will cost for a family of four to live in Westchester (their monthly expense is higher than $10,000!)
Westchester Cost of Living: Commute and Transportation Expense
How Much Does It Cost to Take the Metro-North from Westchester to New York City?
Most people who live in Westchester commute to New York by taking the Metro-North train to Grand Central. If you take the Metro-North train every day, you can buy a monthly pass. Most likely, you will drive to the train station so you also need to take into account parking fees. In our calculator below, we used $420 per month as the monthly cost for both the Metro-North train ticket and parking.
Do You Know There is a Waitlist for Parking at most Metro-North Train stations? Click here to find out how long the waitlist is?
How Much Does It Cost to Own a Car in Westchester?
Most families in Westchester have 2 or more cars. However, some families in Westchester have 1 car. Maybe you are one of the lucky few who live close enough to be able to walk to the station or your spouse drops you off at the station every morning. Keep in mind it is also not uncommon for families in Westchester to have 3 cars, the 3rd car is for the babysitter or Au Pair. If you have a teenager, the 3rd car is for your teenager. In our Westchester Cost of Living Calculator below, the monthly cost to own a car in Westchester is $639 per car. This includes car payments, insurance, gas, and tolls. We priced out a $450 per month lease which can get you a BMW x3 or a Toyota Highlander.
Westchester Cost of Living: Household Help
How Much Does It Cost to Have A Housekeeper or House Cleaner in Westchester?
When calculating the Cost of Living Expenses in Westchester, you need to take into account household help. Many Westchester families outsource their housekeeping to a cleaning service or housekeeper who comes once a week to tidy up the house. In our Westchester Cost of Living Calculator, the monthly cost is $600 for a housekeeper or cleaning service to come once a week. We calculated this based on an hourly rate of $25 per hour for 6 hours per week.
Westchester Cost of Living: Childcare Expense
How Much Does Childcare Cost in Westchester?
Childcare is a big expense for families in Westchester with young children. Fortunately for families in Westchester, there are many childcare options available to families. You can enroll your child in a Daycare program, or hire babysitters, or a live-in au pair.
How Much Does Daycare Cost in Westchester?
You can enroll your child in a full-time daycare in Westchester which will cost approximately $2000 a month.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire Babysitters in Westchester?
Live-out Babysitters in Westchester can range from $15-$25 per hour. Depending on your household arrangement, you may have 2 full-time working parents so you will need a full-time babysitter. Families with a stay-at-home parent might only need help on a part-time basis. Many families that have kids in school may only need an after-school sitter to drive the kids to after-school sports and enrichment activities. Or there are families who have their kids in daycare and will only need occasional babysitting on the weekends. In our Westchester Cost of Living Calculator below, we broke down the babysitter option to Full time (40 hours/week), Part-Time (20 Hours/Week), or Occasional (5 Hours/Week) basing it on a rate of $20 per hour.
How Much Does It Cost to Have Au Pairs in Westchester?
The third childcare option is to have an Au Pair. Au Pairs are a great value because they generally cost $800 a month and $9000 fees so around $18,600 per year and you can get 45 hours a week of childcare. However, they live in your house so you will have to take into account housing expenses, food expenses, cellphone subscription expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses associated with having an extra person living in your home. In our Westchester Cost of Living Calculator, we used $1800 per month for the monthly Au Pair expense which includes the Au Pair fee and living expenses.
How Much is Preschool Tuition in Westchester?
Many families move to Westchester for the top-rated public school system. However, even if you send your child to Public School, you will most likely incur some tuition and enrichment expenses. If you have a preschooler and you decide to send your child to a private preschool, you will incur preschool tuition expenses. Preschool tuition varies by the number of days and if you sign up for the extended day program or not. For example, 5 days PK class at Scarsdale Friends Nursery School is $6,100 a year and 5 days PK class at St. Matthew’s Preschool in Bedford is $8500 a year and 5 days PK class at KTI Early Childhood Program in Rye Brook is $12,573 a year. In our Westchester Cost of Living Calculator, we used $750 per month for preschool tuition.
Need help in finding a Preschool or Daycare in Westchester? Check out our Preschool and Daycare Finder
How Much Is Private School Tuition in Westchester?
We also included Private School tuition in our calculator below. It is not uncommon to see families start off at the public school system and then later move their kids to private school, so we included private school tuition as a field in the calculator below. The Private School tuition is $40,000 a year or $3,333 per month.
Are you thinking of sending your child to private school? Check out our Private School Finder and Private School Admissions Advice
How Much Does Sport and After School Enrichment Cost in Westchester?
It is common for children in Westchester to be enrolled in some type of enrichment program either after school or during the weekend. In our Westchester Cost of Living Calculator, we used $144 per month as the cost for enrichment if your child is enrolled in a 1x a week sports program or enrichment class. We calculated this based on $36 per class (enrichment and sports classes can vary from $25 per class to $50+ per class depending on what sports you do and if it is a private lesson or group lesson).
Westchester Cost of Living: Health and Fitness Expense
How much are Gym Memberships in Westchester?
Many families are members of a local gym. For the Westchester Cost of Living Calculator, we used $300 per month for a family gym membership.
Westchester Cost of Living: Housing Expense
Mortgage Expense
In the Westchester Cost of Living Calculator, you will see that there is a mortgage calculator component. This is so you can include your monthly housing payment with homeowners insurance and real estate tax. If you don’t know the cost of your homeowner’s insurance or property taxes, you can use the preset number in the field.
How Much is Home Maintenance and Utilities in Westchester?
Our Cost Calculator will not be complete without including home maintenance and monthly utilities. Utilities include water, gas, electric and cable/internet. Home maintenance includes home repairs and exterior maintenance such as landscaping, snow shoveling and Tick and Mosquito spray for the yard. In our Westchester Cost Calculator below, the exterior maintenance is based on $433.33 per month for a 1-acre yard and home repairs and Utilities are based on $0.17 per square foot per month.
How Much Does it Cost for a Family of Four to Live in Westchester?
How much does it cost for a family of four to live in Westchester? Let’s price out the cost of living for a family of four in Westchester. Let’s say one child is in daycare and the other one is enrolled in the local public school. The older child is enrolled in after-school enrichment programs 2x a week. The family has a housekeeper that comes in to clean the house once a week. They live in 3800 square feet home on a 0.17-acre lot. They have a 30-year mortgage on their $999,000 home* (loan amount is $799,200) with taxes of $28,500 a year and homeowners insurance of $3000 a year. They have 2 cars. Dad takes the Metro-North train and commutes into the city every day while mom drives to her office in Westchester. And they have a family membership at a local gym. According to our Cost of Living Calculator, it will cost a family of four $12,293.10 per month to live in Westchester.
*Home price, real estate taxes, square feet and lot size is based on an actual home in Scarsdale, NY.
Westchester Cost of Living Calculator
Use the Westchester Cost of Living Calculator below to find out how much it costs to live in Westchester. Use the slider and fill in the fields with your information. If you leave a field blank or keep the slider at zero, it will not include that field in the total monthly calculation. We’ve prefilled the Mortgage loan amount, interest rate, real estate tax, and homeowners insurance, feel free to change it.
Source: We conducted an informal survey of local Westchester families. Note that we are basing it on families in lower Westchester where prices are in the higher range of the spectrum in Westchester.
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