Ceteris Paribus, does the city in which one works really matter?

Do hiring managers, recruiters, or b-schools discriminate based on city/state if the job description says the same thing?

Alternatively, would you accept a lower salary after COLAs to work in NY or CT compared to CA, TX, IL, ect.?

 
Best Response
John Daggett:
Alternatively, would you accept a lower salary after COLAs to work in NY or CT compared to CA, TX, IL, ect.?
Yes, but only because I'd be saving New York dollars to retire on IL or TX dollars.

I think it is more often the case that a job in NYC is better experience than a job in Chicago or San Fran than it is that a job in Chicago or San Fran is better experience than a job in NYC.

Of course, there are more exceptions to the rule than there are cases that follow the rule. This varies widely with industry and with subsection of the industry. For HFT, Chicago is often a better place to be than New York. For IBD, you generally want to be in NYC (even then, if you want to do industrials or tech, a case can be made for other cities.) If you want to work in the oil industry, you probably want to be in Texas (or the Dakotas).

In general, for finance, NYC offers better experience, but a dollar stretches further elsewhere. There is some pay bump for NYC, but I think that for the median $70K/year-$300K/year NYC worker, he could take home more after tax and living expenses elsewhere, were the job market elsewhere liquid enough. For a thriftier person, NYC offers the opportunity to save a lot of money.

A fairly common theme I have seen is "I am going to spend a few years in NYC and when it comes time to raise a family, I am moving elsewhere."

 

soup du jour, I wouldn't walking around saying "ceteris paribus" once you've left your undergrad econ program. Makes you sound like Le Douchebag.

I'd say socially you're going to have the best experience in the city where you know the most people prior to starting your job/moving there. NYC has the highest COLA, SF is a not-so-distant second, anywhere else and you're basically swimming in gold like scrooge mc-fucking duck if you're making a low 6 figures.

The value placed on location depends very much on your role.

 
NYCbandar:
soup du jour, I wouldn't walking around saying "ceteris paribus" once you've left your undergrad econ program. Makes you sound like Le Douchebag.

I'd say socially you're going to have the best experience in the city where you know the most people prior to starting your job/moving there. NYC has the highest COLA, SF is a not-so-distant second, anywhere else and you're basically swimming in gold like scrooge mc-fucking duck if you're making a low 6 figures.

The value placed on location depends very much on your role.

Read the OP's post. He is LeKing Douchebag

 

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