How much does it cost to live in New York?

- Dr. Ali

This is a part of DDS in USA series.

Many aspiring students inquire about how much does it cost to live in New York. As a student I had to visit United States for my electives in 2016. I'm going to share my experience with you guys so that it can help you to manage your funds for your time in New York.

I stayed in APPNA house New York. AAPNA or Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America is a non profit organization for the benefit of healthcare professionals which represents more than 17'000 healthcare professionals of Pakistani descent in North America. A month's rent at APPNA house New York was $300. It saved me a lot of money as rent in New York is quite high.

I took a card for subway rides. It costed me 114 dollars. This card was valid for the whole month for unlimited rides within New York. It came quite handy as I had to travel from Queens to Brooklyn daily for my electives at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. So I had to travel 3 hours daily during my electives in New York. There wasn't much to do other than electives in the weekdays. I did go out in the weekends in places like Coney Island, Meatpacking District, 42nd Street, Times Square, Liberty Monument, Manhattan Mosque, New York University, etc.

It costed me around $200 for food and chillings. Managing food expenses is quite critical if you are living on a budget. I used to cook my own food, which usually consisted of egg and toast (I don't know too much cooking). There's this Halal Guys food chain in New York. You can find good halal food from them but it's costly. McDonald's is cheap but most of it is not halal. But there are other options too if you can walk and travel around for food. I used to go to the nearest location, sometimes Subway, sometimes to Halal Guys' cart, at times to a Gurdvara with Sikhs. They are welcoming.

If you want to live a good life $700 per month is enough excluding the rent. Otherwise $900 will go to rent alone. So basically if you need to rent your own place in New York, the monthly cost of living will be around 1700-2200 dollars.

I would break down my experience in cost of living as:

Accommodation: $300
Food and entertainment: $200
Travel and Bus: $120
Miscellaneous costs: $100

Total: $720

Maybe your experience will vary according to the area you live in. This is my experience. I'm happy to help.