New York City vs.

L os
Angeles
Major: Political Science and Government
Career: Operations Manager
Applied Research Assignment
Khaled Al Tarazi

Salary & Living

Expenses
City

New York City

Los Angeles

Salary (Starting
Median)

Starting: $67,160
Median: $151,250

Starting: $53,660
Median: $109,330

Rent ( p/m)

$2828

$1637

Dining

$250

$200

Transport

$120

$100

Utilities

$200

$150

Tax

3.98%

4.2%

Personal Spending

$400

$300

Groceries

$110

$90

New York City is significantly more expensive to live in than

Los Angeles, and you would need to spend around 47%
more in New York to maintain the same standard of living.

Graduate School
New York City

Los Angeles

Program

New York University

University of
California Los
Angeles

Cost Per Semester

$23,070

$5,300

Total Cost (2 Years)

$97,856

$30,484

Although graduate school in New York is significantly more

expensive than in LA, and living expenses would be higher. You
have a great advantage living and studying in New York
because of the connections you would make and because
youre in the Advertising Capitol of the world. Living in LA
would be cheaper and you would also still develop key
connections, but I think the opportunities are better in New
York.

Post Graduate Salary

New York City

Los Angeles

Pre Graduate Salary

$67,160

$53,660

Post Graduate
Salary

$94,300

$76,250

Difference
$27,140
$22,590
Clearly, going to graduate school significantly increases your
chances of receiving a higher salary. As you can see, going to
graduate school in New York yields a higher salary for an
operations manager than had they went to Los Angeles.
Regardless, I would still choose to go to graduate school in Los
Angeles, because theres still a significant increase in salary and
the living expenses arent as high as they are in New York. The
great weather and being by the beach isnt too bad either!

Conclusion
My plan is to graduate from Wake Forest and attend
graduate school at the UCLA and continue working in Los
Angeles after I finish.
Despite the higher salary in New York and the better
networking opportunities, I would rather live in Los
Angeles due to the lower living costs and the lower cost of
graduate school, making it a great place to start my
career.
You could argue that there are better career opportunities
in New York, but Los Angeles is a beautiful city where I
would enjoy living, and the lower cost of living would
mean that I would enjoy a higher quality of living.