For many people whose jobs don't tie them to one place (graphic designers, for instance, could work just as easily out of a hotel room in Dubai as they could from their Mississauga, Ontario homes) have a wide range of cities to choose from. When picking one to live in, what the deciding factor often comes down to is cost of living, since their online generated income would be the same just about everywhere. For those self-employed people out there thinking of moving to lovely Honolulu, Hawaii, this article should help you figure out if you can afford it.
It probably won't surprise you to learn that the cost of living in Hawaii is high. Real estate in Honolulu costs as much as twice what you would pay for similar real estate in downtown Toronto, which is considered a high cost market itself. What might surprise you is just how high the cost of living really is. In a system where the United States average is placed at 100, Honolulu comes in at a whopping 180.2, nearly twice the average! This figure is accurate to the end of 2009 and is unlikely to decrease.
Why is the cost of living unlikely to ever drop to a level that most Americans would find affordable? It is because the Hawaiian Islands are so isolated. In the Continental U.S., the interstate highways act as a pneumatic conveying system, transferring goods cheaply and easily from the factories where they are made to consumers hundreds of miles away. Hawaii is too small and poor in raw minerals to support much of a factory sector, so nearly all of its goods are imported.
As you will remember from the time you hired a Toronto caterer for that dinner party you had at Lake Scugog, bringing materials and people in from away increases the cost exponentially. So unless someone invents a matter transporter device that will eliminate the need for costly boat and airplane imports, the cost of living comparative to the continental United States will never decrease significantly in Hawaii. In fact, if anything it will continue to increase as competition for living space and resources goes up.
So are you able to afford to live in Honolulu? If you have a good income from the products you signed up for trademark registration in Canada, you might be able to manage. Rents are $1,200 and up and houses and condos cost at least $600,000. The people who are currently making it in the city earn an average household income in excess of $60,000. You'll also be paying more for ordinary things like milk and bread, so make sure to visit and check out the prices before committing to a move.
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