Indyversus Baltimore
Now this baffles me. My Dad used to live in Indiana when I was younger and now that I’m older I’m noticing the obscene difference in the price of real estate. My Dad started driving trucks when he retired from the Department of Corrections about twelve years ago and during the summers when I was younger, I’d go to work with him. Now because of all those days I spent riding along with my Dad and driving around on my own, I’m pretty familiar with the Baltimore and Indianapolis metro areas.
Carmel, Indiana is a suburb of the city of Indianapolis and it reminds me a lot of the White Marsh area in Baltimore County. Comparable amenities and housing but vastly different real estate prices. For example, I was just on realtor.com comparing houses in both areas and one of the Carmel properties I looked at was 6000 sqft with a 1300sqft basement, a 600sqft master suite, and a three car garage built in the early 2000s on an acre of land for sale for $1m. Yyou couldn’t find a comparable house in the Baltimore suburbs for under $1.5m at the very very least.
On the other end of the spectrum, you could get a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1200sqft condo in White Marsh for about $180k. In Carmel, you can buy a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 2300 sqft single family home on a half an acre of land for $150k.
Now here’s where it gets REALLY interesting: the Baltimore County Police Department starts their officers off at $45783.00 and their cadets (training classification) off at 23819.00 per year while the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department starts its probationary officers out at $39446.00 and after six months at the academy and six months of full-time duty, that salary bumps to $47651.00. Not only do Indy officers make more money faster in a lower cost of living environment, but they also get take-home cars which is another source of significant savings.
After looking into things a bit further, I’ve concluded that in the Indianapolis suburbs one can expect:
- to pay an average of 40% less for comparable housing in the Baltimore suburbs
- to receive comparable if not higher salaries than in the Baltimore suburbs
- to pay lower vehicle maintenance and registration fees
- to pay lower taxes
- to enjoy comparable recreational activities with the exception of nightclubs
Bizarre stuff.
