Salary and Cost of Living in Taiwan

2nd Nov 2014, Sunday

Dear all,
I have been offered a position in a private university in Taoyuan, Taiwan. I have a few questions which I wonder if some of us here might give me some ideas and/or advice:

  1. the salary is about NT$70-80k before tax. Is this a reasonable salary and can I possibly survive on such a salary?
  2. can someone kindly tell me the rough estimate of the cost of living in Taoyuan for one person?
  3. is anyone familiar with the religious studies department in Chung Yuan Christian University?

Thank you very much!

1 Like

Cost of living is entirely dependent on your personal standard of living. If you want a nice apartment and to continue to eat and do things like you are in the west then you will need significantly more. If you are willing to live like a college student and eat like Taiwanese then you will need far less. the other enormous budget variable is how you live socially. If you drink in bars frequently and eat in western restaurants then you can destroy a monthly budget.

Personally I spend 30-40K/mo but I live in a nice apartment and don’t cheap out on food. One thing that keeps my expenses down though is that I don’t frequent bars or drink a lot. I have friends that live in crappy apartments and eat cheap food every day but they still spend more in a month that I do because they hit the bars a lot. To each their own.

70-80K/mo is a fine salary for Taiwan and you should be able to live well while saving 20+K/mo. Taxes are quite low if you are in Taiwan for >183 days for the tax year.

[quote=“ntprof”]2nd Nov 2014, Sunday

Dear all,
I have been offered a position in a private university in Taoyuan, Taiwan. I have a few questions which I wonder if some of us here might give me some ideas and/or advice:

  1. the salary is about NT$70-80k before tax. Is this a reasonable salary and can I possibly survive on such a salary?
  2. can someone kindly tell me the rough estimate of the cost of living in Taoyuan for one person?
  3. is anyone familiar with the religious studies department in Chung Yuan Christian University?

Thank you very much![/quote]

That’s a perfectly reasonable salary for a single guy, living a single life. You’ll be able to spend like crazy, eat cheaply most days, live comfortably in Taoyuan (an over-built mecca with low rents for decent apartments), and save at least $20k per month. The salary is slightly above average ($60,000-$65,000) for ESL positions in the north.

Good luck.

Dear Abacus and Rockon,

Thank you so very much for your very helpful information. Can I ask if it’s advisable to buy an apartment in Taoyuan? And what would be the approximate cost of a flat there?

Do you know anything about the Chung Yuan Christian University? I wonder if anyone else can give more tips.

Thank you!

Do not even consider buying an apartment right now especially if you are unsure how long you will be here. Real estate prices are really high and many of us think that Taiwan is set up for a housing crash like the US a few years ago. Renting is cheap though.

[quote=“ntprof”]Dear Abacus and Rockon,

Thank you so very much for your very helpful information. Can I ask if it’s advisable to buy an apartment in Taoyuan? And what would be the approximate cost of a flat there?

Do you know anything about the Chung Yuan Christian University? I wonder if anyone else can give more tips.

Thank you![/quote]

Buying makes little sense right now. Taoyuan’s real estate market is inflated and looking for a pin. Rent is cheap…way cheaper than paying a mortgage. You’ll look at $8,000 - $15,000, depending on your personal preferences.

Sorry, never heard of Chung Yuan Christian Uni.

Additionally you would be pushing it to buy a place on a teacher’s salary. That and a car are two things that you most likely will do without unless you are saving a lot elsewhere in the monthly budget.

How does one know when is a good time to buy?

When you can easily afford to and have a steady job that you like would be a good indcator to start with
Makes no sense at all thinking about buying an apt in a place you never worked before and don’t know anything about!

Chungyuan Christian University is in Zhongli, a little south of Taoyuan. I like the area around the university, lots of cheap eateries.

Rent there can be dirt cheap, but again, that depends on your preferences.

Dear all,
I’m so grateful for all your replies. The position there that I’ll take up will be assistant professor at 中原大學. If things work out, i.e. if I finally decide to take it up, then I’ll rent an apt. The advice of not buying is very well taken. I appreciate the info!

I live very simply. Currently, I’m working in Hong Kong with a monthly salary of slightly over HK$40k. I end up buying a flat, having plenty and still save more than HK$20k. But I don’t mind moving to Taiwan and start a new job, as my current school doesn’t seem to be well managed and we’re in a deficit. So I’d better move before we run out of money and be made redundant. Since there is this offer now, I should consider seriously.

Thank you all!

Wouldn’t want to ruin your enthusiasm but take into account that, with the world’s third-lowest birth rate, higher education in Taiwan is not exactly a thriving industry either. There’s a lot expectation for the Chinese students to fill the gap but it remains to be seen whether it actually happens.

In any case (and I guess poles apart from Hong Kong), it’s easy to rent a place anywhere around here: you’ll be spoilt for choice, so don’t commit too early. Ideally, get something temporary first and take a good look around.

Hope it all works out well for you!

Don’t know if I should make my own thread for this but I’m in a similar position as OP – as in, pursuing a job that would land me in the 70k NT a month salary range (plus a bonus of half a month’s rent every quarter), and I’m trying to get a sense of what I would actually be spending on food. I keep reading that cooking your own won’t be any cheaper than eating out, but I want to be able to cook at least a little for health reasons.

I was estimating 12,000 NT a month for food but is that way too much? Too little? What about transportation? I read that there are no monthly passes for the MRT but I sort of find that hard to believe…

What about utilities? Does running the AC cost a lot? Do a lot places charge extra for trash disposal? What about internet? And how is that set up?

Okay, sorry for the barrage of questions. Again, if I’ve missed this in a sticky somewhere let me know (tried looking for it but didn’t see anything definitive)

When I was in Taiwan, I ate out every meal (I literally cooked maybe 3 times in 7 years), but now that I’m living alone in California I finally see the value in cooking. It saves money, it can be healthier, and it’s fun. In Taiwan, you may not end up saving much that way, but if you’re not spending extra, why not?

[ul]1: I was a frugal eater and spent about NT$10,000 each month on food and drink. (It seemed like a reasonable amount at the time, but now when I spend US$300 on food I feel straight up irresponsible!)[/ul]
[ul]2: There are no monthly passes for the metro, but there don’t really need to be. The longest ride you can take is only NT$70 or so. [/ul]
[ul]3: A bus ride is NT$15. Taxis in Taipei start at NT$70 or NT$75 and it’s hard to hit more than NT$400 going anywhere in Taipei City. I spent about NT$1,000 in transport each month, maybe a little more.[/ul]
[ul]4: Taiwan’s electricity charges are artificially low, but I can’t remember how much I would normally be paying.[/ul]
[ul]5: Trash disposal is paid for by the overpriced (but still relatively inexpensive) trash bags you are required to buy – without them the trash truck won’t accept your garbage.[/ul]
[ul]6: Fast Internet access is available for under NT$1,000, and I was paying NT$1,200 a month for unlimited 3G internet plus a decent calling plan for my phone.[/ul]

Don’t worry. Government statistics show that less than 5% of the population make NT$70,000 or more a month, so you will be earning a highly elite salary. It would take a lot of effort to blow it all.

Cooking can be cheap if you are starting with the basic ingredients (like vegetables, normal meats, eggs, etc…). Cooking becomes expensive if you have to buy imported western items at premium prices. For example you can make a very cheap meal of chicken, rice and a vegetable like broccoli. Or you can spend more and make tacos but even that isn’t prohibitively expensive. I probably spent 600NT on enough for 4 meals last week.

I pay 3000NT for 2 months of electricity for the peak months of July and August. Single occupant in small 2 bedroom apartment. In the winter I spend <1000/2mos. This is ridiculously cheap.

The only big problem with making 70K/mo in Taiwan for an expat is that it is difficult to save significant money towards your retirement. Taxes and NHI don’t take much but they take some. If you lead a reasonable lifestyle then you can save about half of that. 1000USD/mo is a solid amount of savings but you won’t be retiring early or living large in retirement.

I agree on the saving issue, but I went from saving about US$1,000 a month in Taiwan to saving about $150 a month in the US … despite earning double what I used to. :-/

You chose to live in a state with high taxes and a high cost of living.

But you are saving in other ways for retirement. For example your Social Security payments go up by contributing more (more US based work) and you might have a 401K that is automatically taken out of your paycheck and some even have company pensions. It is hard to save for retirement in many places. In Taiwan it is hard because you make a moderate amount and have a moderate cost of living.

California is an expensive damn place to live. It’s a miracle you manage to save US$150. Life in the US is just becoming less affordable for more and more people.

Thank you Hokwongwei and Abacus for your responses. That eases my mind somewhat on being able to cook. I really don’t need more than a simple one-pot meal, and I also will probably buy a blender for smoothies to eat for breakfast. I think it will be harder to resist the temptation of cheap food that is fried in oil! xD There’s an abundance of that.

I think the rudest awakening I had is the apartments. I can definitely find stuff in my budget if I want to save a majority of my income, but that also means very dirty, old apartments. =/ I am a clean freak and I’d like to not wake up to cockroaches. Hence, I will have to pay more. Well, I guess that means sacrificing a bit else, like not eating out as much or cooking lean meals.

Edit: I am also Californian Hokwongwei, and I am barely able to save $200. But yes, there is no chance of a retirement plan in Taiwan as an expat. Still, I find this okay, because I plan to be here no more than 3 years, and I am fairly frugal. What I do spend money on is travel, which is part of the reason I am taking the job. I am opting for the experience and stalling my retirement plan 2-3 years.

[quote=“sharpie”]
Edit: I am also Californian Hokwongwei, and I am barely able to save $200. But yes, there is no chance of a retirement plan in Taiwan as an expat. Still, I find this okay, because I plan to be here no more than 3 years, and I am fairly frugal. What I do spend money on is travel, which is part of the reason I am taking the job. I am opting for the experience and stalling my retirement plan 2-3 years.[/quote]

That’s just patently false. Many expats earn a lot more than NT$70,000 pm in Taiwan, and that makes saving for retirement a lot easier in Taiwan than in the high-cost-of-living US of A. As someone in my late thirties saving US$1,500 (NT$45,000) pm for retirement in Taiwan, I’m quite happy. It sure beats saving US$200, which I guess I’d be saving if I still lived in the US. BTW, I’m also supporting a family. So yes, there is every chance of a retirement plan in Taiwan as an expat.

It would be interesting to know how old Sharpie and the OP are since one’s perspective and responsibilities change as you age. If I had to work for NT$70,000 now, in my current situation, I’d be depressed as hell. But if I were younger and without attachments and responsibilities to others, it would have been okay.