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In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

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Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#261

Post by ryanSrich »

zrail wrote: post #185
santaclaus wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, developers were snapping up lots in our hood in Albina for 750, demoing them to lower the tax burden, and letting them sit empty to appreciate. Long term residents who had been renting for 30 years were getting chased out and moving to the numbers... those don't seem like great situations.

> moving to the numbers I lived in Portland for six years and never once heard this expression and yet I know exactly what you mean.

20 years ago = 57th is bad

10 years ago = 82nd is bad

Now = 122nd is bad

I count myself lucky to live West of 82nd.

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#262

Post by amenod »

protomyth wrote: post #166
will_brown wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure the down votes because you just perfectly described a bad colada. But there is hope they can be delicious, it's the only coffee I drink, and I even wanted to bring Cuban coffee in a can to market cubanshot.weebly.com of course months after contacting coffee canners Starbucks came out with their doubleshot cubano which is terrible. Basically the difference between a real/good colada and what you described is…

I see a lot of canned coffee so there seems to be a bit of market beyond Starbucks. I would ditch the green though. I guess it depends on can you produce at a scale that would make you profitable.

+1 for ditching the green, agree 100%...

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#263

Post by mac01021 »

kevinburke wrote: post #184
coltalk wrote: post #179

I hear this sort of thing a lot and I have trouble reconciling it with my experiences. I live in SF and my total expenses (rent, food, entertainment, etc.) were ~$15,000 in 2016. I don't feel like I live a life of great deprivation. I get that the article is talking about a family of four, but even if we assume there are no economies of scale, my costs would work out to $60,000 for a family of four. I also get that I…

Among other things, childcare is wildly expensive. Throw in life insurance, and you want your kids to live in a good school district, right?

If you make $100k, you probably net at least $70k after income taxes. The GP could double his rent and still have over $40k per year to spend on childcare.

So something is still not adding up.

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#264

Post by pvelagal »

taternuts wrote: post #211

I pay $2,500 a month in rent. I also get paid more by my employer to cover exactly that. I have plenty of money to live the way I want to live and still save money. If everyone is claiming just 2k in rent, how are they not making a living on 120k+ a year?

Can you estimate how much it would cost for a 4 member family, with school going kids ? It might help you prepare if you plan to have one.

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#265

Post by logfromblammo »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #103
nojvek wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very tempted to visit Florida

As a Fl native, it's a great place to live. The political situation sucks, but ya can't have everything. Edit: Some tips for visitors. Most beaches are beautiful and most have free access. Enjoy, but wear sunscreen (and keep reapplying). Oh and bring lots of water; playing at the beach dehydrates you fast. If you pick a Gulf Coast beach (Clearwater is nice), as you enter the water, skoot your feet on the sand. That f…

You can go outside. Just do it with a Gore-tex jacket and brimmed oilskin hat on. It's like an umbrella that won't evert in the wind or act as a lightning rod.

If you feel a tingly sensation on the back of your neck or detect a sharp ozone-like smell, crouch down and cover your ears. Don't play golf or baseball in the rain. If you hear thunder or see lightning, go inside.

Football is the unhealthy sports obsession of the South. You would think that in February, after the pro season ends, you would get a reprieve from it, but no, you don't. Baseball is the alternate sport. Basketball is a legend from a distant land, and nobody even knows what a hockey is. Stanley Cup playoffs are happening right now, and local television news would rather air a 10-minute story about some high school football team practicing for next year's season instead of 10 seconds just saying that the Senators beat the Bruins. If you don't love football, you will get so sick of football.

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#266

Post by s73ver »

hourislate wrote: post #51

Why would a young professional person want to live anywhere where earning 100k + is not enough when they could live in quite a few other states and earn a 100k + enjoying a cost of living that is 1/3 of what it is in SF or NYC? My wife and I both make well into the 6 figures working at boring corporations enjoying a lifestyle where we would have to earn the equivalent of 7 figures in the Bay Area or NYC. There are a…

Other people want different things than you. The job market is better in SF than in most places in the country. There's more stuff to do and more diversity, leading to a bigger variety of things to do and things to eat.

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#267

Post by StillBored »

ransom1538 wrote: post #46
archeantus wrote: post #6

Wow, this resonates with me. In 2013 my wife and I were living in the Bay Area and had just welcomed our third child into the family. I was making 105k/yr at Apple (which seemed like a ton at the time!) but I felt like I was saving very little of that. I was approached on LinkedIn to take a job with matching pay but that was fully remote. I could live anywhere I wanted in the entire country. I jumped at the chance an…

Did the exact same thing this year. Moved to Oviedo, FL from SF: 1) no state income tax, 2) public schools in my neighborhood are equivalent to a private school in sf [i] 4) weather is great 8 months out of year, 5) beaches you can swim in, 6) rent is ~1/4 of what it was in SF, 7) cuban food, 8) as a resident, kids have year round disney passes [i] http://school-ratings.com/Florida/schools/Carillon_Elementar... WARNI…

I lived in the Orlando area for a few years. Finding software shops is challenging (there are some, but you haven't heard of them), but there is a fair amount of defense contracting work. So, if you can get over the fact that your probably working on weapons systems or something related, the work definitely can be technically challenging. Plus, both UF and UCF have pretty decent comp sci/comp engineering programs so there is local talent, but it doesn't tend to stay in the Orlando area.

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#268

Post by closeparen »

coltalk wrote: post #179

I hear this sort of thing a lot and I have trouble reconciling it with my experiences. I live in SF and my total expenses (rent, food, entertainment, etc.) were ~$15,000 in 2016. I don't feel like I live a life of great deprivation. I get that the article is talking about a family of four, but even if we assume there are no economies of scale, my costs would work out to $60,000 for a family of four. I also get that I…

You're indicating that you rent for less than $1250/mo. A studio is out of the question at that rate; even a room in a shared apartment would be unlikely. People I know paying that little money for housing are an entire BART line away from the city (Richmond, Pittsburg, etc), have several roommates or a working spouse, and need cars.

What do you pay for housing, what kind of housing is it, and is a lease like yours available to newcomers who don't have your grandfathered status or connections?

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#269

Post by gdix »

refurb wrote: post #234
grumblestumble wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I work full time, combined income is just below $400k. With a mortgage on a 3 bedroom in Oakland, daycare and after-school care costs, student loans, et al, we have never been more broke in our lives. I was living large when I was making $75k and not living in the Bay Area... now, it's beans and rice most nights, and hoping the early 2000's honda doesn't break down on the way to school.

Wait a second. You and your wife pulled in ~$30K per month pre-tax, so I'll be generous and say $15K per month after tax. Any you have never been more broke? Even with kids I'd be hard pressed to call that broke unless you had ridiculous student loans. And in that case, you're screwed where ever you live.

That's what I was thinking too. If your mortgage on your 3br in Oakland is $1MM, your payment is $4,728/mo (interest portion is tax deductible but let's ignore that). Let's say your place is $1.5MM, that's another $1500 in property tax (also tax deductible but again, let's ignore). If you're bringing home $15K/mo, then you're still left with ~9K per month. That's a lot of rice and beans.

Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”

#270

Post by _ao789 »

scholia wrote: post #252
_ao789 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After living in 'cramped old london' for over a decade (still), I can only dream of the luxury of 800 Sq.m. Where do I sign up? :) fitting multiple people/families into anything less is just bad living standards as far as I'm concerned. You work hard all day long to go back to such a depressing existence. Time to start living fellow HN'ers!

Which is why Londoners move to suburbia...

..and always dream of places like Spain (or better yet "Texas")
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