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Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

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Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#41

Post by JamesBarney »

patapscoBM wrote: post #33

Apologies for the throwaway, and numbers are rough $140k: - 1500/mo in 401k - 6200 after-tax, after 401k income - 2800 savings from after-tax income - Total discounted savings/mo, roughly: 2800 + .85 * 1500 = 4075 Is the bay area cost of living expensive? Absolutely. But I'd argue if you're a generally frugal person you'll save more (in absolute terms) here than anyplace else. I doubt I could get much above $100k any…

In Houston sr. devs(3+ years of experience if your driven, 7 if your not) are easily making 100k+. And most devs who are on hacker news could easily make 140k+.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#42

Post by godot »

nodesocket wrote: post #19
jcims wrote: post #4

I'm going crazy trying to sort through this. Got a job offer with one of the big bay area companies. $140K base + bonus/stock to get to $210K. Doesn't seem like enough to move my family there from the midwest, so I'm about to say no because I can't make it work (while saving for retirement/paying for college/etc) on $200K per year? WTF?

I've lived in downtown SF for 5 years and as I type this visiting Nashville TN, as I am thinking about moving to Nashville. The biggest expenses to consider in SF besides the obvious housing costs: - Food + drink + groceries are way, way, way more expensive. There is no Walmart in the city. Get used to corner stores that charge a hefty premium. I miss Walmart and strip shopping malls. - Income taxes. Tennessee for ex…

Why not live in the suburbs of bay area (East Bay, for example), and quickly cut 30% of your housing costs? Obviously the commute sucks (I endure it daily), but it makes the numbers work. It boggles my mind that most software workers think that they have to live in SF. Bonus: There's Walmart and strip malls in the East Bay. :)

Agreed with your other points though. Not having staate income tax is a huge bonus.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#43

Post by zzalpha »

godot wrote: post #42
nodesocket wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've lived in downtown SF for 5 years and as I type this visiting Nashville TN, as I am thinking about moving to Nashville. The biggest expenses to consider in SF besides the obvious housing costs: - Food + drink + groceries are way, way, way more expensive. There is no Walmart in the city. Get used to corner stores that charge a hefty premium. I miss Walmart and strip shopping malls. - Income taxes. Tennessee for ex…

Why not live in the suburbs of bay area (East Bay, for example), and quickly cut 30% of your housing costs? Obviously the commute sucks (I endure it daily), but it makes the numbers work. It boggles my mind that most software workers think that they have to live in SF. Bonus: There's Walmart and strip malls in the East Bay. :) Agreed with your other points though. Not having staate income tax is a huge bonus.

OOC, what's your daily commute in total hours spent on the road, and what does it cost you monthly?

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#44

Post by tylorr »

JamesBarney wrote: post #41
patapscoBM wrote: post #33

Apologies for the throwaway, and numbers are rough $140k: - 1500/mo in 401k - 6200 after-tax, after 401k income - 2800 savings from after-tax income - Total discounted savings/mo, roughly: 2800 + .85 * 1500 = 4075 Is the bay area cost of living expensive? Absolutely. But I'd argue if you're a generally frugal person you'll save more (in absolute terms) here than anyplace else. I doubt I could get much above $100k any…

In Houston sr. devs(3+ years of experience if your driven, 7 if your not) are easily making 100k+. And most devs who are on hacker news could easily make 140k+.

"And anyone who is on hacker news could easily make 140k+"

If only it were that easy.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#45

Post by refurb »

daxfohl wrote: post #35
jcims wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a dinosaur. 20 yrs in my industry.

I'd say no. Not the valley. I just moved my family to Seattle, same situation. I'd been a freelancer in Kalamazoo and the work had mostly dried up, so I got this huge offer and it seemed too good to pass up. I'm having huge doubts as to whether it was the right decision. SV is twice as expensive, I'd not consider it. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15082982 Also have you lived in SV before? I did years ago and d…

Used to live in Kalamazoo, but now in the Bay Area. Kalamazoo is a great place. A big enough city so that you can find most things you need, but ridiculously cheap housing. At 25 and fresh out of school I bought my first house on a salary of $50K/yr. Brand new home, one of the better neighborhoods, great schools, short commute. You could find nice bungalows from the 1960's for less than $100K.

However, it was a one company town, that's why I left.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#46

Post by solotronics »

orange_county wrote: post #18

Make 110k, take home around 4800 month after taxes and maxed out 401k. Rent $1600 in SF (lucky here). But I still have over $2k month after all expenses. As a single person, I consider myself fortunate. People will complain about living expenses but they need to calculate the income - expenses plus what the area you want to live in. City living isn't always a viable option for people. Whereas some people love it. I d…

Dallas, make 110k and take home 6100 and expenses are about 1.8k including car payment and nice 1k sq/ft 1 bedroom apartment in uptown

it really depends on where you want to live but man its really nice to live where there are no income taxes

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#47

Post by ViViDboarder »

jcims wrote: post #4

I'm going crazy trying to sort through this. Got a job offer with one of the big bay area companies. $140K base + bonus/stock to get to $210K. Doesn't seem like enough to move my family there from the midwest, so I'm about to say no because I can't make it work (while saving for retirement/paying for college/etc) on $200K per year? WTF?

Single earner with kids? My wife and I moved here on an offer less than that and were quite comfortable... That was almost 5 years ago, but cost of living was close.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#48

Post by bdcravens »

JamesBarney wrote: post #41
patapscoBM wrote: post #33

Apologies for the throwaway, and numbers are rough $140k: - 1500/mo in 401k - 6200 after-tax, after 401k income - 2800 savings from after-tax income - Total discounted savings/mo, roughly: 2800 + .85 * 1500 = 4075 Is the bay area cost of living expensive? Absolutely. But I'd argue if you're a generally frugal person you'll save more (in absolute terms) here than anyplace else. I doubt I could get much above $100k any…

In Houston sr. devs(3+ years of experience if your driven, 7 if your not) are easily making 100k+. And most devs who are on hacker news could easily make 140k+.

I'll second the comment about $100k in Houston, though in general most of the jobs are in health care or energy, and you'll find yourself doing something like .NET or ColdFusion.

I do think you overestimate the average skill level on HN though :-)

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#49

Post by rCK94wVCBk »

chank wrote: post #38
patapscoBM wrote: post #33

Apologies for the throwaway, and numbers are rough $140k: - 1500/mo in 401k - 6200 after-tax, after 401k income - 2800 savings from after-tax income - Total discounted savings/mo, roughly: 2800 + .85 * 1500 = 4075 Is the bay area cost of living expensive? Absolutely. But I'd argue if you're a generally frugal person you'll save more (in absolute terms) here than anyplace else. I doubt I could get much above $100k any…

$100K+ is doable in just about EVERY major metro area outside of New York as a developer depending on experience. e.g. You won't find that for jr-mid level positions but Sr. and up you can easily.

Throwaway, but for perspective in Minneapolis there's quite a few Sr dev positions pay $125k+, if you play your cards right there's even a few $210k jobs for people with 3-5yrs experience.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you save in the SF Bay Area with $120k salary?

#50

Post by slad »

Interesting comments but curious to know from the perspective of racism and related issues. As an Immigrant from India, and Living in California (for over 10 years) at this time seems to be best bet from that perspective.

With expanding family, I have been contemplating a lot to move outside of CA for cost saving but thoughts about racial issues plaguing the country just makes me nervous.

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