In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
mercurynews.com
In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
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Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#2For a family of 4. That's the critical bit left out of the article title. 104k is low income for a family of 4, in some areas.
Which makes sense when it's hard to find somewhere to live alone, in SF, even at 100k. Finding a place big enough for a family of 4 plus all the costs related to 4 humans? Not surprising in the least.
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#3It's a low income if you are supporting a family of four and only one person is working. It doesn't mean the salary is in the low income bracket for a single tech worker on six figures.
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#4Cue the standard responses about lack of development, rampant NIMBYism, Prop 13 and rent control.
There's really nothing to add at this point.
All of this is also why I really prefer living in NYC, which actually has the infrastructure for this sort of thing (meaning if you're a lower to middle income earner in the tri-state area you're not totally hosed like you are in the Bay Area).
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#5I don't know much about SF salaries, but in NYC, 100K is really middle class. With enrage rent at 2k/mo, salaries have to be high in order to keep up with cost of living.
Everyone makes a huge deal about the number but shouldn't it be more of a ratio? Like the cost of living to base salary? That should be a better statistic to judge quality of life.
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#6Wow, 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 and felt like I became rich overnight! I miss working at Apple, and would definitely jump at the chance to work remotely for them, but I don't think I could ever afford to move back to California.
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#7Cue the standard responses about lack of development, rampant NIMBYism, Prop 13 and rent control. There's really nothing to add at this point. All of this is also why I really prefer living in NYC, which actually has the infrastructure for this sort of thing (meaning if you're a lower to middle income earner in the tri-state area you're not totally hosed like you are in the Bay Area).
Recently moved to NYC from the bay myself and could not be happier with the decision. At almost any price point, NYC is a more ergonomic place to live.
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#8Here in Boulder CO, the cutoff for "affordable" housing subsidies is ~80k for a family of four. 104k in the Bay Area seems about right.
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#9I don't know much about SF salaries, but in NYC, 100K is really middle class. With enrage rent at 2k/mo, salaries have to be high in order to keep up with cost of living. Everyone makes a huge deal about the number but shouldn't it be more of a ratio? Like the cost of living to base salary? That should be a better statistic to judge quality of life.
The median annual family income (for a whole family including all earners) is 50k. 100k for a family is in the top 20% of NYC.
Re: In Bay Area, six-figure salaries are “low income”
#10Cue the standard responses about lack of development, rampant NIMBYism, Prop 13 and rent control. There's really nothing to add at this point. All of this is also why I really prefer living in NYC, which actually has the infrastructure for this sort of thing (meaning if you're a lower to middle income earner in the tri-state area you're not totally hosed like you are in the Bay Area).
what are your options then? legit curious