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Old 07-03-2014, 04:28 PM
 
Location: O.C.
2,821 posts, read 3,539,565 times
Reputation: 2102

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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbunniii View Post
I don't dispute your conclusion, but your numbers are way off, or perhaps some years out of date.

The median software engineer salary in Silicon Valley is certainly not a five digit number. The first Google search result for "median software engineer income san jose" indicates $116,610, and that doesn't include stock compensation, which offhand I would guess brings the median to around $150k.

Also, the median house price in San Jose is $708k according to Zillow. With a 20% downpayment, that means a mortgage of $566k, which is doable (granted, near the upper limit of affordability) on a $150k income, at least at low interest rates such as we have now.

Undoubtedly the fellow in Raleigh, NC gets more bang for his buck, but the guy in California has a lot more variety of jobs to choose from. It all comes down to one's priorities. I don't think there is one right answer here.
The whole area will soon be out pricing their main tech employees. if it keeps getting worse, collapse...

Bay Area apartment rents set record - San Jose Mercury News

High prices sending Bay Area renters and homebuyers to outlying communities - San Jose Mercury News

Santa Clara County's Housing 1000 focuses on chronic homelessness - San Jose Mercury News

Silicon Valley housing prices increase, says Realtor.com report - Silicon Valley Business Journal
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Old 07-03-2014, 04:35 PM
 
Location: Madison, WI
1,044 posts, read 2,769,127 times
Reputation: 984
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbell75 View Post
The whole area is out pricing their main tech employees. if it keeps getting worse, collapse...
I agree that the current trend is unsustainable. I would not expect much upward housing/rent inflation from this point (and maybe another mini-crash is in our future), but I've been wrong about the Bay Area's lunatic housing market before.
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Old 07-03-2014, 07:02 PM
 
1,271 posts, read 2,594,419 times
Reputation: 642
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtrader View Post
Lets get real.

If you earned median software engineer salary of $71,054 in Raleigh NC, you would have to earn 56.8% more money or $111,435 when factoring in cost of living in San Jose. in Silicon Valley, where the median software engineer salary is only $95,000, so you take a hit on income moving from Silicon Valley to Raleigh North Carolina, but in doing so you actually get a raise in purchasing power. In other words you make more real spendable income in Raleigh, giving you a higher standard of living.

You would earn enough to buy a home in Raleigh where median home costs $246,278.00 as home is only 3 to 4 times median software engineer income. But not enough to buy a home in San Jose where the median home is $807,039.00 which is over 8 times median software engineer income.

If you move from Raleigh, NC, to San Jose, Ca, then you take a hit on your spending power.
Ok, let's get real, that median is way too low.

Software Engineer Salary in San Jose, CA | Indeed.com

Bay Area tech salaries are set to soar further - San Francisco Business Times

I have seen and know people making more than that.

I also mentioned that housing is an advantage, but again you have to want to live in Raleigh, it's not for everyone and doesn't come close to what Northern California has to offer in things beyond work.

Of course NOT every tech employee makes those wages, the averages are lower for other titles, hardware engineers, mechanical, manufacturing almost all struggle to earn a decent wage in SV. That's why recruiters at many of these big companies, Apple, Tesla and etc, recruit on LinkedIn and try to lure people to SV. Mainly the ones that move are green horns fresh out of college and these types have no problems with the rent and expense and do not stay too long.
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Old 07-03-2014, 07:06 PM
 
1,271 posts, read 2,594,419 times
Reputation: 642
Copy and Paste my Copy and Paste ha! Good to spread the world though

Now send this to Tesla, Apple and various recruiters who contact you about jobs in SV, see the response on their face.



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Old 07-03-2014, 07:22 PM
 
1,271 posts, read 2,594,419 times
Reputation: 642
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbunniii View Post

but the guy in California has a lot more variety of jobs to choose from. It all comes down to one's priorities. I don't think there is one right answer here.
Exactly, the biggest advantage to SV is competition from the vast number of companies and start-ups = employers who have to compensate talent accordingly, in places of the Southeast, even worse in Florida where there is little work, salaries are stagnant and employers have a take it or leave it attitude.

If you love Pinestraw, NC is the place to be.
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Old 07-04-2014, 02:48 PM
 
528 posts, read 867,502 times
Reputation: 272
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr5150 View Post
About oldtrader
ZIP Code59019From his profile. ^^^

I find oldtrader incredible. Why should anyone from Montana give a Rat's ass about CA. What's with all of these out of state folk spreading lies about the CA economy? There is a reason why houses cost a ton of money in the Bay Area. You get what you pay for. If CA sucked and had no decent jobs one would think that the average price of homes would be the same as....Montana!
Stop acting like the Bay Area is so great. Theres no bigger pretention. Bay Area is quite depressed I feel and very sketchy. The media doesn't report the crimes really in the Bay Area.. they only seem to focus on Detroit and St Louis or even South Chicago but you mean to tell me The Bay Area is so much safer and better than any of these? Naw. So ya while SF may have jobs for some people, they are of the "upper echelon".. people like me could not make it there. And go ahead make one of your snide remarks but its true what I say. And you love to bash L.A but don't like to look in your own back yard. SF is boring, and so are the people from SF who moved to the North of it also. If SF was so great, some of it would be glowing in Sacramento with all those Bay Area migrants right? You are in an overhyped place lets face it. And this is an East Coaster talking.
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Old 07-04-2014, 02:51 PM
 
528 posts, read 867,502 times
Reputation: 272
Quote:
Originally Posted by shooting4life View Post
Here is California employment

If you work in tech or health care you are doing absolutely great. If you work in just about anything else you are probably under employed or out of work or "early retired" which means no one will hire you so you just stopped looking for a job. But it is ok, tech doing well will help everyone in the state, oh wait, it won't.
Very true. Everything else other than these fields do not do good and even then, some people still struggle with cost of living who are in the right fields. I am surprised the suicide rate in SF is not higher.
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Old 07-04-2014, 02:58 PM
 
1,881 posts, read 1,011,211 times
Reputation: 1551
I'm an outside observer here.. But I must think that the nasty drought you have had now the last 2 years has not helped the economy.. Especially in the smaller towns and areas that depend on agriculture
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Old 07-04-2014, 03:49 PM
 
Location: New Orleans, LA
1,579 posts, read 2,342,480 times
Reputation: 1155
Thank California for CREATING those moved jobs in the first place. Plus all the technological innovation California brings to the table. In that regard, it's probably the most important state in the union.
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Old 07-04-2014, 05:36 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,687,353 times
Reputation: 23268
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldCountry80 View Post
Stop acting like the Bay Area is so great. Theres no bigger pretention. Bay Area is quite depressed I feel and very sketchy. The media doesn't report the crimes really in the Bay Area.. they only seem to focus on Detroit and St Louis or even South Chicago but you mean to tell me The Bay Area is so much safer and better than any of these? Naw. So ya while SF may have jobs for some people, they are of the "upper echelon".. people like me could not make it there. And go ahead make one of your snide remarks but its true what I say. And you love to bash L.A but don't like to look in your own back yard. SF is boring, and so are the people from SF who moved to the North of it also. If SF was so great, some of it would be glowing in Sacramento with all those Bay Area migrants right? You are in an overhyped place lets face it. And this is an East Coaster talking.
I don't know about that...

I've traveled the world and the first reaction I get when I tell people I live in Oakland California in the heart for the Bay Area are questions about is it safe.

Seems the media worldwide has plenty to say about Oakland...
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