Torrance,CA vs Fort Wayne,IN cost of living. Is this recruiter being honest?

[Mike121]

Part of the difference is that people live in smaller spaces here because it is the big city. Most individuals wouldn't expect to rent a two bedroom apartment.

LA County is a sort of a middle ground between smaller cities and true dense cities like San Francisco or New York City. If you got a job in NYC, you wouldn't expect to rent a 2 bed apartment. You'd dial down your expectations to a studio apartment.

For L.A., you need to dial down your expectations as well, only not as extreme as you would for SF or NYC. Most individuals just wouldn't expect to rent a 2 bed apartment: it would seem excessive.

[1200RT]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

Maybe in adjacent Redondo Beach but Torrance is more affordable. I'd say around $1400-1600 for a nice 2BR apartment. $2000 would probably get you a nice 2-3BR house in Torrance. You can check Craigslist and Westsiderentals.com to get a general idea of rental prices.

This is wholly dependent on the neighborhood (in Torrance) and the 'quality' of the apartment.

As mentioned above, the $1600 budget fits a 1 bedroom much better. In unit w/d are hard to find in LA - most complexes have a shared w/d.

[stock66]

North and east Torrance tend to be less expensive than west and south. I about in the middle and a 2 bedroom house is about $2400.
I'm from the Midwest, as Mike121 said your idea of the space you needs to change for you to be happy here. I had a huge home in a great location in the Midwest, here I got a condo in an, eh, location. Only you can decide what you need to make you happy.

[drshang]

96k in LA vs 70k in Indiana seems about right. Your rent will go up around 1200-1300 a month from what are you paying in Indiana (I agree with others 1800-2000 is a more realistic budget), which is roughly equivalent to 20k pre-tax. The remaining 6k will go to largely paying higher California taxes (income, sales tax, car registration, absurd speeding/parking ticket fees, etc). Most other expenses will not change significantly from Indiana. You will probably pay higher car insurance, but you will pay lower utility prices and food is generally cheaper here too. All in all I think this is pretty much accurate.

[robertin75]

Thanks for all the advise but seems like the recruiter didn't like that I found out that he was not being honest when he told me that a 12%-15% salary increase would be more than enough to maintain the same current standard of living that I have in Indiana.

I emailed him several times asking him what he thought about the graphics that I sent him and I never heard back from him again.

So I'm glad I did my homework before applying to this job.

Hopefully if I find another job in California that I can apply to I will know how much salary I should ask for.

[jackie100]

Electricity depends if you use AC or heater or not. I have lived in Orange County, West Hollywood etc. all more expensive areas than Torrance and my bill was NEVER more than $40 a month, more like $35.

People who have high electric bills do so cause they use a heater or AC. I've never felt the need to use AC my entire life in Socal. However, many people are weird and like to use it. Just never felt the need for it.

[melodramatic]

I live in Torrance and I pay $1595 for a 2bdrm, 1 1/2 bath, shared laundry facility and I had to buy my own refrigerator, so it's a big difference from what I paid in Denver. Utilities aren't much at all, around $30-$40/month.