Company wants me to move from Denver to LA. How much salary adjustment do I ask for? (Inglewood: rent, house prices)

[magnifik]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

you can afford to rent an apartment on $70k-$80k per year. the real CoL issue is if you want to buy a home, which will no be feasible on your salary without a massive down payment.

This is very true.
I would start the negotiations at 20k

[Londonteacher]

20 k

[DinsdalePirahna]

yep 20K (Settle for nothing less than 18K)

[FooFighters]

Originally Posted by PDR2015

Question for you - do you want to move to LA? What are your current circumstances (own a home? renting by yourself or alone? any family considerations such as spouse and/or kids? expectations for purchasing a home going forward?).

I am a recent college grad, around 22 years of age and currently sharing a 2BR apt with a college buddy in Denver. I am very flexible as far as location is concerned and do not have any family restrictions in this regard. I do not intend to buy a house anytime soon. The only big expenditure I expect is a tuition payment of around $100K - $150K for graduate school in the next 3-4 years. I absolutely intend to save as much as possible for this in the next couple of years and I do not want the job relocation to affect my ability to do so in any negative way.

Originally Posted by PDR2015

Beach neighborhoods may be expensive so unless you plan to spend a significant portion of your post tax income on rent or plan to get a roommate, may also want to consider places like Hawthorne, parts of Culver City, or further down near Torrance / Carson. Depending upon your direction of commute, you shouldn't live more than 15-20 miles from work unless you are willing to bear with grueling traffic.

I am open to living in areas other than the beach neighborhoods as long as the location is safe and isn't too far from the work place. How much is the average rent for a relatively nice apartment in the areas you mentioned above? Also, could you specify how much you would expect the prices to be for a 1BR and a 2BR separately?

Originally Posted by BRinSM

you can afford to rent an apartment on $70k-$80k per year. the real CoL issue is if you want to buy a home, which will no be feasible on your salary without a massive down payment.

As mentioned above, I am just beginning my career and do not intend to purchase a house anytime soon. Do you know what the average starting salary for kids in the tech/business fields are in the L.A. area? I know 60K-70K is considered pretty good here in Denver, and would expect a good starting salary to be around 70K-80K in L.A. Does this seem accurate?

[Dunbar42]

I would just browse Craiglist and West Side Rentals (it's free to browse) to get an idea of what apartments go for in the areas you are interested in. In general, you are going to be in the $1500-2000 range for a decent 1BR apartment but you can spend a lot more if you want to. Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance are most to least expensive in that order. El Segundo is nice too but fairly quiet compared to the beach cities. Taxes are likely higher in CA so run your salary through an online calculator to figure take home pay. I can tell you from personal experience that $80k is about $4000-4200 take-home pay assuming 6% 401k contribution and about $100/mo. towards health insurance. I think you'll find that you won't be able to save a whole lot towards grad school on $70-80k living near El Segundo. The more they offer, the better. I would not take less than $70k.

[BRinSM]

Tech pays well in LA. I'm not sure what you will be doing, but $70-$80k for a junior role is pretty good. I started in tech 5 years ago in that range and now do much better. Even on a six figure salary, you'll need two incomes to buy a decent place in the nicer parts of LA.

[thelopez2]

1) you need to see what the market salary for your position in LA
2) living at the beach is a luxury
3) there is a high cost associated with it due to their school system being more desirable than LA schools
4) Good pay in LA would be around $120,000
5) I agree with others that 20,000 pretaxed would make you whole but it comes down to your current lifestyle now.
6) A more middle class housing budget would actually be Lawndale, Hawthorne, Gardena, Westchester, Inglewood
7) Going from $120k to $140k is one thing but expecting a 30% increase in pay for the cost of living might be too much for your company.
8) Entry level is around 40k, I've seen postings asking for years of experience in virtualization, server and networking experience offering only 70k on the low side.
9) The job market is very competitive (Low Paying) for most jobs, but also has higher potential for those individuals that set themselves apart.

[FooFighters]

Originally Posted by thelopez2

5) I agree with others that 20,000 pretaxed would make you whole but it comes down to your current lifestyle now.
7) Going from $120k to $140k is one thing but expecting a 30% increase in pay for the cost of living might be too much for your company.

I was thinking about these two points as well. While 20K is probably the correct amount that will allow me to maintain my current lifestyle it seems like an awful lot compared to my current salary. As you pointed out, that is a third of what I am currently making! What do you suggest I ask for? I don't want to come off as unreasonable but I don't want to lose out in the process either. I feel like it is a fine line between the two and I do not want to jeopardize my standing in the company by asking a salary hike that seems outrageous to them. I personally feel that asking a company to make a relocation adjustment that makes you whole should not be construed as outrageous or unreasonable, especially if the move is being initiated by the company. I mean I am not trying to somehow make a profit out of this. I am simply asking for an adjustment that allows me to maintain my real income and puts me right where I find myself now. Opinions on the matter are welcome from anyone who has experience with these things. Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. This has been extremely helpful.

[kasuga888]

You need to crunch the numbers yourself and see if 80k is reasonable. First, find out your total take home pay after CA state taxes and start to subtract you expensese. Start looking at how much a studio will cost you and dont get fool by the fake ads saying you can rent a nice place for 1k. Most decent places (decent for LA, but crappy compare to elsewhere) will prob start 1200 but realistically be closer to 1500-2000.

[Dunbar42]

Just tell them you've run the numbers and taxes are higher and rents are MUCH higher in LA so you need $20k to maintain your current lifestyle and that you can provide them with numbers to back it up. Really, nobody is going to be surprised that the COL is much higher in LA vs Denver. This is negotiation 101, they are asking you to throw out a number because they may be prepared to offer $20k but if you only ask for $6k they save money. Even if you start high you can always compromise on a lower number. It just depends on how much you want to relocate. They came to you first so you have the upper hand in negotiations.