Company wants me to move from Denver to LA. How much salary adjustment do I ask for?

[henderson702]

Originally Posted by IM90046

I would guess about 20k

this is what I was thinking, 20k, but ask for 25k and go from there.

[nick2006]

Originally Posted by 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.

are you from the LA area?

[DaMama]

We are looking at relocating from Denver to LA too. Wish I didn't have to worry about schools!

That said? Yeah, $18-20k/yr more is the figure I keep coming up with too. I would say that you don't need to do the spreadsheet, etc. Just say "after much research using online Cost of Living calculators and other resources, it doesn't seem unreasonable to say $75-80k/yr with a one-time relocation assistance."
Relocation will help you with rent deposit, moving costs, and going out there for a quick trip to figure out where to live. Going there and driving around will help you get the feel of the neighborhoods you are looking at as well as the drive-time. Usually runs about $3-5k but HR depts. are used to that.

Good Luck!!

[FooFighters]

Originally Posted by DaMama

We are looking at relocating from Denver to LA too. Wish I didn't have to worry about schools!

That said? Yeah, $18-20k/yr more is the figure I keep coming up with too. I would say that you don't need to do the spreadsheet, etc. Just say "after much research using online Cost of Living calculators and other resources, it doesn't seem unreasonable to say $75-80k/yr with a one-time relocation assistance."
Relocation will help you with rent deposit, moving costs, and going out there for a quick trip to figure out where to live. Going there and driving around will help you get the feel of the neighborhoods you are looking at as well as the drive-time. Usually runs about $3-5k but HR depts. are used to that.

Good Luck!!

Thanks for the reply. Yea I think I am going to go with the 18-20K figure although I am a little skeptical of receiving that since it is a full third of the salary I'm currently making. Well I guess there is only one way to find out.

[DaMama]

You know, you don't really know what they will or won't. Depending on the size of the company? The HR dept. should know what it would take for them to hire someone into that position locally. Even if it's 1/3 of your salary - if it would cost them that much to hire someone on out there? It shouldn't be an issue.
Just another note: if you're working for a company in the area that is currently being called "Silicon Beach"? I know that they are having a rough time finding qualified tech people to drive there b/c of the traffic. But honestly? As long as you aren't going East, it's really not much worse than a lot of Denver rush hour traffic has gotten. People out there don't really know about the state of traffic here or the skyrocketing house prices. Denver home prices grew more percentage-wise than any other major city. (Google it.)
But it sounds like you're in a position to say "that's what it would take to make me move" rather than saying "give me a huge raise." Because it's not really a raise, it's a cost-of-living adjustment.