Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 02-16-2010, 10:15 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,348,315 times
Reputation: 7585

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by trunky View Post
A lot of people use phrases along the lines of having "tons of money." I know this is subjective and means different things to different people. But, for the sake of being more specific, what's the range on how much you have to earn to be making "tons of money" in LA if say, you're 30-years-old, no kids, willing to rent?

$30/hr? $40/hr? $70,000/year? $90,000/year?
$70k is fine for someone in that position. The question is, will you be 30, single, and willing to rent forever?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-16-2010, 10:51 PM
 
436 posts, read 904,925 times
Reputation: 215
You need a minimum of $110,000 a year to have any kind of life style in the LA area even that is not really enough if you own a house. It is just expensive to live here and if you don't make enough life basically sucks here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2010, 12:31 AM
 
70 posts, read 190,567 times
Reputation: 28
Quote:
Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia View Post
$70k is fine for someone in that position. The question is, will you be 30, single, and willing to rent forever?

It'd be more like 30, living with gf, and willing to rent for 1-3 years. Not quite ready to be an owner.... I don't think, anyway.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2010, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Outside of Los Angeles
1,249 posts, read 2,687,879 times
Reputation: 817
I think a person can live out in L.A. county if they make 50-55K before taxes. It could still be done but only if you are single and don't plan on getting married or having kids. That salary is doable if you don't eat out every night for dinner and if you limit going out to expensive concerts. If you do those two things, you can still have a decent life. Having said that, one of my biggest complaints about L.A. is the super expensive cost of living.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2010, 02:09 PM
 
Location: United States
2,497 posts, read 7,451,512 times
Reputation: 2270
Quote:
Originally Posted by FLIGHTSIMMER View Post
You need a minimum of $110,000 a year to have any kind of life style in the LA area even that is not really enough if you own a house. It is just expensive to live here and if you don't make enough life basically sucks here.
So let me get this right, you should make $2115.38 a week to live in L.A. and not be miserable? Hmmm, that would be news to the friends of mine making $350. a week and having a comfortable life. Guess it all depends on how elaborate a lifestyle one needs. Of course my friends don't have kids or any of that and they all have room mates.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2010, 03:14 PM
 
Location: Outside of Los Angeles
1,249 posts, read 2,687,879 times
Reputation: 817
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc76 View Post
So let me get this right, you should make $2115.38 a week to live in L.A. and not be miserable? Hmmm, that would be news to the friends of mine making $350. a week and having a comfortable life. Guess it all depends on how elaborate a lifestyle one needs. Of course my friends don't have kids or any of that and they all have room mates.
Jc76, don't listen to that person that says you have to make over $110,000 a year to not be miserable. You can live a decent life in L.A. on 60K. I know this because I have a friend who lives in Irvine(Orange county) and makes 55K a year and he is able to make ends meet. I don't know how comfortable he lives but at least he makes enough to pay his expenses. I've been told you can even make it here in L.A. if you bring in $3,000 a month before taxes. So do you need to make over 110K to not be miserable? No. But if you make 60-70K a year before taxes, you can still live pretty good but you may not be able to eat out every night for dinner or get an expensive massage.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2010, 03:17 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,348,315 times
Reputation: 7585
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc76 View Post
So let me get this right, you should make $2115.38 a week to live in L.A. and not be miserable? Hmmm, that would be news to the friends of mine making $350. a week and having a comfortable life. Guess it all depends on how elaborate a lifestyle one needs. Of course my friends don't have kids or any of that and they all have room mates.
I'm sure some people are comfortable living in a box in Africa but with barely enough to eat. $350 a week is just existing in LA, but who really wants to just exist?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2010, 06:11 PM
 
1 posts, read 5,145 times
Reputation: 10
Of course you could just move to Kenya, where Barack Obama's brother lives on about a dollar a year....


Really, love it or leave it.. SoCal is the best place to live on earth. I live about 24.625miles from the US Bank building in downtown LA. I say about because there is always some uncertainty in measurement. I measured this using very primative surveying tools, so really lets just say that I live approximately 24.6 miles from the very center of Los Angeles.

People complain about the air in Southern California... really? When was the last time you saw or even heard about a smog alert?

The reason I talk about the distance I live from the US Bank building, and live so far from downtown Los Angeles, is that since I bought this house in July 2009 (bottom of the market I hope!), there has not been a single day when I could not see the skyline of downtown Los Angeles from my house that is approximately 24.6 miles away.

The market has changed. If you were not living beyond your means when you were renting, and actually saved some cash to buy...

and buying is what you wanted to do...

Don't wait too long!

I can see the skyline right now, as I type looking out my home office window!

what commute? hehehe

Life only sucks as much as you are willing to put up with.

on a negative side.. now I have to learn about lawn care... meh! Will life ever be perfect!?

no, only death is perfect.

so, live as you will... and to who ever said there should be a cap on homepricing? are you friggin kidding me?

great plan man, and vote for Castro next time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-04-2010, 09:35 PM
 
436 posts, read 904,925 times
Reputation: 215
To do well in LA, you need a good job that pays over 150K a year, anything else is just existing, and now that the state of California is in virtual ruin thanks to out idiot state government, get ready to be taxed and feed to death.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-05-2010, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Outside of Los Angeles
1,249 posts, read 2,687,879 times
Reputation: 817
Quote:
Originally Posted by FLIGHTSIMMER View Post
To do well in LA, you need a good job that pays over 150K a year, anything else is just existing, and now that the state of California is in virtual ruin thanks to out idiot state government, get ready to be taxed and feed to death.
Bravo!! This is one of the best posts I've read. Our state sales tax is now at 10% after having been at 8.25% for years. Our property taxes aren't cheap either. But I would say that doing well in L.A. depends on the person and their circumstances. If for example you have a wife and 2 kids and you want to buy a house, $150K won't be enough. For a single person like me, $150K would be more than plenty. I'd probably be satisfied making much less than that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top