Moving to Anaheim (Los Angeles, Irvine, Orange: sales, condos, crime)

[Nekudot]

Hi,

I'm not from the US, a Tech company is offering me a job probably in Anaheim.

I've been reading some of the messages about living in LA and the OC, and I'm really considering the change now.

My idea was to improve or maintain my actual quality of life, but the comments about the cost of living, traffic and crime doesn't seem very good.

I'm to planning to be there in March (with my wife and dog). They are salary will be around 70K (year).

Anyone knows how much I'll get after taxes? Or where I can check it?

Also, with that amount what do I can expect (living place, car, etc)?

Thanks!

[dusesean1986]

Originally Posted by Nekudot

Hi,

I'm not from the US, a Tech company is offering me a job probably in Anaheim.

I've been reading some of the messages about living in LA and the OC, and I'm really considering the change now.

My idea was to improve or maintain my actual quality of life, but the comments about the cost of living, traffic and crime doesn't seem very good.

I'm to planning to be there in March (with my wife and dog). They are salary will be around 70K (year).

Anyone knows how much I'll get after taxes? Or where I can check it?

Also, with that amount what do I can expect (living place, car, etc)?

Thanks!

Everything depends on the area of which you reside in. Orange County is a large area, this is where Anaheim is located, about 50 minutes south of Los Angeles. This is a relocation website, either people are trying to receive information on a certain location, or they are bombing it because it was terrible where they lived or where they once lived. Let me basically give you the neutral facts, and don't be fooled by the incessant deragratory speech given by many on this site. I've lived here all 20 years and have been through every part of SoCal. Southern California has a million communities, if you don't make decent money, your location has a high probability of being run down and having a great deal of illegal immigrants. Illegal Immigrants are not dangerous by any means but they are quite poor, and they bring down the value of certain neighborhoods big time and the demand for homes in these areas. Yes, California is very diverse, with gangs of every race, but these only persists in lower class neighborhoods. Traffic is another problem in Southern California depending on a persons commute time. The determining factor is usually freeways taken and the length of which must take and what time he or her has to leave. Anaheim is a decent area expect for some of the barrio neighborhoods, not in a racial context, but some areas are very poor because of the influx of immigrants. Anaheim has numerous great neighborhoods, it's where Disneyland is located. On muninetguide.com, according to the 2000 census, the population was 46.8% Latino, 35.9% white, 2.7% black, and 12% Asian. The median household income was $56,633. The neighborhoods differ greatly, some great and others are very scary. The city has 328,000 people so the poor areas you won't have to visit, if you can afford the city itself. I understand you make 70K, I think your on the bubble for affording a nice place. There are other cities in the area, though I don't know the names. The canyon part of Anaheim is very nice with a great school called Canyon Country. The taxes are terrible, but the weather, jobs, and certain schools are terrific. The beach is very close, I'm not sure if Anaheim has a smog problem, and the mountain are only a few hours away including the desert, Vegas in 4 1/2 hours away, depending if you put a brick on the gas pedal. The highest monthly summer average in Anaheim is 86 in August and the lowest average temp is 45, weather.com. The weather is great in SoCal and the beaches are tremendous as well. Hope I could help! Where you coming from?! BTW, the cousins used to live in Anaheim Hills until they moved to Utah and it's extremely nice.

[J1ndo]

The nice "canyon" part of Anaheim that dusesean1986 speaks of is called Anaheim Hills. It is very nice. Anaheim in general is like any American city, with nice, and not-so-nice parts. The very worst parts of Anaheim are still pretty safe, though.
As for maintaining your quality of life, that is hard to answer because we don't know what your current quality of life is. 70k is a decent salary down here, but you might find it limiting if that is your sole income. If you both work you should be fine. There are very fine cities near Anaheim too (Fullerton, Brea, Yorba Linda, Orange, etc.) so traffic doesn't really have to be a problem if make sure to live close to work.
At 70k, my guess is your total income tax (Federal, State, SSN, and FICA) will be above 30% but below 35%. Property Taxes in CA are low by national standards, usually around 1%. With housing prices startingin the mid $500k range, though, that 1% can hurt. The local sales tax rate is 7.75%.
Personally, I'm looking to leave this area because I find it too expensive to really thrive here (disclosure: my income is about $60k). If your new job has a lot of career-growth potential, well, why not do it? One thing I can say for SoCal, it's very stimulating, with lots to do.

[Angel Bear]

Thanks for starting this thread because it helped me in an indirect way. I love how we can help each other here in this forum.

My hubby is looking for tech jobs in Irvine and Anaheim We're also pricing housing such as condos, townhomes, etc. We've done lots of calculations and discovered that we will be just fine if we were to relocate. We're not going to have kids, so that is a big thing to consider in your cost of living calculations (we decided prior to marriage so don't think we decided not to in order to move...ROTFL).

Best of luck and well wishes on your relocation