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Old 12-05-2011, 03:05 PM
 
Location: Baker City, Oregon
5,393 posts, read 8,074,210 times
Reputation: 11447

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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeavingSoCal4Oregon View Post
We have the opportunity to relocate to Salem, Oregon for a job. It pays nearly $115k per year and we were wondering if this was considered quite good for Salem? We are asking because we make nearly $180k in southern california (which, believe it or not, doesn't buy you much! We are actually pretty middle class here!).........
There is no yes or no answer to your question.

You must examine all of your expenses to see which ones are so high that you can't have more than a middle class life in California, where the median household income is about $60K, while making $180K.

Then determine which ones will be less in Salem. Things such as vacations will stay the same. Housing will probably be cheaper. You might save on taxes. Most other things such as food, clothing, automobile, etc. will change so little that they can be considered to be essentially the same.

You have to find $65K in savings.
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Old 12-05-2011, 03:45 PM
 
Location: Bend Or.
1,126 posts, read 2,914,383 times
Reputation: 958
Quote:
Originally Posted by karlsch View Post
There is no yes or no answer to your question.

You must examine all of your expenses to see which ones are so high that you can't have more than a middle class life in California, where the median household income is about $60K, while making $180K.

Then determine which ones will be less in Salem. Things such as vacations will stay the same. Housing will probably be cheaper. You might save on taxes. Most other things such as food, clothing, automobile, etc. will change so little that they can be considered to be essentially the same.

You have to find $65K in savings.
Well thought out.
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Old 12-05-2011, 04:17 PM
 
Location: The beautiful Rogue Valley, Oregon
7,785 posts, read 18,729,982 times
Reputation: 10782
There is a very inexpensive service-based economy in So Cal in particular that just doesn't exist here - I see it every time I go down to LA to visit my son, even in hard economic times. In his neighborhood, everyone has a weekly gardener, 2-3x a week housekeeper, pool cleaner, dog-walker, gets the car washed or detailed at least weekly.

That just doesn't happen here (outside upscale neighborhoods), so those "semi-standard" costs are gone.

On the other hand, you get to do the work yourself.
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Old 12-05-2011, 08:20 PM
 
Location: Lakewood OH
21,695 posts, read 28,305,050 times
Reputation: 35861
You have to ask some other questions. You stated "If I take this job, we will be on just this one income until my husband finds something up there." So that assumes you want to live your income temporarily only.

So the question is, what does your husband do for work? Will it be something he can easily find in Salem. Keep in mind it is a small town and opportunies will be less than in Southern California.

I think you will be okay on $115k in Salem but if you want a double income, you probably should determine whether or not you husband will be able to contribute to that.
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Old 12-05-2011, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,487 posts, read 40,178,438 times
Reputation: 17297
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah View Post
You have to ask some other questions. You stated "If I take this job, we will be on just this one income until my husband finds something up there." So that assumes you want to live your income temporarily only.

So the question is, what does your husband do for work? Will it be something he can easily find in Salem. Keep in mind it is a small town and opportunies will be less than in Southern California.

I think you will be okay on $115k in Salem but if you want a double income, you probably should determine whether or not you husband will be able to contribute to that.

On this note to, you said you loved West Salem but if your husband's best chances for work is Portland, he would be in commuting hell. You'd want to live in Keizer, most likely, if he ended up working in Portland. If he found work in Corvallis, West Salem would still work.
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Old 12-06-2011, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Seattle
1,369 posts, read 3,298,161 times
Reputation: 1499
If you struggle to live in Southern California on 180k, you will struggle to live in Oregon on 115k. Outside of housing, there isn't going to be striking differences in the cost of living between one region and another. Most people should generally be fine with that income.

Your biggest savings in relocating will be housing; you should see lower taxes in Oregon as well, but the difference in taxes is pretty minuscule compared to the difference in housing costs.
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Old 12-06-2011, 05:32 PM
 
5 posts, read 28,473 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by karlsch View Post
There is no yes or no answer to your question.

You must examine all of your expenses to see which ones are so high that you can't have more than a middle class life in California, where the median household income is about $60K, while making $180K.

Then determine which ones will be less in Salem. Things such as vacations will stay the same. Housing will probably be cheaper. You might save on taxes. Most other things such as food, clothing, automobile, etc. will change so little that they can be considered to be essentially the same.

You have to find $65K in savings.

Really, in California, it's rent or house payments that are the most expensive ($3500/month and that's for a normal 3 bed house). That's where the bulk of our money goes. That and childcare which is $1000/month per kid. I love that housing is so much cheaper in Salem. It's amazing to me to see that you can buy a house for $200k. Here, you cannot even buy a one bedroom apartment for that.
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Old 12-06-2011, 05:39 PM
 
5 posts, read 28,473 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah View Post
You have to ask some other questions. You stated "If I take this job, we will be on just this one income until my husband finds something up there." So that assumes you want to live your income temporarily only.

So the question is, what does your husband do for work? Will it be something he can easily find in Salem. Keep in mind it is a small town and opportunies will be less than in Southern California.

I think you will be okay on $115k in Salem but if you want a double income, you probably should determine whether or not you husband will be able to contribute to that.

Hubby is a high school teacher. We love West Salem high school and it would be ideal if he could eventually get a job there (depending on the budget situation for high schools). But, he also has a business degree and can work in nearly any office job with that if need be.
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Old 12-06-2011, 05:48 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,487 posts, read 40,178,438 times
Reputation: 17297
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeavingSoCal4Oregon View Post
Hubby is a high school teacher. We love West Salem high school and it would be ideal if he could eventually get a job there (depending on the budget situation for high schools). But, he also has a business degree and can work in nearly any office job with that if need be.

Well Salem Keizer just got $55 million out of their budget by slashing high school teaching positions. They have another $20 million to cut for next year. The budget situation is quite dire here, in my opinion. The best he could hope for would be substitute teaching work for several years as they are hiring back teachers they cut first. Unless, he is bilingual or something that gives him an advantage.
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Old 12-06-2011, 05:50 PM
 
Location: Lakewood OH
21,695 posts, read 28,305,050 times
Reputation: 35861
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeavingSoCal4Oregon View Post
Hubby is a high school teacher. We love West Salem high school and it would be ideal if he could eventually get a job there (depending on the budget situation for high schools). But, he also has a business degree and can work in nearly any office job with that if need be.
Both will be difficult to come by. But as long as there will be an income, you will be better off than many. You are very fortunate in that.

The budgets for schools in Oregon, as in other cities, has been cut with many layoffs. It would be a good idea to contact the school in which he is interested and find out what their rehiring plans would be.

A business degree may help depending upon how far advanced. It appears that his most likely opportunity would be as a state worker in Salem. Portland would have the most businesses opportunities.
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