Job Offer...but in San Francisco, AAAHHHHHHHHHH !!!! (San Jose, Sacramento: insurance, how much)

[johndoe2010]

I live in Sacramento and received a job offer in San Francisco (95 miles away).
It's a swing shift position and will be paying a salary (between 85k-90k) The Problem is I might be getting another offer (between 55k-60k) from a place that's only 60 miles away but the benefits and distance are tempting (100% paid medical, 4 weeks vacation, matching 401k, rotating shifts etc..)

I haven't received the full proposal from S.F. regarding the benefits yet so I will be getting a better look soon at what else is included.

The drive time and distance/cost to S.F. is worrying me a lot.
I'd like to know if anyone is in doing this trip and is it worth the $$$ the was offered to me?
Some input would be greatly appreciated.

Please Note: Moving closer is NOT an option for me

: smack:

[CityGirl72]

I have been unemployed on and off for nearly 18 months. We still pay bills but money is low.

I wouldn't take SF. But that's me. I have kids and I still need to get them to school and make dinner (Yes my husband does 50% of the work too, but I'm MOM)

If I didn't have kids I might not care about the commute. But since I do - I can't do more than 45 minutes.

I had a job offer in Oakland, and I turned it down.

[Archan]

I think you have to factor in mileage, a daily $5 bridge toll and if your new job provides parking. Parking is San Francisco is usually pretty expensive. Where is the job that is 60 miles away?

Another thing that I would think about is future employment possibilites. If you take a higher paying job and the ecomony bounces back, could you get an even higher paying job closer to home. What you are currently being paid is a huge factor in getting an even higher paying job.

[NorCalDad]

Originally Posted by Archan

I think you have to factor in mileage, a daily $5 bridge toll and if your new job provides parking.

Make that either a $9 or $11 bridge toll if you drive I-80 both ways. (Toll on the Bay Bridge is $6 from 5-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. weekdays, and $4 at all other times on weekdays. It's $5 all day on weekends. Plus, there is a toll bridge over the Carquinez Strait on eastbound 80.)

The only way to avoid the toll outbound would be to take 80 to 580 to 205 to the Stockton area, or to take the Golden Gate Bridge northbound to Highway 37 and cut over to Vallejo.

[Mr. Ozo]

I don't think a daily commute to S.F. from Sac is really an option. 60 miles is still a long commute.

That said...

If you work in the FiDi or nearby of S.F. you have a couple transportation options. You can drive to Vallejo and take the ferry in which is a pretty swell way to go.

You can take the capital corridor train which transfers either to Bart or a connecting bus.

You can drive to Bart in El Cerrito (You will stay have to pay one bridge toll back.)

All this options are better than try to solo commute into San Francisco which will easily take 3 hours each way during rush hour. Train or Ferry will take 2.5 hours but you aren't driving the whole time.

Again, it's seems like an impossible commute that will make you hate life.

[sonarrat]

Swing shift isn't so bad. It's still an hour and a half each way, but I know people who do worse. My boss commutes from Roseville to here in San Jose, and another coworker of mine comes in from Modesto, and they get caught in peak hour traffic.

[wburg]

Add up how much it will cost in gas, tolls, and wear & tear on your car (or, if transit is possible, cost of Capitol Corridor/BART.) Subtract that from your base salary. Add the 15-20 hours a week you'll spend in transit to your workweek.

So, say, if you drive, figure $12 a day for tolls, and if your car gets 30 MPG, 6 gallons of gas or about $18. That's $150 a week, or $7500 a year. Now, that's 45,000 miles a year, so figure an oil change every 5000 miles, a set of tires, and a couple trips to the mechanic, plus higher insurance rates, so figure your transportation costs will be about $10,000 a year. That doesn't include the extra costs of eating out or extra childcare.

So that $85K job is now $75K. (Note that this assumes you live on the eastern edge of Sacramento and your car gets good mileage. If you live in Roseville and drive a car that gets 20 MPG, figure on more like $15,000.)

Now, $75K means you're earning $37.50 an hour, assuming a 40 hour workweek. But since you're spending 3-4 hours a day in transit (bare minimum), it's really more like a 55-60 hour workweek. So your real rate of pay is more like $25 an hour, considering the amount of time your workweek actually eats up.

Now, because transportation to and from work is not a deductible expense, you are earning $70-75K after expenses but being taxed for $85K. So your tax bite will be harder too.

Of course, spending 4-5 hours a day in a car, you probably won't have much time or energy to spend your money once you get home, so that might be okay.

[Archan]

Originally Posted by NorCalDad

Make that either a $9 or $11 bridge toll if you drive I-80 both ways. (Toll on the Bay Bridge is $6 from 5-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. weekdays, and $4 at all other times on weekdays. It's $5 all day on weekends. Plus, there is a toll bridge over the Carquinez Strait on eastbound 80.)

The only way to avoid the toll outbound would be to take 80 to 580 to 205 to the Stockton area, or to take the Golden Gate Bridge northbound to Highway 37 and cut over to Vallejo.

I forgot about that. It really adds up!

[Majin]

I laugh at people who have to drive to San Francisco only to make nearly the same amount of money I make locally.

Sucks to be you.

[Casportsfan]

No, it is not worth it unless you are making the sacrifice for family. And if that is the case, to forego $35,000 for the other job to avoid 30 mi seems illogical. Might as well drive the extra 35 mi for the extra pay.

What is the motivation behind this anyway? Career advancement, extra money to send your kids to college? I guess you'd have to weigh the degree of importance that you place on those things, but to answer your question in a vacuum, I'd say no. It's not worth the drive. I did a similar commute in terms of trafffic, and it was hell.

For 2.5 years I commuted from the north bay to Oakland. It was about a 55 mi commute, but it added 2 hours to my day. And, those were 2 very uncomfortable hours sitting in walls and walls of traffic at different points in the commute. I was able to handle it because I was just out of college and really intent on building my career, so I didn't mind sacrificing my free time or my sanity for a while. After about 2 years though I couldn't take it any longer and decided to move to a town that I could live in and work in.

Weigh the options and do what is best for you.