Will $85k/yr Cut it For a Family of 4 in Sacramento? (Roseville: cheap apartment, foreclosed)

[lgt]

Roseville looks right to me.

City of Roseville, California - Median Household Income

[ElectroPlumber]

Originally Posted by ABQ1

I know that $85k/yr is like minimum wage in the Bay Area but I am wondering, Will it do for a start before the wife starts working as well, in Sacramento?

I have a 6 and a 1 year olds and so, my next question will be decent elementary schools - I have time before worrying about high school which tends to be a hassle.

I really Thank you all very much in advance for your honest opinion.

I love the Bay Area but it looks like Sacramento is the next best thing in Northern California, especially with housing for us now. We will depend on my income only for the first six to 12 months.

Thanks again.

You could live relatively well in a few places if schools were not a consideration, but since they are, you would have to buy your way in to one of the nicer areas like Folsom or Roseville, maybe Fair Oaks (not sure about the elementary schools there) and $85k is going to be tough.

I'd get a good Realtor and start pricing out the areas to see what you can afford. Remember that the bottom price level in all of the neighborhoods are going to be foreclosures or short sales that need a lot of work and money to move in to. Many times, low-price houses in good neighborhoods seem affordable, but really are not when you consider the money you have to put in to them.

[Ruth4Truth]

Here's a trick: check out the suburbs. Some parts of Sac'to are on Pacific Gas & Electric for utilities, other parts are on Sac'to Municipal Utility District. The difference in utility costs between those two is HUGE! You want to be on SMUD, not PG&E. It'll make a significant difference on your monthly bill.

You didn't say if you were planning to buy or rent. DO NOT BUY in CA, unless you're wealthy. You'll be throwing too much money down the black hole of property taxes.

[NorCal Dude]

There is a big difference between median house hold income and median family income, here are the estimates of median FAMILY incomes from the us census department results from 2010.



Folosm: $106,383
Roseville:$90,098
Granite Bay: $133,313

El Dorado Hills:$ 125,435

Rocklin: $93, 418

Fair Oaks: $89, 120

Elk Grove: $84,116

Vineyard: $88,856

Carmichael: $72,782
Arden Arcade: $63,401

North Highlands: $44,852

Foothill Farms: $48,559

Antelope: $71,455

Citrus Heights: $62,908

Rancho Cordova: $58,825

Florin: $51,625

City of Sacramento: $57, 248

Parkway South Sacramento: $37,957

West Sacramento:$61,979
Orangevale:$ 78,300

Cameron park: $80,929

Loomis: $86,055

Gold River: $117,287

Rosemont: $64,792

La Rivera: $57,778

Lincoln: $81,169

Davis: $101,015

Woodland: $ 66,285

Auburn: $84,424





Wooowee Okay that was not fun looking all that stuff up, let me know if I missed any place

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/...prodType=table

[ElectroPlumber]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

There is a big difference between median house hold income and median family income, here are the estimates of median FAMILY incomes from the us census department results from 2010.



Folosm: $106,383
Roseville:$90,098
Granite Bay: $133,313

El Dorado Hills:$ 125,435

Rocklin: $93, 418

Fair Oaks: $89, 120

Elk Grove: $84,116

Vineyard: $88,856

Carmichael: $72,782
Arden Arcade: $63,401

North Highlands: $44,852

Foothill Farms: $48,559

Antelope: $71,455

Citrus Heights: $62,908

Rancho Cordova: $58,825

Florin: $51,625

City of Sacramento: $57, 248

Parkway South Sacramento: $37,957

West Sacramento:$61,979
Orangevale:$ 78,300

Cameron park: $80,929

Loomis: $86,055

Gold River: $117,287

Rosemont: $64,792

La Rivera: $57,778

Lincoln: $81,169

Davis: $101,015

Woodland: $ 66,285

Auburn: $84,424





Wooowee Okay that was not fun looking all that stuff up, let me know if I missed any place

American FactFinder - Results

Those numbers support what I see all around Sacramento--there are lots and lots of couples who make around $50K to $70k each which is $100K to $140K family income and they are the ones who are living in Roseville and Folsom and consequently driving the prices up in those nicer areas.

[lgt]

Years ago my wife and I were fine on $35K. We owned a condo in Roseville in a safe neighborhood, had three decent/nice cars, went on date nights regularly, and took fairly frequent road trips. Those condos are cheaper today then they were then so I'd say $85 with two kids is very doable as long as you don't have to keep up with the Joneses.

[ABQ1]

I sincerely THANK you all for all your objective insights/suggestions.

Although cost of living online comparison tools are there, there's nothing better than real people who live in the city proper telling it like it really is.

Sciopio, you're right! Income level depends more on family lifestyle and debt load. Currently, we do not have any huge debts like credit cards ($0), school loans ($2000), car loans ($0), the kids are still very young - 6 & 1 and no family member is sickly.

Also, the $85k is the husband's, the wife has income potential only that she'll not work the first six to 12 months.

We plan to rent at first and then think of buying later, maybe in 18 months.

My next questions are for living in California is: What do families that make $45k, $50k do to live in these cities? Do you all see any relief with California's housing cost anytime in the near future?

Where I am relocating from in the South West, USA, $85k is not bad at all. It'll give you a decent house, and a not bad middle class lifestyle.

[NorCal Dude]

Well for one you should not drive to the bay area from sac or vise versa. That would be a commute that is not feasible, are you going to be working in the sac area

Sacramento's cost of living is reasonably on par with the national average. Depending one where you come from in the country it could strike you as cheap, pricey, or normal.

Overall assuming you can make a downpayment and get a good loan and rate you could buy in a reasonably safe middle class area. You wont live in the best of the best and you will not have the same bang for your buck outwest.

But you should be able to find a decent home on that income. Given the income I would suggest Roseville or Fair Oaks. Some people prefer to be in diverse areas so if that is your case as well you can throw south parts of Elk Grove in there.

[ElectroPlumber]

Originally Posted by ABQ1

My next questions are for living in California is: What do families that make $45k, $50k do to live in these cities? Do you all see any relief with California's housing cost anytime in the near future?

Where I am relocating from in the South West, USA, $85k is not bad at all. It'll give you a decent house, and a not bad middle class lifestyle.

They live in small apartments or low-income, not really desirable areas.

Home prices have declined tremendously in a lot of the neighborhoods here. The home we own was purchased in 2004 by the previous owner for almost exactly double the price of what we paid for it in 2008 after it was foreclosed on.

So, unfortunately it's not a matter of getting any relief--that's already happened. In fact, it looks like the market is edging back up. It's just supply and demand. There are still a lot of people who want to live in CA, regardless of how people in other parts of the country run the state down.

Just curious--are you coming from Texas? It seems like I'm starting to see a lot of people from Texas starting to look at CA. I'm a native Texan who moved here when everyone else was moving to Texas.

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

There is a big difference between median house hold income and median family income, here are the estimates of median FAMILY incomes from the us census department results from 2010.

My bad--you did say FAMILY income in the original post. Good job trying to make the OP feel worse! Household is a much more kind comparison.