What salary should I ask to live in Sacramento?

[zen_klown]

Have you interviewed anywhere else? Generally I have found in Salary negotiations., that I do better when I have another offer.

But as to your position, I really can't say, because I have no idea what an IT specialist working for a TV station would make. But if you interviewed at a few places in Sac, then you can ask during the interview process what the salary range in Sac is for someone with your type of skills. Even if they turn you down on the position, you can ask them to ballpark what they would expect to have to pay you.

[CaliforniaPatriot]

I think 50k - 60k would be about adequate. However, people have different tastes as far as what a nice middle class lifestyle is. There is also a lot of variability in pricing throughout the greater Sacramento region. A nice newer house may go for $200,000 in Yuba City, but would be twice that in Roseville.

Overall though, your money will go a little bit further in Sacramento than in Reno. The average home price in Reno is currently $325,000 while here in Sacramento the average is $299,000 according to HousingTracker.net. Personally, all other things being equal I would prefer Reno for the weather. In my book, the mountains beat the extreme heat of the Central Valley.

[imphe]

Lived in both places. Surprizingly, summer is definately more livable in Reno. I miss our old place just south of Steamboat.

The reason Reno's housing is more expensive because of lower property taxes and no sales tax. It makes it a nice location for retirees. You actually will need to make a bit more here as sales tax is set to rise again.

[Alicia64]

A family of, say, four people living on 50K?? With a mortgage?? Our mortgage is "only" $200,000 and we live on $80K and that's tight. No, we don't have luxuries unless you count the life insurance we have in case one of us kicks.

And I guess I could take away my husband's '03 corolla and make him walk to light rail (the light rail pass is paid for by his work so that's not a splurge).

The only other pricey item we have is the exterminator because our house was absolutely infested when we moved in in 2000 and I refuse to live in a group home for spiders.

So I vote for asking for more than 50 or 60K.

[wburg]

imphe: What are property taxes like in Nevada? CA property taxes are around 1%.