San Antonio Prejudice - underpaid IT guy (Houston, Dallas: transfer, construction)

[CyVaquero]

I can only speak from personal experience. While I have my own issues with SA, those are mostly with TX as a whole, I will say it's me, not Texas. I'm not expecting TX or SA to change for me. So once our girls are out of school we will be relocating out of state.

On the IT work front, I am a recently converted from contractor to govie SME/Team Lead, and I really don't have too much to complain about there - took a cut for the conversion but it's still more than what I was making when I came on board 6 years ago with better bennies. It sounds like the OPs experience was with smaller local companies, which almost universally is lower paying than national companies and he got CSSP certified - kind of an apple/oranges comparison. I will say that initially I was surprised at some of the offers I was getting to relocate for jobs in Austin/Dallas/Houston but CoL is still significantly higher in those places - +40K to maintain same standard of living in Dallas sounds about right, probably more for Austin and Houston before you would peak my interest.

Things are more expensive here than they were even 6 years ago - my BCAD assessment on my what was a sub 300K properrty has gone up almost 100K since I bought it in Dec 2013. Property taxes are probably the single point of CoL increase here, as reflected in increased housing and rent costs which is the single largest living expense most of us carry.

Probably the second bit is the ala carte nature of things in Texas in which everything has a fee - usually an inflated one because of the 'it's cheaper to live here so people can afford to pay a little extra' business mentality. It's kind of a broken model when you look at it because raising prices of things under the notion that it's cheaper to live here makes it's not as cheap to live here. Is it CA/NE-Mid-Atlantic expensive? No, but it's also not cheaper than much of the rest of the U.S. When I moved here from Central PA, and taking non-essential activities out of the mix, it was about break even - PA's 3.2% income tax was countered by the higher sales tax and property taxes here - after 6 years of ever increasing property taxes, it's now more expensive.

Increased CoL in SA is real - last year SA was recommended for it's own locality pay for Federal jobs, and local businesses are going to need to start stepping up their payscales if they want to keep and lure quality workers here.

Just my $0.02

[txtea]

It's not just in IT.
My employer is still stuck in the 80's as far as pay goes.
Everyone here knows how much more everyday living expenses have gone up in the last 20 yrs...especially in the last 10.
San Antonio was well known for cheap labor and the housing costs reflected that. Not anymore.
Employers need to wake up and start paying a liveable wage if they want to keep good employees.
Knowledge and experience just doesn't pay in the automotive repair business anymore. I have been doing this for almost 38 yrs, yet I made more money 20-25 yrs ago than I do now. Should have bailed out a long time ago...no one's fault but my own..
It's gotten so bad, I am actively looking to get into another profession, or move out of San Antonio altogether. Problem with that is, where to go thats cheaper to live? In a van down by the river?

[River City Rocky]

Originally Posted by txtea

It's not just in IT.
My employer is still stuck in the 80's as far as pay goes.
Everyone here knows how much more everyday living expenses have gone up in the last 20 yrs...especially in the last 10.
San Antonio was well known for cheap labor and the housing costs reflected that. Not anymore.
Employers need to wake up and start paying a liveable wage if they want to keep good employees.
Knowledge and experience just doesn't pay in the automotive repair business anymore. I have been doing this for almost 38 yrs, yet I made more money 20-25 yrs ago than I do now. Should have bailed out a long time ago...no one's fault but my own..
It's gotten so bad, I am actively looking to get into another profession, or move out of San Antonio altogether. Problem with that is, where to go thats cheaper to live? In a van down by the river?

Maybe El Paso or the valley? I've thought about it...

[CyVaquero]

Originally Posted by txtea

It's not just in IT.
My employer is still stuck in the 80's as far as pay goes.
Everyone here knows how much more everyday living expenses have gone up in the last 20 yrs...especially in the last 10.
San Antonio was well known for cheap labor and the housing costs reflected that. Not anymore.
Employers need to wake up and start paying a liveable wage if they want to keep good employees.
Knowledge and experience just doesn't pay in the automotive repair business anymore. I have been doing this for almost 38 yrs, yet I made more money 20-25 yrs ago than I do now. Should have bailed out a long time ago...no one's fault but my own..
It's gotten so bad, I am actively looking to get into another profession, or move out of San Antonio altogether. Problem with that is, where to go thats cheaper to live? In a van down by the river?

Maybe not cheaper but you can find places that are more affordable because of better pay for what you do. It's no secret that unskilled labor is dirt cheap here and unfortunately that has caused a lot of businesses to displace skilled workers with unskilled ones - which drives down wages for everyone. Auto repair and construction are two industries I've seen in the Southwest that doesn't pay well in comparison to the Mid-Atlantic states and the shallow South (VA, NC). I have several friends who are doing very well for themselves after starting their own lean auto shops and sub-contracting companies (0-5 employees).

Don't just look at CoL, look at what kind of rates your profession pulls.

[thechamp73]

From: Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

--A salary of $45,000 in Chicago, Illinois could decrease to $37,818 in San Antonio, Texas

--A salary of $52,500 in Austin, Texas could decrease to $49,593 in Chicago, Illinois

--A salary of $100,000 in San Antonio, Texas should increase to $125,966 in Austin, Texas

So like 40k increase could be a huge raise since Austin pays more than SA. Even Chicago would be a huge raise as well. IF this metrics are correct. I wouldn't move for 10K.

Honestly who knows the data they are using is correct or up to date. It FEELS expensive everywhere lately. Its either property tax, taxing neflix, or state tax. I spent more in Austin on tolls than in Chicago, never thought that would be possible.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by thechamp73

From: Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

--A salary of $45,000 in Chicago, Illinois could decrease to $37,818 in San Antonio, Texas

--A salary of $52,500 in Austin, Texas could decrease to $49,593 in Chicago, Illinois

--A salary of $100,000 in San Antonio, Texas should increase to $125,966 in Austin, Texas

So like 40k increase could be a huge raise since Austin pays more than SA. Even Chicago would be a huge raise as well. IF this metrics are correct. I wouldn't move for 10K.

Honestly who knows the data they are using is correct or up to date. It FEELS expensive everywhere lately. Its either property tax, taxing neflix, or state tax. I spent more in Austin on tolls than in Chicago, never thought that would be possible.

Well, let's keep it simple here.....

Average home price in SA (per Zillow) is $167,000.

Average home price in Austin (per Zillow) is $348,000.

https://www.zillow.com/san-antonio-tx/home-values/

https://www.zillow.com/austin-tx/home-values/

You're gonna need a VERY substantial raise to go from SA to Austin and maintain the same level of housing.

[SAguy]

Interesting read-

San Antonio earns top spot among best big cities for higher salaries - CultureMap San Antonio

[Shock]

Another interesting read. SA ranks as best city for software engineers.
https://spectrum-ieee-org.cdn.amppro...neers.amp.html

[fritos56]

Look, in the IT industry these companies have a lot to choose from. Since their are not only lots of civilians moving here, but military vets, it can be hard to get an IT job here. I work both a full time and part time job in retail. I don't have any problems with the hispanics i work with. I try to be pleasant to everyone, and I took spanish in school, so i try to keep up with it, so even though i have forgotten half of it, I don't seem to have any problems communicating with customers we have who come up from mexico for the holidays to shop. I just tell them I speak spanish a little but not very well. Things do work out. The folks i work with are very nice.I'm white. I've had a couple of customers in the past think I was russian which i'm not. I'm hungarian-german and look more like momma's side with the magyar almond shaped eyes, and have blue -grey eye color. Course these folks were polish, eastern european types as my dad would say, so that 's why they got that impression.

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by txtea

It's not just in IT.
My employer is still stuck in the 80's as far as pay goes.
Everyone here knows how much more everyday living expenses have gone up in the last 20 yrs...especially in the last 10.
San Antonio was well known for cheap labor and the housing costs reflected that. Not anymore.
Employers need to wake up and start paying a liveable wage if they want to keep good employees.
Knowledge and experience just doesn't pay in the automotive repair business anymore. I have been doing this for almost 38 yrs, yet I made more money 20-25 yrs ago than I do now. Should have bailed out a long time ago...no one's fault but my own..
It's gotten so bad, I am actively looking to get into another profession, or move out of San Antonio altogether. Problem with that is, where to go thats cheaper to live? In a van down by the river?

Try Detroit, Cleveland, or Pittsburgh. I know pay in SA sucks across the board, but it’s not about race. It’s about people being submissive and satisfied with less.