What salary do you need to make to live comfortably within San Francisco and its suburbs? (Oakland: 2013, condo)

[BurnInTheMil]

The key thing to notice about what people are saying, Is these people making $100K need roommates because they live directly IN San Francisco. People choose to pay a stupid amount to live in the city, thus need help.

If you have the capability and don’t mind living outside of the city itself, your $$$ goes a lot further.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Greg10556

The key thing to notice about what people are saying, Is these people making $100K need roommates because they live directly IN San Francisco. People choose to pay a stupid amount to live in the city, thus need help.

If you have the capability and don’t mind living outside of the city itself, your $$$ goes a lot further.

I disagree, prices in Oakland and the Penisula cities are still very high, not as high, but not a massive difference in price.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I disagree, prices in Oakland and the Penisula cities are still very high, not as high, but not a massive difference in price.

Yup! Most new people I know who live in Oakland have roomies as well. About 30% of my colleague live in Oakland.

People who moved here 5 years ago or have no debt may possible live alone in Oakland. It still costs $2500 for a one bedroom in a convenient area.

[BurnInTheMil]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I disagree, prices in Oakland and the Penisula cities are still very high, not as high, but not a massive difference in price.

I’m talking places like Concord, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, etc... You can find a 1 bedroom for $1700ish and 2 bedroom for $2000ish.

Compared to the city of SF, that’s a pretty huge difference

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by Cobb

I work in SF but a Cobb County resident and soooooo looking forward to returning to GA before the end of 2018. If you really want to keep expenses to a minimum, rent a room you can rent from $600 - 900 about 30 miles outside of SF.

you can rent a 1 bd for $1200- 1900. Your auto insurance and registration will more than double. I just paid 4 times as much for my vehicle registration here than my vehicle back home and it's 13 years older than my GA vehicle
If you keep your rent under $1,800 you should be able to survive off of say 65-75k.

Earthquakes...don't be overly concerned, what's more of a concern are the phony pretentious rude people here.

If you can, come visit for several months to get a good feel to see if you'd really like to live here. If you get the right job the $$$ can be really great. I work a blue collar union job as a tile installer and I made almost $100k last year. Good luck

As far as insurance it depends on where you live. I was in Pleasanton California and my insurance is more on marietta Georgia.

Earthquakes, the big one is supposed to come, but no one knows when. It seems the people not living in California are much more concerned than the locals. I can't say it would worry me that much, less so than tornados in Georgia.

Op why do you need a garage so badly?

[Ceece]

You have to go to the fringes of the Bay Area to find rents < 2K and at that point you won't want to work in SF because the commute will kill you so you'll end up looking for a job closer to where you live and will maybe go to SF once or twice a month at most, but by no stretch will you be "living in SF" at that point is it worth it?


It's ridiculous here. If I didn't have a house I wouldn't be here. If I didn't have 2 extra rooms in the house my adult kids wouldn't be here either. In fact, they will be leaving the Bay Area in the next couple of years since there is no way to put down roots or any of that Adult stuff people like so much.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I have two cars though and I'm not exactly fond of the idea of not having a garage but I can deal with it if need be.

Im trying to see if its worth it or not.

If you have two cars, be sure to check (1) whether they will pass California emission standards, (2) the costs of annual registration and auto insurance in California, and (3) the price of a gallon of gas in California.

Only you can decide if it is "worth it" to move anywhere. But, in addition to cost of living, I'd also weigh the job opportunity. Is it a job that will possibly lead to better and bigger things down the road? Is it a job that you can't easily find where you are now? Will you learn and grow in the job? Is it a job that you think you'll enjoy and find challenging and interesting?

If the answer is yes to all of these, then any sacrifices you may have to make in lifestyle for a few years may be worthwhile. You're young and single; you can afford to take a few chances at this point.

If the answer to any of the questions is no, rethink.

Good luck with your decision!

[Need4Camaro]

I was thinking of living someplace out much further than Oakland, mind you Im very used to commuting, In Atlanta a commute of 40 - 50 miles one way is not uncommon and I've only had commutes of about 15 miles or less about two times in my entire working career. Some place further out like Concord or even further is what I was speaking of. If traffic is horrendous, I will resort to taking the train.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I was thinking of living someplace out much further than Oakland, mind you Im very used to commuting, In Atlanta a commute of 40 - 50 miles one way is not uncommon and I've only had commutes of about 15 miles or less about two times in my entire working career. Some place further out like Concord or even further is what I was speaking of. If traffic is horrendous, I will resort to taking the train.

You need to realize that in the Bay Area, a 15-minute commute takes 30-45+ minutes. A 50-mile commute is 2 hours or more. Many job centers are also not accessible by train. Downtown Oakland and Downtown San Francisco are, but areas served by the train tend to be more expensive. Also getting to the train in the suburbs is tricky - the waiting list for a parking space can be over 5 years - so you need to have an alternate path to get there since the open parking tends to fill up by about 7 or 7:30a depending on the station.

Caltrain serves Peninsula and Silicon Valley job centers, sort of. Most of those locations are 2-3 miles from the train station and other transit between is limited. Being along a Caltrain line is very very expensive.

Commuting in the Bay Area is not easy. And most offices are not served well by transit.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by jade408

You need to realize that in the Bay Area, a 15-minute commute takes 30-45+ minutes. A 50-mile commute is 2 hours or more. Many job centers are also not accessible by train. Downtown Oakland and Downtown San Francisco are, but areas served by the train tend to be more expensive. Also getting to the train in the suburbs is tricky - the waiting list for a parking space can be over 5 years - so you need to have an alternate path to get there since the open parking tends to fill up by about 7 or 7:30a depending on the station.

Caltrain serves Peninsula and Silicon Valley job centers, sort of. Most of those locations are 2-3 miles from the train station and other transit between is limited. Being along a Caltrain line is very very expensive.

Commuting in the Bay Area is not easy. And most offices are not served well by transit.

Its about that way here too. I just leave very early. I live about 3 miles from my current job but it takes close to 30 minutes to get there.

As far as commuting distances, I have driven from Gwinnett to Kennesaw (aproximately 50 miles) - normally takes 2 hours but I leave about about 4:30 - 5am and just wait for my shift. I did the same when commuting from Stockbridge to Alpharetta - also aprox 50 miles.