how much is enough (salary) (San Francisco: apartment, lease, house)

[yes636]

I currently live on the east coast but have been offered a relocation package for the SF bay area. I dont know much about that area except that it is expensive.

I am in my mid 20s and single. what type of salary should i expect to be able to live comfortably. I want to be able to afford living expenses (rent not buy, no roomates initially) and still have enough to be able to go out and have enough to put into savings every month. It wouldn't be worth it to me to go out there and have my standard of living change for the worse. I need to be living in the bay area (in an area that doesnt suck).

Whats a decent salary? 60k? 70k? 80K? I want to be able to have fun and not be broke.

[Archan]

Where is your job going to be located in the Bay Area? Where do you live now? What is your standard of living now, a large house or a one bedroom apartment? It would be hard to say if your standard of living will change if we don't know what it is.

You can get by on any of the salaries that you listed in the Bay Area. Many people are doing it.

[Snort]

I am in my mid 20s and single. what type of salary should i expect to be able to live comfortably.

I think that's a question each person has to answer for themselves.

At any rate, if I were single and moving out here for the first time, I'd have a look at something like this:
Furnished Studio – Free Utilities and Cable TV (http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/apa/1558791378.html - broken link)
This way, you don't need to come up with a large downpayment nor sign a long-term lease. All the while you can scope out the area and find something to your liking.
Like Archan said, you can make it on any of those salaries.

[ambient]

You can figure this out yourself if you gather some data facts about living costs here and spreadsheet a simple budget with a few assumptions. I don't know about the rest of the Bay Area, but if you want to rent in one of the nice neighborhoods of San Francisco itself, you should count on at least $80k.

Think about it this way: Assuming 35% gone for federal tax / state tax, $80k would be $4,333 in your pocket monthly. Rent in a one bedroom apartment in one of these nice San Francisco neighborhoods is roughly in the range of $2,000. So that's about 30% of your gross income or 46% of your monthly post tax income covering rent and $2,333 left for food, car, savings, whatever other bills you have. It's doable, but you'll have to be careful and sure won't be living like a king.

Do this math example with $60k or whatever and see where you land...