Can a family of four live in San Jose on a $65K income? (San Francisco: low income, rent)

[easybay]

two things are expensive here

And #3 - taxes.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The Bay Area faces a looming crisis of governance and general operation of the infrastructure / institutions. The pay scales are not sufficient to cope with our local inflation due to all the outside money pouring in combined with high paid jobs in a few key sectors. The insult to injury is the raft of ultra slow growth land use policies. It's a perfect storm of non affordability.

[WeakandDizzy]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

The Bay Area faces a looming crisis of governance and general operation of the infrastructure / institutions. The pay scales are not sufficient to cope with our local inflation due to all the outside money pouring in combined with high paid jobs in a few key sectors. The insult to injury is the raft of ultra slow growth land use policies. It's a perfect storm of non affordability.

It has been this way for decades, I left the Valley in 1994 for several reasons, not the least of which was non affordability. The Valley is a great place to live if you have an excellent ( high paying) job and no kids to worry about. No shortage of things to do, beautiful weather, access to SF, the ocean, wine country and mountains, a variety of high quality fresh foods and diversity of people. But if you spend all your time on the hamster wheel to pay the bills, and then worry about whether the kids will learn to read and write in a fashion that will allow them to excel in life, no amount of great weather, excellent fresh food and recreation will make up for those issues. On 65K a single person or even a married couple without kids could probably manage, add a couple of kids and most people are in for a world of hurt on that salary level in Silicon Valley.

[Alan Gregg]

I unfortunately have to agree with all the no's above. San Jose has probably the highest cost of living in the US w/ the possible exception of Honolulu and the highest median home prices. Unfortunately it is not a place for the middle class unless you are willing to make an arduous 2 hour commute from the Central Valley.

[marcopolo666]

Originally Posted by Alan Gregg

I unfortunately have to agree with all the no's above. San Jose has probably the highest cost of living in the US w/ the possible exception of Honolulu and the highest median home prices. Unfortunately it is not a place for the middle class unless you are willing to make an arduous 2 hour commute from the Central Valley.

Apparently you've never priced NYC, or Orange County, or D.C, or San Francisco.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by marcopolo666

Apparently you've never priced NYC, or Orange County, or D.C, or San Francisco.

Here in The Bay Area it does not matter if you are in the better quarters of San Jose, the broad swath of swanky NW Santa Clara County burbs, the whole of San Mateo County west of El Camino or any one of the non challenged SF hoods - it's all super expensive. A band of high cost from the Golden Gate to the innermost canyons of Guadalupe.

[Litlove71]

You also want to look at what home prices actually SELL for.

And those foreclosures can take months to even get a response for an offer.

If you're wife is interested in working, a combined income of 90-100k would be easier.

It made more sense to pay out of state tuition then have my son attend college in SF.

There are other sections of CA that are certainly more affordable, but it's not inexpensive anywhere. There are other states besides TX that you can achieve a higher standard of living for less money.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by marcopolo666

Apparently you've never priced NYC, or Orange County, or D.C, or San Francisco.

None of those places are hospitable to middle class folks raising kids either.

[Meowen]

Originally Posted by Litlove71

You also want to look at what home prices actually SELL for.

And those foreclosures can take months to even get a response for an offer.

If you're wife is interested in working, a combined income of 90-100k would be easier.

It made more sense to pay out of state tuition then have my son attend college in SF.

There are other sections of CA that are certainly more affordable, but it's not inexpensive anywhere. There are other states besides TX that you can achieve a higher standard of living for less money.

colorado

[easybay]

You also want to look at what home prices actually SELL for.

Right - we are in a sellers market here with sellers receiving multiple offers for their homes. I follow the homes for sale in my zipcode 95126, and there is NOTHING for sale in the price range of $450,000 - million, 3+ bed, 2 bath, over 1700 sq ft. However, I do get 5 results when I reset the price to 2 million.