moving from virginia to california (San Jose, Sacramento: budget, incomes, jobs)

[wasteland]

Hi, all,
I will be an RN next year and hope to move to San Jose or Sacramento area.
I am married and have a daughter. we like the warm climate and enjoy the diversity there, and we would also want to get close to the Asian or Chinese community since we immigrated from China 4 years ago. However we would like to afford for a house. could you advice us on how we should choose from the two places?
thanks.

[Luke9686]

Many things will factor into the equation. The two biggest factors:

a) budget for home purchase
b) tolerance for heat (Sacramento)

[mysticaltyger]

Your housing dollar will go a lot farther in Sacramento. There are Chinese communities in both places, although probably larger in San Jose.

Since you're in Virginia, I don't think the heat of Sacramento will be that bad as the humidity is low and it usually cools off at night.

I have lived in both Sacramento and San Jose. I think the lower cost of housing in Sacramento would make it a good place for someone with a good (but not great) income with a child to live. San Jose is very expensive, and thus more competitive. If you are in the middle or even somewhat above average in income, there is always going to be someone who will be able to outbid you for the house in the neighborhood you want.

[stc888]

For a larger Chinese community, definately go with the San Jose area... although you would probably want to narrow your search to certain suburbs of San Jose, such as Cupertino (large Chinese community (over 30%), lots of Chinese plazas, grocery stores, etc), Sunnyvale, Milpitas, or the area around Berryessa in San Jose. South San Jose is mostly Hispanic and Vietnamese.

With that said, you'd save a lot (i mean a LOT) of money on housing in Sacramento, although the CHinese population there is a lot smaller. However, housing is much, MUCH cheaper there, especially if you compare to the suburban cities of San Jose that I mentioned above. However, the job market in the SJ area can be more lucrative, depending on what you do (tech comes to mind).

I hope that helps. Good luck with your move.

[wasteland]

thank you, mysticaltyger,
what you offered helps a lot. so I now know that the climate in either place will not be a problem for us since we have lived in Virginia for a while where it is cold in winter but hot in summer too.
We will mainly work as registered nurses in hospitals while my wife may have to take 3-4 more years to finish school yet; we don't know where we would be in terms of incomes. and is there a big difference in income in these two places considering our profession? and would that neutralize the housing problem around San Jose?
we are family oriented and prefer a family friendly location; would one of them be better in this respect?
thank you again.

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Your housing dollar will go a lot farther in Sacramento. There are Chinese communities in both places, although probably larger in San Jose.

Since you're in Virginia, I don't think the heat of Sacramento will be that bad as the humidity is low and it usually cools off at night.

I have lived in both Sacramento and San Jose. I think the lower cost of housing in Sacramento would make it a good place for someone with a good (but not great) income with a child to live. San Jose is very expensive, and thus more competitive. If you are in the middle or even somewhat above average in income, there is always going to be someone who will be able to outbid you for the house in the neighborhood you want.

[wasteland]

Hi StC888,
thank you for your rich information; it is amazing that you know so much about the Chinese distribution in that area. one of the reasons we need to consider San Jose area is that my wife's sister lives in Cupertino and she wants to move there to be close to her.
Do you happen to be aware of the income differences for nurses between these two places or is there a way I can find out some accurate information regarding that?
thank you again.

Originally Posted by stc888

For a larger Chinese community, definately go with the San Jose area... although you would probably want to narrow your search to certain suburbs of San Jose, such as Cupertino (large Chinese community (over 30%), lots of Chinese plazas, grocery stores, etc), Sunnyvale, Milpitas, or the area around Berryessa in San Jose. South San Jose is mostly Hispanic and Vietnamese.

With that said, you'd save a lot (i mean a LOT) of money on housing in Sacramento, although the CHinese population there is a lot smaller. However, housing is much, MUCH cheaper there, especially if you compare to the suburban cities of San Jose that I mentioned above. However, the job market in the SJ area can be more lucrative, depending on what you do (tech comes to mind).

I hope that helps. Good luck with your move.

[wasteland]

thank you, Luke,
I agree, there are so many things to consider yet. I guess i can tolerate the sac heat since we have lived in worse places.
thank you again.

Originally Posted by Luke9686

Many things will factor into the equation. The two biggest factors:

a) budget for home purchase
b) tolerance for heat (Sacramento)

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by wasteland

thank you, mysticaltyger,
what you offered helps a lot. so I now know that the climate in either place will not be a problem for us since we have lived in Virginia for a while where it is cold in winter but hot in summer too.
We will mainly work as registered nurses in hospitals while my wife may have to take 3-4 more years to finish school yet; we don't know where we would be in terms of incomes. and is there a big difference in income in these two places considering our profession? and would that neutralize the housing problem around San Jose?
we are family oriented and prefer a family friendly location; would one of them be better in this respect?
thank you again.

I'm glad I could help. I don't know what the nursing salaries are specifically. But in general, if you are outside the technology industry, the salaries here are higher than other places but usually do NOT make up for the higher cost of living (specifically, the high cost of housing).

What would neutralize the housing problem in San Jose, and California in general, would be if they actually BUILT some!!! However, California's housing market is subject to all kinds of government restrictions, regulations, and poor incentives that create a situation where supply is never enough to meet demand.

Prices here have come down but are still very high. I believe prices in the Sacramento area have come down even more than in San Jose.

I still think Sacramento to be the more family friendly location. It does have it's drawbacks (hot summers, cooler winters). More importantly, it has higher (but not horrible) crime and the Chinese community there is smaller. Despite the drawbacks, I think the much lower housing prices would take a lot of the work pressure off and enable you to spend more time with family.

I am single with no kids, so the equation is different for me. But if I had kids I would not live in Silicon Valley (I'm not sure I'd live in CA at all to be honest).

[mysticaltyger]

PS.....I just did a quick survey at what a typical nurse's salary is in San Jose vs. Sacramento.

In Sacramento $60,000. In San Jose, $76,000

Here's the link

registered nurse Salaries in San Jose, CA - Free Salary Search

If the salary difference is 16K a year (or 32K for 2 people), that probably will not make up for the higher cost of housing here, as is typical.

[stc888]

Originally Posted by wasteland

Hi StC888,
thank you for your rich information; it is amazing that you know so much about the Chinese distribution in that area. one of the reasons we need to consider San Jose area is that my wife's sister lives in Cupertino and she wants to move there to be close to her.
Do you happen to be aware of the income differences for nurses between these two places or is there a way I can find out some accurate information regarding that?
thank you again.

wasteland,

A few years ago, I too, planned a move to California and since i am an American-born Chinese, having access to a Chinese/Asian American community was a big factor in deciding where i moved to. Housing costs were not so much a factor for me, and since I am in engineering, I settled on Silicon Valley (for the availability of jobs), specifically Cupertino. My girlfriend is from the Sacramento area, and having visited there (and this is no knock on Sac), I personally, would pick Cupertino/Milpitas or Sunnyvale over Sac any day. That is just my personal preference, though, and my experience may not be the same as yours.

With that said, Cupertino is a nice community-friendly and safe city to be in. Crime rate is very very low, and people are generally nice. The school district is top-rated in the State and country, so for the kids, its as best as you can get. Also, I generally think that it has a more laid-back feel than most Bay Area suburbs, even when compared to say, Sunnyvale which is right next door.

I cant really speak to the pay breakdown on nurses, but i think thats already been covered by some of the replies from others here.