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Sorry but outlets are everywhere and sell items not up to par for stand alone boutiques, which retailers are far more selective in choosing where to open.
The shopping comparison is a perfect example of how despite the anecdotal similarities there are between these 2 metro areas, they are still very, very different.
Except I don't think it's nearly as big of a difference as you think, because income in San Jose is bigger.
Housing data from the National Association of Realtors and income data from the US Census Bureau.
Median Home Price, Q1 2021
$1,187,214 Santa Clara County, CA
$456,690 Travis County, TX
Typical Monthly Mortgage Payment, Q1 2021
$4,505 Santa Clara County, TX
$1,733 Travis County, TX
Now this might seem daunting for the median household income in San Jose, and indeed it is...
Median Household Income:
$133,076 Santa Clara County, CA
$80,726 Travis County, TX
Remaining Median Household Income Minus 12-months of Mortgage Payments:
$79,016 Santa Clara County, CA
$59,930 Travis County, TX
Keep in mind this doesnt include property taxes which are actually higher in Texas, so...
As I've done in the past, I've looked at more precise data that looks at people actually more inclined to be in the market for a house, here is one example:
Median Income, Married Couple Family with Children Under Age 18
$200,942 Santa Clara County, CA
$128,241 Travis County, TX
TYPICAL ANNUAL MORTGAGE PAYMENTS
$54,060 Santa Clara County, CA
$20,796 Travis County, TX
MEDIAN INCOME REMAINING AFTER MORTGAGE PAYMENTS
$146,882 Santa Clara County, CA
$107,445 Travis County, TX
So this at least shows us that numbers actually can add up for the median family with kids, even if they are tight, but keep in mind a whole heck of a lot of people in the San Jose Metro earn way more than $200,000 as well.
Yes, and more power to you and your preference, but I would rather raise a family and put kids through school certain parts of the San Jose area over ANYWHERE in Texas, no matter the price. To each his own.
Well that's okay because the San Jose Metro Area has the highest density of ultra high net worth individuals in the world.
Apparently, lots of people in the infiinity income bracket see a lot of value in San Jose.
NYC is impressive. Also, I always thought Bridgeport was the hood?
NYC is impressive. Also, I always thought Bridgeport was the hood?
They're almost certainly using the city as shorthand for the Fairfield County/metropolitan area which includes a lot of wealthy areas that aren't in Bridgeport proper. Bridgeport is pretty rough and tumble in large parts, though has some nice things to it. Would love to see it remove some of its freeways though and to reconstruct its train station to a proper three platform for express trains to transfer with and overtake local trains though.
I think that Austin has a much more interesting and engaging city center, but San Jose has a much better collection of towns in its immediate orbit. Though I grew up in one of those towns in its immediate orbit, I cannot imagine moving back there based on just costs alone.
I mean yeah, basically everything west and northwest of San Jose proper(including West and South San Jose proper) is a large swath of very very high QOL, and the areas that border and climb into the Santa Cruz Mountains along the 280 freeway-untouchable.
Sorry but outlets are everywhere and sell items not up to par for stand alone boutiques, which retailers are far more selective in choosing where to open.
The shopping comparison is a perfect example of how despite the anecdotal similarities there are between these 2 metro areas, they are still very, very different.
Except I don't think it's nearly as big of a difference as you think, because income in San Jose is bigger.
Housing data from the National Association of Realtors and income data from the US Census Bureau.
Median Home Price, Q1 2021
$1,187,214 Santa Clara County, CA
$456,690 Travis County, TX
Typical Monthly Mortgage Payment, Q1 2021
$4,505 Santa Clara County, TX
$1,733 Travis County, TX
Now this might seem daunting for the median household income in San Jose, and indeed it is...
Median Household Income:
$133,076 Santa Clara County, CA
$80,726 Travis County, TX
Remaining Median Household Income Minus 12-months of Mortgage Payments:
$79,016 Santa Clara County, CA
$59,930 Travis County, TX
Keep in mind this doesnt include property taxes which are actually higher in Texas, so...
As I've done in the past, I've looked at more precise data that looks at people actually more inclined to be in the market for a house, here is one example:
Median Income, Married Couple Family with Children Under Age 18
$200,942 Santa Clara County, CA
$128,241 Travis County, TX
TYPICAL ANNUAL MORTGAGE PAYMENTS
$54,060 Santa Clara County, CA
$20,796 Travis County, TX
MEDIAN INCOME REMAINING AFTER MORTGAGE PAYMENTS
$146,882 Santa Clara County, CA
$107,445 Travis County, TX
So this at least shows us that numbers actually can add up for the median family with kids, even if they are tight, but keep in mind a whole heck of a lot of people in the San Jose Metro earn way more than $200,000 as well.
Yes, and more power to you and your preference, but I would rather raise a family and put kids through school certain parts of the San Jose area over ANYWHERE in Texas, no matter the price. To each his own.
Well that's okay because the San Jose Metro Area has the highest density of ultra high net worth individuals in the world.
Apparently, lots of people in the infiinity income bracket see a lot of value in San Jose.
We're all aware that San Jose is Silicon Valley. Certainly, if you are optimizing exclusively for your tech career it's the place to be. That isn't in question. The point is, by any other criteria, it's absurdly overpriced and not worth the price tag
By the way all but one FAANG are in Austin in big numbers. Most have about a 15% pay cut compared to the Bay Area (maybe 25% for RSUs).. the cost of living difference is *much* bigger than that.
We're all aware that San Jose is Silicon Valley. Certainly, if you are optimizing exclusively for your tech career it's the place to be. That isn't in question. The point is, by any other criteria, it's absurdly overpriced and not worth the price tag.
No, San Jose might be more expensive, but Austin is wayyyy more overpriced at this time.
The top 100 markets based on their degree of overpricing/underpricing using open source housing price indices (HPIs). A positive score represents a premium, implying that the average property in a metro is selling above its historical implied price.*
Rank/Metro/% Overpriced
1 Boise City, ID 81.28% 2 Austin, TX 56.55%
3 Ogden, UT 52.84%
4 Provo, UT 48.99%
5 Phoenix, AZ 46.99%
6 Detroit, MI 46.60%
7 Spokane, WA 46.18%
8 Salt Lake City, UT 45.69%
9 Las Vegas, NV 45.46%
10 Atlanta, GA 42.45%
.
.
.
. 79 San Jose, CA 11.91%
San Jose is ~12% overpriced, Austin is closer to 60% overpriced.
Quote:
By the way all but one FAANG are in Austin in big numbers. Most have about a 15% pay cut compared to the Bay Area (maybe 25% for RSUs).. the cost of living difference is *much* bigger than that.
Yeah Im not sure about that either. One common theme I heard from people who moved to Austin was that it wasnt as affordable as they thought it would be. Perhaps their promised savings and increase in discretionary income never really materialized, idk.
They're almost certainly using the city as shorthand for the Fairfield County/metropolitan area which includes a lot of wealthy areas that aren't in Bridgeport proper. Bridgeport is pretty rough and tumble in large parts, though has some nice things to it. Would love to see it remove some of its freeways though and to reconstruct its train station to a proper three platform for express trains to transfer with and overtake local trains though.
Yes, US cities are by MSA so Bridgeport=Fairfield County, CT
Lived in the Bay for 5 years and I'd still choose SJ -- so close to SF so I can just go to SF on weekends. SJ metro also has excellent East Asian food...which is what I eat most. Also, Texas is too conservative, and even though Austin is nice and liberal, it's still under the influence of the state in many things.
No, San Jose might be more expensive, but Austin is wayyyy more overpriced at this time.
The top 100 markets based on their degree of overpricing/underpricing using open source housing price indices (HPIs). A positive score represents a premium, implying that the average property in a metro is selling above its historical implied price.*
Rank/Metro/% Overpriced
1 Boise City, ID 81.28% 2 Austin, TX 56.55%
3 Ogden, UT 52.84%
4 Provo, UT 48.99%
5 Phoenix, AZ 46.99%
6 Detroit, MI 46.60%
7 Spokane, WA 46.18%
8 Salt Lake City, UT 45.69%
9 Las Vegas, NV 45.46%
10 Atlanta, GA 42.45%
.
.
.
. 79 San Jose, CA 11.91%
San Jose is ~12% overpriced, Austin is closer to 60% overpriced.
Yeah Im not sure about that either. One common theme I heard from people who moved to Austin was that it wasnt as affordable as they thought it would be. Perhaps their promised savings and increase in discretionary income never really materialized, idk.
I think that would be an obvious sign that either the methodology used or the terminology used is incredibly off.
Austin isn’t cheap at all, but it’s difficult to say if it’s truly overpriced when stacking up to the Bay Area. By what criteria as we using to determine that? Looking at home values between the two metros you can still get a home with almost twice the square footage for almost half the value than you get in the Bay Area. I will give you the Bay Area has way more to offer in terms of natural / recreational ammenities. Salaries in Austin have had a sharp climb between what was $50k avg median ~ $80k median over the past decade… The RE bubble has seemingly eclipsed that but that sort of wage increase isn’t exactly childsplay either.
Another thing people are seemingly overlooking when comparing the avg salaries between the two cities vs CoL, is that the Bay Area is generally made only for elites at the very top of their career. Austin is still an entry-level / mid-career level city although it also has plenty of high end software engineer roles… …while the two are heavily focused in the tech sector, they are not focused on the same tech roles. Someone say making a choice between living in the two isn’t going to come to SJ making $150k a year at mid-career level. The jobs are paying more because they are higher tier roles which require more experience. If you come to San Jose, making Austin level income, which city would be more overpriced?
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 10-27-2021 at 08:04 AM..
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