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Anywhere not named San Fran/San Jose/Manhattan/Brooklyn. $140k for a single person should make most other places within reach.
Chicago, to me, offers the most. If you want to live below your means, you can find a nice studio in Lakeviww for $1300 p/month. If you want to live like a big cat, there are plenty of River Notth studios/1BR going for $2400 p/month. The beauty of Chicago is that is has that mix without sacrificing safety and fun in the north and near west neighborhoods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker
Respectfully disagree. That salary, single and young, he can make any city work I think.
Yea, any city can work, but you need to scale what you can get based on it. However, I'll say that upper Manhattan and the majority of Brooklyn is a pretty good living on that salary single and young. It's actually a bit more of a push for San Francisco (keep in mind that the OP is trying to relocate from there and COL probably plays a large part in that) and San Jose (also very expensive and much less walkable).
OP wanted to try to get bang for the buck. Chicago is definitely that for anyone looking for a city with walkable neighborhoods and decent mass transit in the US.
And as stated before, it's got beaches! They should really sell that a bit better.
$140k doesn't go very far in NYC … something to keep in mind. It sounds like a lot, and for most places in the country it is, but not in NY. You'll be only middle-class on that.
ha yeah and doubt as a 24 year old he's making $140k but if it makes him feel good …
If he's working for one of the big tech firms in the SF Bay Area, then I believe him. My 26 year old sister works for one of them and she earns just slightly higher than $140k. But I'm not sure if she's allowed to work remotely though, so she has to contend with the area's high cost of living.
If he's working for one of the big tech firms in the SF Bay Area, then I believe him. My 26 year old sister works for one of them and she earns just slightly higher than $140k. But I'm not sure if she's allowed to work remotely though, so she has to contend with the area's high cost of living.
If he's working for one of the big tech firms in the SF Bay Area, then I believe him. My 26 year old sister works for one of them and she earns just slightly higher than $140k. But I'm not sure if she's allowed to work remotely though, so she has to contend with the area's high cost of living.
Senior software engineers pull 300k total comp easy (base + stock + bonus). Netflix pays their software engineers over >400k in straight cash.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Quantity (ratio) is one thing; Quality is another. Hard to beat the quality of beautiful women in Miami...though if the OP is living in the Bay Area, I can understand his frustration (the SF Blues) and most places he moves to will be a dramatic improvement.
You'd need a visa and/or work permit for many places outside the US, for sure in Europe. Also cities like Paris are not cheap at all. Your rent and daily expenses would be in Euros. Also you'd need a good CPA for taxes. Some European countries will tax you while you live there ON TOP of Uncle Sam back home who still wants his cut.
To answer your original question. Chicago might be a good fit. I always consider it as a city where you get quite a lot for buck. With 140K you should be pretty comfortable there as a single young man.
Perhaps also Philadelphia, of course there is no beach. If the beach is a concession you can make, then the big 3 in Texas might also be an option. Or Atlanta, in other words you selection would increase quite a bit.
I know this is the US forum, but OP mentioned Barcelona as one of his options. I have a similar work situation to OP and have lived in Madrid for 3 years. It’s quite easy to get a residence visa to Spain if you can demonstrate adequate funds from abroad. The cost of living in even the biggest cities here (Madrid or BCN) is a fraction of that of all the cities OP listed, and the quality of life here for the cost seems unbeatable to me. You get the geography and weather of California, with Mediterranean architecture, European culture, fashion, food, and travel opportunities. Feel free to PM me if you’d like more info OP, I’ve posted many times about my experience here in the Europe forum. Tax wise, there is an exclusion for the first $104k earned outside of the USA, so OP would have to pay taxes on the remaining $36k (could also claim a foreign housing deduction on that amount to further reduce his US tax bill), and as far as taxes in Spain go, that’s a bit more complicated but a good lawyer over here can help sort that out.
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