Considering moving family to Sacramento (Carson, Citrus Heights: ski resorts, sales, real estate)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We have three kids and have begun eyeing the West Coast as a more suitable place to live. We think Sacramento would be a good transition as it is more affordable than SoCal or the Bay, and is about the same size as the city we'd be leaving - Kansas City - plus being in the state capitol would be good for my career if I ever wanted to change jobs.
We think California would be better for us because we have grown sick and tired of Midwestern winters. We would also like to take advantage of the outdoors - forests for hiking, and I personally would love to just drive 2 hours to Lake Tahoe rather than 12 hours to Colorado to ski. I know the cost of living is much higher, but we both work and we feel it would be worth it. I work from home so I could keep my job, and my wife is in health care and could probably get a job pretty easily (probably with a pay bump according to the salaries we have seen online).
My questions are:
1. What neighborhoods would you recommend for families? We would send our kids to public school. Our total household income is around $160k/year.
2. Will we get sticker shock on cost of living? I know taxes are higher, but what about goods in general?
3. Our oldest does get allergies and I understand Sacramento is pretty bad about that. How bad is it?
4. We mentioned we were considering moving and the oldest kid (11) was pretty against it. Any advice on helping kids transition with a move? We feel this may be the ideal time as he begins middle school next year and the other two are still pretty young.
5. Anything in particular we should know about Sacramento?
Thanks for your help! Maybe we'll be neighbors someday?
Greetings - Sacramento has become a desirable place to move in California. You are not alone in eyeing it up for potential.
1. IMO you could live comfortably in several nice neighborhoods in and around Sac on that income. Especially as you don't have to consider commute as much since you work at home. It would depend somewhat on where your wife ends up working though there are health care centers in several locations around Sacramento. If you are looking to be closer to the foothills and Sierra and classic American suburbia is your thing then Rocklin and Folsom are good spots to check out (you'd be looking at 600k-800k for a nice 3 or 4 bed home). South of Sacramento closer to the city center maybe South Land Park or the Pocket area (maybe 550k-750k). East of Sacramento but still close to the city you could check out the College/Glen neighborhood where I live (400k-500k) smaller homes but tight neighborhood; or maybe the fancier area just north of the river - Sierra Oaks and Arden Park (700k+).
2. I think probably gas would be higher cost. I don't think groceries would be. Going out to eat and drink probably would be more. Utilities would probably be higher although you might not need quite as much heating and cooling as KC. See the above housing estimates for ballpark housing prices.
3. Yes allergies can be bad here. Especially the tree pollens in early spring and grass pollens later in spring. I don't know what else to compare it to but it gets windy (like it is right now) and dry and dusty and everything goes airborne and it can be pretty bad. Lots of people have bad allergies here.
4. Why against it? Fear of making new friends? Moving away from family? Scared of starting new school? Middle school is a rough age - I moved around a lot as a kid. What are they into? If they are into sports and decent at them then I think that can provide a great outlet and way to meet and make new friends. If they are more introverted and academic and less active then I think it's more challenging. There's a huge amount of opportunity for outdoor recreation here which was something that helped my transition to CA at a similar age. Skiing, kayaking, camping, biking etc. Trips to the beach. I was also very involved in sports so I was able to adjust reasonably fast.
5. Other than the cost differences - CA has a massive homeless problem and there's no real getting around that right now. It's an absolute shocker for most people that visit me that come from outside of major cities in the U.S. In places it looks like a 3rd world country with shanty like tent cities and garbage everywhere which is a terrible shame. Everything is very crowded and very competitive in CA. You want camping spots for a summer weekend? -- You better book that 6-months in advance and be ready and waiting on the online booking system as soon as the booking window opens. You want to ski over Christmas? -- you'll have plenty of company on the slopes. Traveling anywhere through to SoCal or near the bay area you can expect horrendous traffic congestion especially on weekends and pretty much any time during the day!
All that being said. I still think the positives outweigh the negatives. There's a lot of opportunity here and the lifestyle if your comfortably off and can be somewhat flexible on things then it still takes some beating. I've been all over the world and it's still pretty rad here!
1.
Folsom, Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln. Certain parts of Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks. Land Park and the Pocket are the only two areas I would personally live in south Sac. The best schools with the highest academic scores and best sports programs are found in the first four cities I listed.
2.
Making $160K per year makes you an almost 1%er. Congratulations! California welcomes you. After all, the unofficial state motto is: Work Harder, Millions On Welfare Are Depending On You. "
You'll pay 22% Federal tax plus 9.3% state tax. Sales tax is around 8%. Your property tax varies. Sacramento property taxes average about 1% of home value which, on average, is about 3% of your yearly income, or, on average, about $2300 per year. Again, these are just averages. Living in the first four cities- which are not actually in Sacramento county, rather Placer and El Dorado counties- will double your property tax.
How many cars do you own? 3 of our 4 cars are 10+ years old, we're paying close to $1K every year for vehicle registration. I can take those three cars to Montana and register them for life for less than $150, all together. How's your gas prices in the midwest? We're the highest in the nation. During the summer when "summer blends" and the inevitable refinery shuts down gas prices are easily $4 per gallon. My truck takes premium and I've filled up for $5.50 a gallon in small rural towns. Get yourself a Sam's Club or Costco membership, they're the cheapest gas in the state.
Our utilities can be astronomical. Water rates in Roseville and Lincoln can be triple what I pay in Sac county. I'm a stones throw from Roseville, it makes no sense that their rates are so much higher. SMUD is the big electricity provider in the area but PG&E is the big gas supplier. You'd have to live in a hole to not know how screwed up that company is. Our rates will continue to rise ad infinitum because of their malfeasance. I could go on about prices here, it gives me a headache. Being an almost 1%er in California sounds so good, doesn't it?
3.
Allergies are subjective. Your humid climate doesn't exist here so whatever triggers his allergies might not be a problem here. Hay fever is a real thing for some here. Some people are bothered by dog woods. At least I think they are dogwoods. It's those trees that crap the white cotton looking stuff all over the place.I've lived here my whole life and I don't have allergies, my biggest issue is the summer smog, heat, and smoke from fires. Ironically, we have relatives in LA- smog central- who come up here and have a problem with Allergies but not the smog. I get out of Sac and it's like my lungs are reborn. My best advice, regardless of where you move, is to go visit the place you're looking at in its various seasons. Since we have three seasons here, visiting in June and December, maybe April/ October, will give you a good idea of our weather and allergy issues. It's so hot here, most allergy issues are over by June until the winter when molds kick in.
4.
No advice on helping your oldest transition other than telling him/her that they'll get over it soon. Kids are malleable. Especially if you move to an area with many young families. Lincoln and Folsom is a hot bed of young families. As you get closer to downtown Sac the neighborhoods get older, the residents get older and poorer, and young families of means become more scarce.
5.
Traffic sucks if you have to commute downtown.
Homelessness is a big issue in California, but the suburbs of Sacramento- Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Folsom- are much less bothered by the issue.
It's hot, hot, hot here from May- October, you better enjoy swimming and have a good A/C. But it's a dry heat very unlike that sticky, nasty humid heat you deal with in the midwest. The smog can be an issue, though the last few years have been good, minus the smoke from fires. Last summer we escaped any big fires because of all the rain we had. This year I fear will be a different story. I was wearing shorts and t shirt yesterday. My car said 74 degrees in the afternoon. It's going to be a long, dry summer if this keeps up.
You mentioned your spouse was in healthcare. Sacramento is one of the highest paying areas in the country for healthcare. New nurses routinely start out making $80,000 per year. Respiratory therapists, nuclear medicine technicians, MRI CT technicians, everybody makes really good money here, even house cleaning and food services. You won't find a more competitive place in the entire United States with the exception of maybe New York City for healthcare.
There's only two reasons we are still in Sacramento. My wife has a very high paying job in the hospitals that would result in almost 50% less pay in any other state west of the Mississippi. Probably more like 60% less east of the Mississippi until the Eastern seaboard. Also, we have a child in high school, but that child will be done in a year and a half and we will be looking to move then.
You would do yourself a disservice if you didn't conduct your own cost of living analysis. I did one for our area versus the area we're looking at in Montana, and while pay is much less in Montana, everything else is far, far cheaper and we actually end up making more money there. When we cash out our ridiculously over priced home here, we can put down a 40% down payment on a home there and still have money left over. But we know that if we leave California that we will never be able to afford to come back.
There are many things that people find attractive about California, unfortunately, there are many things that we find unattractive about California that are making us look elsewhere. Mainly too many people, too expensive, liberal politics, and smog. That said, The one really good thing about Sacramento is its proximity to other things to do. Meaning, You can be in the Bay Area or in Lake Tahoe in an hour and a half. You can be in Napa drinking wine in 45 minutes, There are state parks and national forests and national parks all within 2 to 3 hour drives from Sacramento. You can go visit Big Trees State Park and the historic gold mining towns of Jamestown and Sonora and Jackson and be home all in the same day. You can even visit Yosemite and come back home in one day. We have Folsom Lake as our major point of water Recreation here in the area, if you enjoy boating or kayaking or jet skiing or just hanging out at the beach Folsom Lake is the place to be. Again, some fine beaches in Lake Tahoe are only an hour and a half to two hours away at the most. If you enjoy hiking and backpacking then the El Dorado, Tahoe, Carson National Forests are all easily accessible. Major mountains in 14K foot range in the southern Sierra are 3-5 hours away in Bridgeport, Mammoth, Bishop, and Lone Pine. Desolation Wilderness near Tahoe is the major backpacking destination in this area and is full of 9 to 10 thousand foot Granite Peaks and a multitude of lakes for fishing and just getting lost for a few days.
If you enjoy skiing then you can get a season's pass to Sugar Bowl for less than $400 for the entire year. One of the things that almost all of the ski resorts in the Tahoe Basin have done is Jack up their day rates to obscene levels In an effort to encourage you to buy season passes. So you can spend $140 a day at Northstar or Squaw Valley Or you can buy a season's pass to those two places for about $600 I think. Or you can be skiing at Sugar Bowl or Sierra at Tahoe in an hour and a half for only $400 for a season.
Good luck to you. I seriously suggest you come out and stay in the Sacramento area for some time before making a decision. Travel through neighborhoods, talk to real estate agents, visit some Recreation sites, go to some restaurants, go grocery shopping.Rent a VRBO or Airbnb for a week and you'll get a pretty good idea of whether you like this place or not.
Last edited by NorCalMan; 02-11-2020 at 11:10 AM..
You should run a budget to make sure it all works. Are you bringing enough equity to do a down payment on a house for 700? If so, you're good to go. If you buy a 700k home, your State Income tax here on a young family of 5 is actually not more than you pay in Kansas. But do keep in mind the property tax on your 700k home will run 8k a year.
I'd pick Rocklin over folsom for access to more ski areas. Season pass at squaw or Northstar sounds like a good idea to me. Its almost enough to get me to move up there. Just make sure you either get a pool or a place with access to a community pool.
1.
That said, The one really good thing about Sacramento is its proximity to other things to do. Meaning, You can be in the Bay Area or in Lake Tahoe in an hour and a half. You can be in Napa drinking wine in 45 minutes, There are state parks and national forests and national parks all within 2 to 3 hour drives from Sacramento. You can go visit Big Trees State Park and the historic gold mining towns of Jamestown and Sonora and Jackson and be home all in the same day. You can even visit Yosemite and come back home in one day. We have Folsom Lake as our major point of water Recreation here in the area, if you enjoy boating or kayaking or jet skiing or just hanging out at the beach Folsom Lake is the place to be. Again, some fine beaches in Lake Tahoe are only an hour and a half to two hours away at the most. If you enjoy hiking and backpacking then the El Dorado, Tahoe, Carson National Forests are all easily accessible. Major mountains in 14K foot range in the southern Sierra are 3-5 hours away in Bridgeport, Mammoth, Bishop, and Lone Pine. Desolation Wilderness near Tahoe is the major backpacking destination in this area and is full of 9 to 10 thousand foot Granite Peaks and a multitude of lakes for fishing and just getting lost for a few days.
.
Ah, this is the huge selling point for us. But you've given us a lot to think about, thanks for the input.
We have three kids and have begun eyeing the West Coast as a more suitable place to live. We think Sacramento would be a good transition as it is more affordable than SoCal or the Bay, and is about the same size as the city we'd be leaving - Kansas City - plus being in the state capitol would be good for my career if I ever wanted to change jobs.
We think California would be better for us because we have grown sick and tired of Midwestern winters. We would also like to take advantage of the outdoors - forests for hiking, and I personally would love to just drive 2 hours to Lake Tahoe rather than 12 hours to Colorado to ski. I know the cost of living is much higher, but we both work and we feel it would be worth it. I work from home so I could keep my job, and my wife is in health care and could probably get a job pretty easily (probably with a pay bump according to the salaries we have seen online).
My questions are:
1. What neighborhoods would you recommend for families? We would send our kids to public school. Our total household income is around $160k/year.
2. Will we get sticker shock on cost of living? I know taxes are higher, but what about goods in general?
3. Our oldest does get allergies and I understand Sacramento is pretty bad about that. How bad is it?
4. We mentioned we were considering moving and the oldest kid (11) was pretty against it. Any advice on helping kids transition with a move? We feel this may be the ideal time as he begins middle school next year and the other two are still pretty young.
5. Anything in particular we should know about Sacramento?
Thanks for your help! Maybe we'll be neighbors someday?
I would start my search in Folsom, the schools are excellent and it's a safe, family friendly city. I don't know anyone who lives there who doesn't like it
As someone who has was born in SoCal and has gone through 8 winters in Maryland, I would live almost anywhere in CA to never have to go through winter again. Unless you've done it, you can't imagine how the cold can negatively affect people!
So I always try to support those who want to move from a brutal winter to a mild, enjoyable winter climate. I think you should definitely visit and get a feel for the area - and then plan on moving. There is nothing like being able to be outdoors year-round. For our family, the COL increase is worth that trade-off. We will be moving back to CA this summer. I also have 3 kids - 12, 11 and 8 - they are all excited about the move back. I try to paint a positive and realistic picture of what life will be like. I also think the kids they are friends with at this age they likely wouldn't be friends with in high school anyways - at least that was the case for me. They are up for the adventure.
While housing and gas will cost more, I didn't think anything else really did - I definitely pay more for groceries in Maryland and have much less fresh, local produce. Taxes don't seem to be high to me.
depends on how soon they get on list for new construction and what availability
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
