DC to San Diego (2015, home, tech jobs)

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

In the link I provided, click on Annual Mean Wage map and each metro area pops up and give stats. And yes, Dallas is one of the highest paying in the entire country. Of course, there are different levels of dentistry but at least this gives an idea of salaries in different areas.

Yep. The economy is booming in Dallas. I lived there for 8 years. I still have tons of friends there. All of them are making great salaries. Fabulous city to climb the corporate ladder and make money. Many companies are based there and no state income taxes. But pretty horrible weather many months out of the year.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

But pretty horrible weather many months out of the year.

Scenery is also terrible specifically in Dallas, flat, flat, and more flat. At least Austin and San Antonio have nice rivers with the Hill Country. But employment is abundant.

[elchevere]

With traffic and too spread out. Heck, even DFW is too spread out--my least favorite airport for catching connecting flights and taxiing to the gate upon landing is like a LA freeway in that you do not know whether it will take 10 minutes or 30 minutes....heading there Monday for work.

Originally Posted by malcorub16

Scenery is also terrible specifically in Dallas, flat, flat, and more flat.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

Yep. The economy is booming in Dallas. I lived there for 8 years. I still have tons of friends there. All of them are making great salaries. Fabulous city to climb the corporate ladder and make money. Many companies are based there and no state income taxes. But pretty horrible weather many months out of the year.

Hey ER,

I was only referring to the dentist salaries in Dallas being among the highest large metros. Actually, on average, salaries in Dallas are lower than you think (I'm guessing it has to do with the lower cost of living) Check out the break down from the BLS below

Occupational Employment and Wages in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, May 2014 : Southwest Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, May 2014 : Western Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

Hey ER,

I was only referring to the dentist salaries in Dallas being among the highest large metros. Actually, on average, salaries in Dallas are lower than you think (I'm guessing it has to do with the lower cost of living) Check out the break down from the BLS below

Occupational Employment and Wages in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, May 2014 : Southwest Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages in San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, May 2014 : Western Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Hey sdurbanite! Great seeing you at lunch the other day. Glad you're still around on the boards.

Interesting about the salary information. I'll check out these links this weekend. The thing with Dallas is there are tons of jobs there. Not so much in San Diego like Dallas. I have many friends there that can easily jump around to various jobs and easily go from high salary to high salary. Here in San Diego I've met so many where they have a high paying job and lose it and they have to move out of San Diego.

I've have several neighbors that had to move as one lost their job. Yet another is in that situation and moving out of San Diego due to that. To me, that's one of the toughest things about San Diego. It's not so easy to replace a high paying job with another one here.

But it will be interesting to check out the various salaries on those links.

Stay well.

[Mangokiwi]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

I think the Go Getter Attitude is great, but a lot of people move to SD and become frustrated because of the more laid back culture. It won't be so much about you getting things done, it'll be more about not becoming to annoyed that other people aren't on the same wavelength as you and no matter what you do or how hard you try, it's not going to happen.

Or you wind up working at places with a lot people "looking to retire" more than people looking to 'change the world.' And SD is odd because it's a relatively young demographic, but if you work in certain industries, you'd think everybody here was over 50. Nothing wrong with that and it's good in a sense, but it shows you a lot of young people don't exactly come here to work or they just can't get hired on for those professional jobs. And with that brings another frustration as things might be changing in the world, but somebody who is a few years away from retirement will usually have a far different agenda compared to somebody even 30 years old.

Just be aware of this when you move.. Good luck.

Thank you for those insights, that is interesting!

[Mangokiwi]

Originally Posted by OpenMind11

I'm from the DC region (MD side) and moved out to SD a few years ago without a job (though my wife had one). Too many factors to give you a straight answer, generally, its a bit cheaper here than DC proper, but its much more expensive than say, the surrounding areas of DC overall. San Diego is huge, so it really depends where you live too, farther south/east you get, the cheaper it gets. A lot of people prefer the coastal/north county lifestyle, which is desirable for many reasons (weather, jobs, location), this comes with a price tag.

Like anywhere, there are jobs where people are just as driven if not moreso, than DC, so again that depends on your field. Biotech is huge here and know first hand how demanding that world can be. I'm working in the engineering field its also very demanding, mostly type A's. It really depends, but I'd say overall most higher end white collar jobs are the same regardless where you live.

Your pay may vary, but I've found pay here in my field to be average-way above average...really depends on the company. Lots of career growth here in certain fields, I guess I'm in a niche job but I see posts daily and recruiters contacting me all the time. Same goes for biotech, lots of opportunity, but that's very competitive, however once you get your foot in the door and local experience, you're golden.

I'm not sure about car insurance/registration in DC proper, but here in CA, registration is 2x what I was paying in Maryland. I pay approximately 100 a year for per vehicle, where in MD its about that for every 2 years. Gas of course is much more expensive too.

Thank you. I am in VA and i know that MD has very high taxes. I also have heard that gas is much more expensive in California but I thought that was only in the LA area. Thank you for your insight!

[Mangokiwi]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

Plus you have to get your car smoged every two years, which is like another $100, plus any repairs they might have to make.

What is that? i have never heard of that. Does it go for all cars?

[Cardiff Kook]

Originally Posted by Mangokiwi

What is that? i have never heard of that. Does it go for all cars?

Yes. And you can't legally buy/sell a car that hasn't passed smog

[moved]

Originally Posted by Mangokiwi

What is that? i have never heard of that. Does it go for all cars?

It's emissions testing, and it's done every two years. But there are no safety inspections here like in the DC area. As long as your vehicle passes smog, it can be falling apart, and the state doesn't care. But I've never paid over $60 to have my vehicle smogged, though. Of course, if it doesn't pass smog, you have to get the repairs done, otherwise you won't be able to register the vehicle.