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Old 07-29-2015, 01:40 PM
 
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Hey there, I'm looking to move out to the San Fran area from NJ/NY. I have noticed the cost of living is much more then NYC which I thought was impossible. I'm currently making a $100k, how much of a 'bump' is normal for the same job from NYC to San Fran to adjust for Cost of Living?
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Old 07-29-2015, 01:47 PM
 
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Presume you are not living in Manhattan (or at least not in the "good" parts of it) based on your comment. It is true that an apples to apples comparison between outer boroughs and like places here, or between NYC/NNJ/LI/W.CT burbs and like ones here, shows we're more expensive here. Can't comment on the typical NYC to SF salary bump if any (there may not be any). It is what it is. We don't have the type of growth in housing in our burbs and hinterlands that you see around NYC, hence, the cost situation we have here. We also don't have anywhere near the ease of rail commuting that exists in NYC. Whereas someone can commute from say, Central Jersey or for that matter even further reaches of Philly burbs to NYC, we just don't have the rail network to do that. This squeezes the demand closer in to SF and hence more expensive inner and outer ring burbs (meanwhile our exurbs are dirt cheap and in some cases even are bad hoods).
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Old 07-29-2015, 01:55 PM
 
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If you're going from Manhattan/popular parts of Brooklyn to SF then I don't think the cost difference will be much at all (maybe even lower) except if you are getting a car.
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Old 07-29-2015, 03:56 PM
 
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A couple of other considerations:

Transportation: You can take the NY subway all over the area for a flat rate each month. In the Bay, the public transportation fare system is based on where you travel, per trip. So it can be hard to budget and end up costing more. If anything, it's less convenient. Also, unless you live in central SF, you may end up needing a car. The public transportation is great compared to many cities, but it's no NYC. So add car expenses, parking, tolls, gas, and likely parking tickets.

State Taxes: I believe CA has a higher tax rate than NY State.

Utilities: The Bay Area is fairly mild all year long. Heating costs can be a lot lower and most residential buildings don't even have air conditioning. So the utilities costs can be a lot lower in the Bay.

Here's a great tool if you haven't used it already Cost of Living Calculator: Compare the Cost of Living in Two Cities - CNNMoney
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Old 07-29-2015, 04:00 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd_96 View Post
State Taxes: I believe CA has a higher tax rate than NY State.
But if he/she lives in NYC then the city income tax probably offsets (even maybe more than offsets) the higher state income tax rates.
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Old 07-29-2015, 04:48 PM
 
Location: Knoxville, TN
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Quote:
If you're going from Manhattan/popular parts of Brooklyn to SF then I don't think the cost difference will be much at all (maybe even lower) except if you are getting a car
I can't really speak for whether or not it merits a pay bump, but recently I've been taking a look at rents in NYC (we have a lot of friends there, might consider relocating). I was shocked, but it honestly looks like even in the popular parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, on a whole, the rents are cheaper than in SF/more desirable areas of the bay area. Some might say it's not an apples to apples comparison because the square footage of apartments tends to be smaller. Maybe that's the case, it seemed like there were a lot more 1 bedrooms for under 3K (or even ~2K) and 2 bedrooms for under 4K (even some ~3K), even in desirable parts of Manhattan. It also seems like the transit options from the surrounding areas are much better. I'm not sure how other things (taxes, cost of groceries, public transit, etc.) compare COL wise, but the rent difference was surprising.
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Old 07-29-2015, 04:49 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rca215 View Post
But if he/she lives in NYC then the city income tax probably offsets (even maybe more than offsets) the higher state income tax rates.
Based on the initial post the OP either lives in outer boroughs or the burbs. The give away is, the move would result in increased housing costs. That would not be true for anyone in an inner borough and possibly not be true for anyone in the city at all.
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Old 07-29-2015, 04:57 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly View Post
Based on the initial post the OP either lives in outer boroughs or the burbs. The give away is, the move would result in increased housing costs. That would not be true for anyone in an inner borough and possibly not be true for anyone in the city at all.
True, but outer boroughs still means paying NYC city income tax.
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Old 07-29-2015, 05:01 PM
 
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I guess rather than all of us speculate about the details, the OP could give more detail about where in the NY area he/she is moving from and potentially where in the Bay Area moving to.
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Old 07-29-2015, 05:03 PM
 
Location: Palo Alto, CA
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I have lived in both places. Prime Manhattan with doorman buildings or townhouses ("brownstones") with any character or with views are, last time I looked not long ago, more expensive per sq foot than comparable space in San Francisco. But 2nd or 3rd tier Manhattan spaces (including "walkups") are much more common and probably range from equivalent to less expensive. Manhattan has much much more diverse housing stock so it's hard to do apples to apples. Top tier Brooklyn is a bit less than top tier Manhattan.

You should know that if you stay in the Bay Area long term, and you think you would want to live in the suburbs, 2nd-tier desireable suburbs here they are *much* more expensive than in NY, and suburbs with good school systems are much less common in the Bay Area than in NY and NJ. Note also that rail travel in the NYC area is much more extensive and frequent, so commutes are more difficult here.
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