Planning a move to Bay Area with autistic kid (Los Angeles: rentals, insurance)

[LA2SV]

Dear Members,

We are considering relocation to Bay area( Mountain view) from Los Angeles. Would need some help please

Main questions.

1) We have a 6 years old autistic kid, she is currently attending special education school in orange county. Any advice on area/schools?

2) How expensive is Bay area compared to LA. If i make 100K in LA, what i would need to make in Bay area for comparable living standard.

3) Any areas to target for renting? My office will be in Mountain view.

4) What is life style difference from Orange county to Bay area. We are family of 4 ( 2 kids under 6)

5) What should be the good salary for Engineer with 10 years experience, if you are working in a tech company.

Thanks a lot, appreciate your help.

[Chuck5000]

The Bay Area is much more expensive than the LA region on the whole, although top-tier West Side is comparable to top-tier Bay Area. But even Santa Monica per square foot is a good deal compared to Palo Alto, for example. I think you will be shocked at how little you get in Mountain View, and the nearby presence of LinkedIn, Apple, and Google is heavily distorting prices.

You didn't say where in LA you live. If you make 100k there, and want the equivalent square footage and access to public schools (how good are the schools where you are now?), my guess is you'd need at least 175k here. This is very debateable, of course, but you get the idea. For a family of four, I would want bare minimum 225k income to rent adequately, and would not feel comfortable with that number re: savings and trajectory to be able to buy in the future. On the other hand, perhaps you're sitting on a large sum of personal savings, that would affect your costs here. If you have no major savings, and 175k is your total household income, not likely to rise significantly, I don't understand this move then.

If you have any roots at all down there, can get other jobs down there, and don't hate LA, and don't have relatives up here you want to be close to, I don't know why you would make this move. Check out greatschools.org to understand that this area has few good public school systems.

Re: engineer salary, you need to do a lot more research if you're asking people here. What kind of an engineer? What kind of tech company? What title would you have? Do you have a CS degree? Do you manage engineers? Etc, etc. I recommend Stack Overflow, Quora, and maybe Reddit to get help with this question.

[NewbieHere]

Glassdoor gives you a good idea about salary. But if you have no choice, as in got laid off then I rather take the job. $100k in LA is also not that flush, but I think expect at least 20-30 % cost of living increase. Maybe $175k. But my kid was offered a job that would pay between $90k to $100k and she just completed sophomore year with a CS major. That was just summer internship. No stock options, nothing. I think there is a bit of a bump for full time salary.

[ccm123]

Having lived in SoCal for more than 20 years, the main factor which elevates the cost of living in the Bay Area over SoCal are the housing prices. Most other costs are pretty close, I would say the Bay Area is probably 5-15% higher in the "other costs" category (food, utilities, dining out, insurance, entertainment, etc). I have actually found some costs lower here than in SoCal, such as gasoline prices and auto insurance. (Your mileage may vary, though.)

Expect that your housing costs will rise, probably dramatically, and you will need to "scale down" your expectations.
Your $3K per month rent in SoCal, as an example, will rent a much smaller place here, than you would typically have in SoCal. The housing market here is also much more competitive, with multiple offers and lines/waiting lists for desirable rentals in good areas. The selection here is also much more limited, compared to SoCal.

Mountain View and anything close by, will be very expensive. Average one bedroom rent in Mountain View is around $2,350 a month, last time I checked.

[LA2SV]

Thanks everyone for your answers.

I live in southern OC, which is pretty damn expensive place to live anyways. My research so far shows bay area would be approx. 10% more expensive compared to SOCAL.

I'm currently making close to 200K, so I would need to ask for 300K for comparable life style

[Fiona8484]

Originally Posted by LA2SV

Thanks everyone for your answers.

I live in southern OC, which is pretty damn expensive place to live anyways. My research so far shows bay area would be approx. 10% more expensive compared to SOCAL.

I'm currently making close to 200K, so I would need to ask for 300K for comparable life style

The best thing you could do is look at Realtor.com and compare homes with comparably rated school districts in LA vs. Silicon Valley.

Your $200k will go farther in LA when it comes to buying.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

I think the schools here are not the best bet for autistic kids.

In good / super expensive districts: Things are hypercompetitive and the best years here for Special Ed may now be past. Relatively recently arrived cultures that do not treat disabled people with dignity and respect and instead view them as bad luck / punishment for bad past life deeds / etc are over-represented.

In other districts (e.g. the masses): I would be very concerned about personal safety / bullying not to mention a severe lack of support / services.