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.
Hello everyone! I'm a Utahn considering pursuing a law enforcement career in Seattle and I was just looking for some feedback about the area in relation to how much I'd be making. First, what I'm looking for. I would prefer to rent(and probably eventually own) a house somewhere by Seattle, but I'm absolutely not looking to live downtown or anything like that. I actually kind of prefer suburban life over urban life(not to imply I've lived a whole lot of urban life being from Utah). A commute to downtown Seattle(by car or other means) of 30 minutes or less is something I have no problem with and can tolerate a 45 minute commute. In case it's a big factor in commute time, these are the PD shifts I might work(they can vary by 30 minutes): 3am-Noon, 11am-8pm, and 7pm to 4am.
Now, for the salary. After the academy, I'd be making $67.7k and after 5 years I'd be making $88.9k(before taxes, of course). My wife would be working too, but I'm trying to figure out how far I could take us on my own. No kids yet. Would I be able to accomplish my goals based on this salary?
Bonus question: What's the relationship between the Seattle PD and the residents like? I know the Seattle PD received a bit of a black mark recently, but overall are there any significant issues there I should know about?
Supposing that your wife is also bringing in at least $40-50k, your combined salary would work here, especially if you are renting.
Home ownership is going to be a trickier thing to answer because it's dependent on other variables besides income. For example, will you have any debt such as consumer debt and/or student loans to pay? Will you have a "nest egg" for the downpayment? Will you be picky about square footage or acreage, condition, or school districts? Another concern is what happens when babies come: will your wife keep working? Day care is expensive (at least $1000+ for an infant). But if your wife quits to take care of kids, then you will probably NOT be able to afford the home on your income alone (especially not until you start making into the upper $80k's). Home values have really gone up in the past year. Starter homes are above $400 for 30-45 minutes out of Seattle, much higher if you are looking for good schools.
I'm single and took a pay cut so i'm right around the mid 80's mark in terms of salary and I live in Bellevue which is one of the more expensive but convenient areas. I'm doing fine on that right now however I do not own. If your family combined total income is over $100K you should be fine until the kids come. I'd plan a little and hold off on the kids until you are past one year of service on the force and know that you will make it past rookie stage and that you like both the job and the city. That will also give you some time to save up some.
I'm thinking you'll probably live either on the extreme north or south ends if you want to own. You'll get more bang for your buck in either location. Tacoma is another possibility, I commuted from Bellevue to Tacoma for a work project and I could get there in 35 minutes. The exception might be the 7pm shift going north, not sure what that will be like into Seattle but some nights it could take me 45 minutes to get home. Home prices in Tacoma are lower and in the grand scheme of things it's not really all that far from Seattle.
If owning right away is your goal then you might want to consult a realtor to get a better picture. I have a good friend who's been in the biz for 20 years and just became a broker, he's absolutely no pressure and really knows the market around the area. He's slowly been helping me but I haven't been in a hurry. Shoot me a PM and I can send you his info if you'd like, up to you. Again, he's no pressure and gives it to you straight.
Regarding the relationship between Seattle PD and the communities, there were some crazy incidents which resulted in the feds stepping in to investigate, but those seem to be resolved now for the most part. There are always going to be incidents as it is a major city and there are going to be varying opinions. You'll never get away from that as a police officer, you'll be both loved and hated even when you've done the right things. One thing I do know is that the force is trying very hard to diversify and so they've hired a lot of gay/lesbians and minorities. I knew some older officers who didn't really like the large number of gay men joining the force but Seattle has a large gay/lesbian community. They've also started a program of non-arrest and assistance in areas where homelessness is a problem to help prevent the cycle of jail time that under-privileged can end up in. They've also done a lot to curb street prostitution and received federal funding for that. Gun trafficking is a big deal here as is car theft/trafficking. It's a major port city so you'll see more major illegal drug and firearm movements than in other inland cities from what i've been told. That's about all I know. My dealings with Seattle PD have been minimal other than speeding tickets.
Impressive that you got hired to attend the academy in Seattle, getting any police job anywhere in the country is a damn hard thing to do. It's definitely not easy to become a police officer. I was boarded in both Bellevue and Tukwila over 10 years ago but ultimately didn't get hired in either. Just getting invited to attend the selection boards was a very big deal from what I recall.
Home values have really gone up in the past year. Starter homes are above $400 for 30-45 minutes out of Seattle, much higher if you are looking for good schools.
Erm...wow. People aren't kidding about how expensive housing is. Just for kicks and giggles, I went to Zillows and looked at the mid 200s from Tacoma to Everett and those are places that would be in the 100s here.
So, would my dollar go further if I were just renting? Perhaps rent off of just my salary and sock away all my wife's pay for a nice place a few years down the road?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Polymorphist
Impressive that you got hired to attend the academy in Seattle, getting any police job anywhere in the country is a damn hard thing to do. It's definitely not easy to become a police officer. I was boarded in both Bellevue and Tukwila over 10 years ago but ultimately didn't get hired in either. Just getting invited to attend the selection boards was a very big deal from what I recall.
Oh, no, I don't want to give the wrong impression. I just recently found out Seattle and a few other cities were hiring a bunch of officers, so I'm doing some research to see if they are cities I would like to live in. I mean, I'd like to think I'd be a competitive candidate considering my higher education and military experience(the state police here straight up told me I probably would have been hired if I hadn't been too busy with out-of-state military obligations at the time), but I'm just running scenarios at this point.
Also, thanks for the offer, but it seems I'll be quite a ways from actually owning. The original plan was to rent a place short-term when we got there so we could find a place to own at a more relaxed pace than if we were hustling up there on weekends. Seems like the renting process will be much longer though, which I'm fine with.
Erm...wow. People aren't kidding about how expensive housing is. Just for kicks and giggles, I went to Zillows and looked at the mid 200s from Tacoma to Everett and those are places that would be in the 100s here.
So, would my dollar go further if I were just renting? Perhaps rent off of just my salary and sock away all my wife's pay for a nice place a few years down the road?
There is a lot of subjective debate out there about the pros and cons of renting vs buying, some of those discussions can be found on city-data economics forums, for example. In the least, no matter where you are moving to, you need to put money away. I still don't know what you guys have/have not, but getting some solid financial advice is of extreme importance for younger people starting out (also see the economics forums). There are people who post here in the Seattle forum that are in real estate that can tell you what to expect in buying a home. I'm assuming that it's a much more competitive environment and qualifying for loans is not as easy as it used to be. Rule of thumb is 20% down. Figure out the kind of house you want, do the math and then you'll know how much money you'll need (and decide if you can reasonably afford it). Most recommend that your home not exceed 3x your gross income. Personally I think that's too generous and we've always kept it to under 2x our income. You don't want to be, as they say, "house poor". Which means you've got a home but now all your money goes to just staying in it. I'm glad that you are thinking about this and I hope you find this information to be useful.
Hello everyone! I'm a Utahn considering pursuing a law enforcement career in Seattle and I was just looking for some feedback about the area in relation to how much I'd be making. First, what I'm looking for. I would prefer to rent(and probably eventually own) a house somewhere by Seattle, but I'm absolutely not looking to live downtown or anything like that. I actually kind of prefer suburban life over urban life(not to imply I've lived a whole lot of urban life being from Utah). A commute to downtown Seattle(by car or other means) of 30 minutes or less is something I have no problem with and can tolerate a 45 minute commute. In case it's a big factor in commute time, these are the PD shifts I might work(they can vary by 30 minutes): 3am-Noon, 11am-8pm, and 7pm to 4am.
Now, for the salary. After the academy, I'd be making $67.7k and after 5 years I'd be making $88.9k(before taxes, of course). My wife would be working too, but I'm trying to figure out how far I could take us on my own. No kids yet. Would I be able to accomplish my goals based on this salary?
the times that the shifts are, it seems fine, the only one problem would be the 7pm to 4am shift, traffic usually ends at around 7pm on most freeways, so if your leaving home at 6 you will catch a jam.
at 88.9k after 5 years, i dont think you can live comfortably with one income and have a house, unless you buy a 250k house somewhere farther away from seattle (kent, auburn, lynnwood, everett). its really hard to find a move in ready house/good neighborhood/neighbor not 5 feet from your house in this area, you really need to fork over 500k to have a seattle address that meets the criteria.
The Academy is in Burien so you might want to live a little closer to that until you are done. Then, you'll be assigned to one of the Precinct's. There are three: Southwest (in West Seattle), Central (in Capitol Hill), and North (in North Seattle). I live in West Seattle and it has more of a suburban feel to it. And house prices are a little cheaper there than the rest of the area. And conveniently located near Burien.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,550 posts, read 81,131,933 times
Reputation: 57755
if you look at any home on Zillow, they show the estimated mortgage payment and what it could fetch in rent. In the better, more desirable areas the rent is usually several hundred more than the mortgage. That, of course depends on the interest rate and down payment, but rents are high here too now with more people needing rentals than available homes. Apartments are not as high as homes but have still gone way up in the last couple of years. For people new to the area I think it's always better to rent first, become familiar with the area and where you will work before buying.
the times that the shifts are, it seems fine, the only one problem would be the 7pm to 4am shift, traffic usually ends at around 7pm on most freeways, so if your leaving home at 6 you will catch a jam.
at 88.9k after 5 years, i dont think you can live comfortably with one income and have a house, unless you buy a 250k house somewhere farther away from seattle (kent, auburn, lynnwood, everett). its really hard to find a move in ready house/good neighborhood/neighbor not 5 feet from your house in this area, you really need to fork over 500k to have a seattle address that meets the criteria.
Well, that works out well since I didn't really have a specific desire to live in Seattle proper. Everett actually looked promising, but from the sounds of it I'm probably going to want to look to the south of Seattle. I like living big city adjacent.
Well, that works out well since I didn't really have a specific desire to live in Seattle proper. Everett actually looked promising, but from the sounds of it I'm probably going to want to look to the south of Seattle. I like living big city adjacent.
well this will be after you worked 5 years to get to your salary.
as far as everett goes, you have to make sure its in a good neighborhood. there are lots of problems there.
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.
