Salary compared to cost of living in Seattle area (Vancouver: apartments, how much)

[Drake744]

I was just wondering how the "average" salary for someone compares to the COL in the Seattle area. I know that's vague but it's based off of the old "Oh, it costs more to live in (city X) so therefore you'll probably at least make a little more money if you live there" theory. I used to live in Southern California and am considering a move back to San Diego, where the theory doesn't hold very true for most people. The pay bump is definitely not on par with the COL down there, so there's a definite cut back in standard of living. I was just wondering if Seattle sways one way or the other on this. I know it's not "extremely" expensive to live in the area but it's certainly well above the national average. I'm also considering a Seattle move for many reasons if I can pry myself away from the urge to return to So Cal. I know a fair amount about the area and know some people there, I was just curious about input on this. I wouldn't anticipate much of a pay bump simply because of living costs but....just thought I'd ask how the residents view it.

For what it's worth I work in an industry that electronically handles construction, architectural and engineering plans and blueprints. At the end of the day, I guess it would be considered somewhat of a tech job.

[beautifulseattlehomes]

Maybe not extremely expensive compared to NYC, LA, SF maybe DC thrown in too but we are right behind them albeit far behind NY and SF. My clients from Manhattan, which is no inexpensive proposition, are always surprised by how much more expensive Seattle is than what they imagined and they move here with excellent salaries and dual incomes.

I see your in Nashville which is a great town and much more affordable than Seattle. My sister in law lives there and is shocked by the housing cost difference between the two cities! She would never move here because she has a huge home in Nashville that would cost three times as much here.

[Hemlock140]

The median home price in King County is over $400,000, some eastside cities are at $600,000, others at over a million. With a high cost of living the better employers have to pay more to attract the best people, and homes are
selling so the high paying jobs are here. We still have minimum wage people and everything in between, too, like most places.

[JBVirtuoso]

This kind of question really depends on your industry, how much education you have, and a full range of other issues. It's quite possible that if you were able to move into a more lucrative position in Seattle due to better availability of such a job and a demand for skilled workers in that position, you'd be able to make substantially more money by moving here. This is probably true for many in the IT and aerospace industries. If we're talking about a lateral transfer (i.e. keeping the same job description but moving to Seattle), it's unlikely that you'd see a significant salary bump.

Companies don't really consider cost of living when determining what to pay workers. Instead, they set the minimum salary necessary to attract qualified workers to the position. For some industries, qualified workers are in short supply, so these industries pay high salaries. For fields like IT, the competition between companies to attract workers in Seattle is strong, which drives up salaries further. For less location-specific industries, those forces don't really exist, and salaries tend to be more equal across regions.

[mkarch]

You can live fairly cheap around here as long as you don't want or need to be in one of the expensive parts of Seattle or the Eastside.

[StealthRabbit]

Living Under a bridge is not a bad choice (water view without the property taxes). Hundreds do it every night!

Col / Wage ratio
Really very depended on your career field. Even with high minimum wage, You will not make it in SEA flipping burgers (U will probably be serving coffee.. ). If you are a top notch professional in a strong field you can survive. If you are a "trust-fund-baby" you will be in good company!

[RotseCherut]

You make a little bit more and pay a lot more to live in Seattle. Like in Florida they pay you in sunshine, we pay you in trees and mountains...

Does this answer your question?

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

This kind of question really depends on your industry, how much education you have, and a full range of other issues. It's quite possible that if you were able to move into a more lucrative position in Seattle due to better availability of such a job and a demand for skilled workers in that position, you'd be able to make substantially more money by moving here. This is probably true for many in the IT and aerospace industries. If we're talking about a lateral transfer (i.e. keeping the same job description but moving to Seattle), it's unlikely that you'd see a significant salary bump.

Companies don't really consider cost of living when determining what to pay workers. Instead, they set the minimum salary necessary to attract qualified workers to the position. For some industries, qualified workers are in short supply, so these industries pay high salaries. For fields like IT, the competition between companies to attract workers in Seattle is strong, which drives up salaries further. For less location-specific industries, those forces don't really exist, and salaries tend to be more equal across regions.

That's kinda what I was looking for. Thanks. If I left Nashville I'd do my best to scope out jobs or leads for them ahead of time, but I likely wouldn't know exactly until I was already there. I work in construction document management but my company is a printing and distribution one. It's kinda confusing. We work with architectural firms, contractors, engineers, etc and I have a lot of good experience that could serve me well in many different fields, but I'm not singled in to one specific career path.

As far as the COL in Nashville and home prices as compared to Seattle (or San Diego potentially for me also), yeah that's a huge benefit of this area but I'm not at that stage of my life currently. I'm 28, single and no kids so I'm not looking at future homes quite yet, although this area is growing rapidly and it's a great place to live. I also grew up in here before relocating to So Cal the first time so I'm just looking to be somewhere else right now.

[StealthRabbit]

Look into the bigger commercial construction companies that service Hospitals / eldercare, High tech, and military installations. Kiewit (PKS) is really a great employer and has offices in Vancouver, WA and Seattle area.
Kiewit : Careers

@ age 28, you will be fine with CoL and some areas have affordable rents. I prefer apartments in homes. Ballard / Fremont / Greenlake are good choices if you work Downtown or near UW.

Working and living in Vancouver, WA can be great, as no state income tax, and Portland is 10 minutes away... far enough to make Vancouver OK and close enough to visit ez and often. There are ~ 20 colleges within 30 minutes and lots to do. Vancouver / PDX and Seattle are quite different, Seattle is higher CoL and traffic / commute is a detractor. SEA has it's benefits and is quite pretty. Portland has it's benefits (Close to Columbia Gorge, Mt Hood and beautiful Oregon coast (100% public access)).

Either would be a good choice for an adventure. DO NOT live and work in Oregon... 9% income tax.