My wife and I currently live in Atlanta but she would like us to move to the Bay Area because most of our friends and family live there.
My current salary in Atlanta is about $200k. My wife's salary is about $160k. We are both in our late 20s and would like to buy a home soon. I made the argument that we can buy a much nicer home in Atlanta for a fraction of the cost. She claims that even though homes in California are more expensive, that money isn't lost and is equity we would have for the future if we ever moved elsewhere, which is true.
Most calculators factor in house cost and says we would need to make about 2x our current salaries for a comparable standard of living but I agree that you are getting a more expensive home with more equity so the multiple should be lower. I recognize thay tax rates are also higher in California, especially factoring in higher gross incomes.
Does anyone here have any input, either mathematically or from experience on what comparable salaries we should both be aiming for in California to make the move worth it? Thank you!
Comparable Salary: Atlanta to Bay Area
byu/Saviorofmypeople inpersonalfinance
Posted by Saviorofmypeople
11 Comments
no way you guys are doubling your salaries unfortunately
Your wife is delusional. Don’t move to Cali with your current salary. You will need 3x more to be In the same boat your are currently in Atlanta
My 2c… You guys want kids? If yes, moving close to family and friends is worth it 100x. You guys have great jobs and can have a great life in Cali. Being close to friends and family is everything when you are raising little ones.
Yes you would need to make at least 2x your salary for a comparable standard of life. It is that expensive. Its not just rent / housing but also groceries, gas, restaurants, entertainment etc.
You actually probably can get paid more in the Bay Area if you looked for comparable jobs and took it. It wont be the same ratio of income to living expenses as Atlanta, but its not as if you will be scraping by. You already have 360k household income.
The quality of life is higher in the Bay Area as evidenced by the fact that people are willing to spend that much to live there. Its so high quality that poorer people get priced out. Thats just reality.
I used to live in and near Atlanta, I hated the climate. I have only ever visited the Bay Area but it was delightful. Thats what people are paying for.
Go if you want to live a higher quality of life. And at 360k income in Atlanta you can afford a home basically anywhere in the Bay, just have to make a little more money. Probably get to like 400 or 450k household income actually. And if you want kids, its much easier to have family support there than in Atlanta.
I live in the Bay Area and with that salary you won’t be able to buy a 2 bedroom house unless you want to commute in traffic for at least an hour one way. If you guys are in tech though, you can definitely increase that salary here by at least 25%. Just beware of the tech layoffs.
I don’t know what your lifestyle is like in Atlanta, so I don’t know if you could afford a comparable lifestyle here. But you could certainly afford a very nice life in California on $360k/yr. And chances are you’d be paid more here, even if it isn’t double. California is expensive because it’s worth it.
I live in SoCal just fine on 4x less than your current income. Sure my life could be more luxurious but I can’t imagine anything I’d want here that $360k/yr wouldn’t buy me.
I think if you put your idea of buying a home aside, living near family and the weather can make the expense worth it, especially if you plan on having kids, as the cost of daycare is equivalent to a rent payment per child. I fear that unless you’re in tech or in the medical field you may not see as big of a pay bump due to location.
It is much more expensive to live, it’s the sunshine tax for a reason
Minimal chance you can double your salary unless you’re in AI.
As someone who actually lives in the Bsy Area, you are getting insane replies here. The idea that you need to make 2-3x the salary is absolutely ridiculous.
I make $190k in the Bay Area and own a house with a yard and a rental unit in a nice town. And most expenses don’t scale up like housing. Many are in fact lower.
Reminder that 2x cost of living is not the same as requiring 2x salary, since you presumably don’t spend your entire salary. E.g. If you’re living an $80k/yr lifestyle in Atlanta and that doubles to $160k, you need an extra 80k (post taxes) to be saving the same amount, so like a 30-40% salary increase. The cheaper your lifestyle relative to your salary, the more this is true.