It depends on your priorities. If not, it's definitely your calling! $40k in the midwest might allow you to live slightly better, but it's fairly close. I've been offered a job with 75k salary, plus benefits and all that good stuff. Do you have any loans? I moved here in September and the best ive seen for a studio that isn't totally sketchy is like $2000. So the general strategy is to rent a room and scrape by until you are in a relationship. Though New York has the reputation for being super expensive (and it is), there is a city across the country that has it beat hands down. Last month Ladders wrote about how salaries of $100K and below in the super ... and taxes from an $8,333 monthly paycheck which is equivalent to a $100,000 yearly pre-tax salary. My first job in the bay was at 70k. Craigslist was great for me. Here are the reasons: 1. Now its really up to you. Ignoring the 10 cheapest and 10 most expensive, they range from to $1,250 to $4,200 a month. I was able to save, invest, build up an emergency cushion, contribute to my 401K, pay my rent and utilities, pay for healthcare, and manage my car expenses, in spite of having a young child. According to Magnify Money, they would have to use their savings or go into credit card debt. Oh and if you have a car and you end up downtown you'll likely have to pay $100+ for a spot per month. The Best and Worst Cities to Live on Six Figures and they found a number of cities will make you spend your $100K salary quite fast and furiously on basic things like rent and food. Of course, this isn’t surprising considering that income levels in the Bay Area are the highest in the U.S. and are just going up. If I'm looking to live in a single studio apartment, will I be able to live fairly comfortably with moderation (cook meals at home, takeout once in a while, etc.)? Why? Rented a studio and it was fine. Some questions to think about as well. I just looked at craigslist and hotpads and there were a number of studio units available on their own without roomates for 1500. Honestly when you start to consider not only rent but all of the expenses of living by yourself, it adds up to be a lot. That gives you $31,645 to live on, or about $2,600/month. I agree with the above poster- roomie situation is best as studios can be very pricey here. Sure they're not new luxury buildings, but that's what most of the housing stock in San Jose is. Let me tell you a sad story about who households need to earn multiple-six figures to live a middle class lifestyle today. I am a simple person who is quite comfortable renting a place, not having any fancy vacations and not over-reaching when it comes to clothes, haircuts, cars, entertainment, etc. And with the median home price in the Bay Area around $935,000, a record high, you better be making a lot more than $100,000. Better ask for that raise soon if you plan on living in any of these places. There are 440 apartments listed with the word "studio" on Craigslist in San Jose. Are you married or single? WHAT?! Just do the math yourself. Having a roommate is best. A household in San Jose needs to earn more than $204,000 per year to be in the top income quintile, according to a recent study. Press J to jump to the feed. Stop making things up because you didn't take 5 seconds to look. renting a room in a house is around 900-1100, renting a room in an apartment is about 1200 - 1600, renting a 1br apartment heavily varies, cheapest is around 1800 if you live in a old building. Is 110K a good salary for a consultant with Wife and 2 Kids to live in San Jose. It found that $65,800 is considered “very low,” and $39,500 is “extremely low.”. That is $24,000/year. electricity (my friend lives in an older but nice loft downtown SJ and his bill is like $200-300 and its still freezing in there), what? Then add renters insurance, electricity (my friend lives in an older but nice loft downtown SJ and his bill is like $200-300 and its still freezing in there), water/trash, internet, etc. All the nickels and dimes add up. Will you have to pay for transportation/parking fees? Living in the bay is hard enough. It all depends. But $2,600 a month if you drive a $40,000 car depreciating $5,000/year, commuting 30 miles (60+ minutes ) in stop and go traffic burning through gas at $3.20/gallon, eating out even just for lunches ($12/meal x 5 days/week = $250/month or 10% of all your spending money), going out for drinks or dinner a couple times a week ($50 each), dating, maybe taking a trip a couple times a year, going to be tight. 75k means about 55k after taxes if you don't contribute to any retirement. 10 Best Startups to Work For in San Mateo; How we determined the highest paid jobs in San Jose For 2020. (In the big picture, everything changes when you are talking about two people. I think you will be a little below average if you want to live alone. A subreddit dedicated to San José, California, the heart of the Silicon Valley. Is this comparative or drastically lower adjusted for the cost of living? A studio will run $2,000/month give or take depending on the area. How far would the commute be? Some of these are not surprising like San Francisco and New York but San Jose, which bumped Washington D.C. for the top post, is an interesting one. Everyone saying 2k minimum for a studio is full of crap. $75,000, if single with the standard $12,000 tax deduction, will result in $4,650 social security tax, $1,088 medicare tax, $9,799 federal income tax, $3,819 state income tax. Where are you planning on living? The San Francisco-based restaurant Souvla has runners bring food to the tables but then you are on your own, according to The Times. I was able to save, invest, build up an emergency cushion, contribute to my 401K, pay my rent and utilities, pay for healthcare, and manage my car expenses, in spite of having a young child. new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Do you already have debt? I lived in San Jose on 52 K, then on 62K, then on 82 K between 1997 and 2007. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. salaries of $100K and below in the super expensive city of San Francisco. You can rent a room in a house for $1,000 or less. This is definitely contributing to a recent flux of people looking to leave the city. The estimated state tax in Minneapolis ($506) is higher than both San Jose and Washington, D.C. Oxnard, CA also made it because of the high housing costs. Cookies help us deliver our Services. 1. Banks don’t lend if a house is worth more than 5X your income after a 20% downpayment. my bill for a studio is consistently $50/mo and it's always comfortable without running any heat. I'd strongly recommend looking for a room mate. The atrocious costs of living in San Francisco are impacting many different industries. We looked at the BLS’s data set for all 472 job classifications in San Jose in order to identify those that get paid the most. Minneapolis is high on the list because of its high-income taxes as well as expensive health insurance rates. So if you get something at the lower end of the range, you are looking at maybe $1,850 or $1,900/month plus some utilities. That's doable on $75k. The median house price in San Francisco is $1.5M. How is a $100,000 salary considered ‘low income’ in San Fran? $2,600 if you eat at home, drive a $10,000 car that you replace every 6 years and gets good gas mileage, don't travel much, don't need nice clothes for work, etc. To do this the researchers determined the monthly disposable income of a hypothetical family with one child in 100 metro areas by subtracting monthly expenses, savings, debt, and taxes from an $8,333 monthly paycheck which is equivalent to a $100,000 yearly pre-tax salary. Get a room, have housemates, be social, network. I'm sure you can figure out your monthly expenses and go from there. Do you have kids? You might want to consider living with roommates. It depends on your priorities. Magnify Money just came out with their annual The Best and Worst Cities to Live on Six Figures and they found a number of cities will make you spend your $100K salary quite fast and furiously on basic things like rent and food. Once you can split costs, things get a lot easier.). $1700-1800 will get you something livable. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Buying or renting? San Francisco has been ranked high on several lists when it comes to most expensive and affordability. Also, I’d look in some of the surrounding communities for better housing, and most of the San Jose suburbs have downtown areas with some bars/restaurants etc. That leaves you with $55,645 in spending income after taxes. I lived in San Jose on 52 K, then on 62K, then on 82 K between 1997 and 2007. In the Bay Area having a salary of $117,400 qualifies you as “low income” in some counties, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There are plenty of 1br for just under $2000. Last month Ladders wrote about how salaries of $100K and below in the super expensive city of San Francisco will put you in the “low income” bracket in some counties around the Bay Area. In order to comfortably raise a family in an expensive coastal city like San Francisco or New York, you've got to make at least $300,000 a year.