Salary: Am I doing OK? Worth looking at bigger cities for bigger pay?

Good morning.

I am 30 years old and live with my wife in a very low CoL area -- median household income is $36,000 and median home price is $69,000.

I work in IT with fantastic benefits and my wife works for a major private university (also excellent benefits). We both like our job, but do not like the area.

I always see big salaries in larger cities -- upper 6-figures. However, I know cost of living has a big play in this. Is there any chance I'd be better off moving to a bigger city and hoping my salary would scale? How good or bad am I doing here?

We make about $145k combined (90 and 55). How would this scale to say, San Francisco, San Diego, etc? Is my best option to simply stay put?

We can expect annual raises of 3%+ and occasional promotions. I also receive a small (3%) bonus.

Thanks!

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Comments

networker050184

I made a similar transition a few years ago. The cost of living difference is going to be huge moving to a major metro like NYC or San Francisco. Assuming you're good at what you do and on the senior level you could certainly make that $145k all by yourself. Housing is likely 4x the price so it won't completely make up for it though. Not to mention everything else going up in price considerably.

Whether its worth it or not is really subjective. You only live once and if you want to try it go for it I say. I personally enjoy moving around every few years and not really the type to settle long term yet so I might be a bit biased!

SweenMachine

Bigger city salaries are not all they are cracked up to be. I can tell you in my county in Illinois (suburbs of Chicago), my property taxes on my modest home is out of this world. We are talking, uhm, 14k a year (IN THE MIDWEST! THIS ISN'T CALI!!!). My modest (I say that because it is, under 2000 square feet, less than 1/4 acre LAND) home, with no PMI on a 30 year mortgage locked in at 3.75%, my payment is $2600 dollars a month. So yes, my SALARY number looks nice, but my quality of life isn't always better than my cousin who works at Walmart near Richmond, Indiana, where the property taxes for his home are roughly $1100 a year. There are many days I think about moving to the middle of nowhere to get the life that YOU have. I am not super social anyway and if I want to get to a Cubs game, Richmond is only about 3 1/2 hours away ha

If I got a work from home support job making $17 an hour, and my wife worked at the local grocery for minimum wage, I could have the exact same amount of money in my bank account in Richmond, Indiana as I could with my 6 figures here in Chicago.

Life is always subjective.

TheFORCE

You are doing fine. Nothing to worry. You are putting more money in the bank where you are now than what you would put if you moved to a larger city. I live in a big city and we make the same as you but less goes in our savings after all the expenses. Stay where you are and enjoy your life, go to trips and don't worry, you are doing fine.

NOC-Ninja

I personally know someone with a CCNP that works at san jose who makes 150k. Although, the house prices are 600k and up for a 3 bedroom house. Those are not new houses too.

Also, I spoke to an IT manager. He said that the ball park for CCIE with clearance is 200k. The lowest is 140k.
Btw, these are all california.

I have a friend that lives in arizona who makes 180k being a pre sales engineer.

So is there money out there? Yes. It all depends on what certification, years of experience, location and being liken doesnt hurt.

gespenstern

I make more than you two combined, but would gladly change places with you. I'm in the same boat as SweenMachine, live around the same place and double everything he said.

I hate big cities, never been to night clubs, don't go to events or conferences and prefer a more rural life. Why the hell do I live here at all? The answer is kids who are stuck here with their friends, wife who enjoys having access to everything big city related and damn jobs.

DatabaseHead

I think you are doing fine. We are around 200 in a low cost of living area and it works for us. I know some on here make more than that by themselves. ~100,000 for me and the same for wife, which is nice being evenly yoked.

We were able to take a 15 year loan on a house and pay off cars faster than the 5 year note. Besides the home we have ~60 in student loan debt for my wife, but it was at ~80 2 years ago so we are paying on it......

PCTechLinc

I saw this article not too long ago, and it seems appropriate: Silicon Valley Techies Complain About 'Scraping By' on Six-Figure Salaries - Breitbart

I used to live in the Bay Area, and I will never go back. I won't even commute there. I'm in the Monterey, CA area now, and things are ridiculously expensive here. I commute just over an hour to where I recently bought a house. Income is definitely nice, but it means nothing if it doesn't match your cost of living.

TheFORCE

The point is tp live within your means. Thats the secret. Buying a house is always a good investment too, not spending more than you make another one. And educating your kids about the value of money even more important.
I bought my first car a decade ago, all paid now and will keep it for another decade while people i know buy cars every few years and live in rental apartments.

Making more money means nothing if you spend just as much, unless that's your way of living. Enjoying your life is important too, i like to have some balance between the two though.

OctalDump

I think the best reason to go into a major city for work, is if you are really good in a niche market that would only be supported in a large population city. That can mean earning well over 200k. If you are going and will end up doing the same work and not progressing your career, then it likely isn't worth it, unless you are the kind of person that loves living in a big city. The cost of living usually eats up the extra salary, plus the longer commutes, traffic, crowds, smaller houses, and other downsides of city life.

scenicroute

My cost of living is pretty low, and I'd like to always keep it that way. I've had a couple friends move out to SF, and they pay 5x as much as I do in rent. In my mind, that's a huge risk. If a recession hits and you lose your job or your salary is cut, you'll have no breathing room with a high CoL. I think there's this tendency for people to take for granted that if they have a high income today, they'll always have a high income.

Perhaps I'm overly paranoid, but if I were making 200k, I'd still want to live in a way such that if I all of the sudden could only pull 50k, I'd still be just fine.

TheFORCE

scenicroute wrote: »

My cost of living is pretty low, and I'd like to always keep it that way. I've had a couple friends move out to SF, and they pay 5x as much as I do in rent. In my mind, that's a huge risk. If a recession hits and you lose your job or your salary is cut, you'll have no breathing room with a high CoL. I think there's this tendency for people to take for granted that if they have a high income today, they'll always have a high income.

Perhaps I'm overly paranoid, but if I were making 200k, I'd still want to live in a way such that if I all of the sudden could only pull 50k, I'd still be just fine.

Wise thinking, i try to do the same.

greg9891

TheFORCE wrote: »

The point is tp live within your means. Thats the secret. Buying a house is always a good investment too, not spending more than you make another one. And educating your kids about the value of money even more important.
I bought my first car a decade ago, all paid now and will keep it for another decade while people i know buy cars every few years and live in rental apartments.

Making more money means nothing if you spend just as much, unless that's your way of living. Enjoying your life is important too, i like to have some balance between the two though.

You are a Smart guy Force great advice.!