Moving from Midwest to california

[scharnhorst]

Hi
I might be considering a move from upper midwest to california preferably close to San francisco in the near future due to family reasons
my main concerns are
1-cost of living is very high
2-Houses are incredibly expensive
3-Pay is slightly higher but is it enough to cover the increased cost of living and housing expense ?

I dont want to move and be house poor esp since I have young family

are there any areas in california that pay like midwest rural areAS AND cost of living /housing is comparable

I'm prepared to be anywhere in a 3-4 hr radius of san francisco

thanks

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[teacherman84]

Not CA, but Reno, NV (and surrounding towns) is within 4 hrs and has a much better cost of living.

I don't know about salaries, but cost of living is less as you get away from the coast, even Sacramento is much more reasonable (prob not Midwest prices, but reasonable).

 

[DO2015CA]

I grew up in the rural area outside of SF and although everywhere will be more expensive, the central valley and the foothills towards tahoe will be cheaper. If you have a low debt load then life won't be too poor.

 

[mabinante]

California gets an unfair shot at things....I have lived here my whole life...great place to live....there are rich areas (Palo Alto, SF, Beverly Hills, Newport Beach) and there are poor areas...just like every state. You'll be just fine.

 

[TennisShoeChic]

my main concerns are
1-cost of living is very high
2-Houses are incredibly expensive
3-Pay is slightly higher but is it enough to cover the increased cost of living and housing expense ?

I dont want to move and be house poor esp since I have young family
thanks

Growing up in Cali, I feel the most important factor (more than cost of housing or traffic or anything) was school ratings. It is staggering how the quality of education changes from school districts from city to city. I would research that a LOT (as you mention moving for family reasons).

My parents fought tooth and nail to get a home in Irvine (in Southern California) which they couldn’t really afford, just so we could attend that particular school district. As a result, I was able to go to one of the top 25 public schools in the US which opened up a lot of opportunities for me for college and eventually medical school.

Two miles away, the education given to students in Santa Ana, Tustin, Fullerton, etc was dramatically different. Whereas Irvine offered a crazy amount of AP classes, after school activities, and way-overqualified-to-teach-high-school teachers, your opportunities were significantly limited if your home did not fall within the “Irvine” district.

I made a lot of generalizations here, but just food for thought when you’re thinking about where to move in Cali.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Growing up in Cali, I feel the most important factor (more than cost of housing or traffic or anything) was school ratings. It is staggering how the quality of education changes from school districts from city to city. I would research that a LOT (as you mention moving for family reasons).

My parents fought tooth and nail to get a home in Irvine (in Southern California) which they couldn’t really afford, just so we could attend that particular school district. As a result, I was able to go to one of the top 25 public schools in the US which opened up a lot of opportunities for me for college and eventually medical school.

Two miles away, the education given to students in Santa Ana, Tustin, Fullerton, etc was dramatically different. Whereas Irvine offered a crazy amount of AP classes, after school activities, and way-overqualified-to-teach-high-school teachers, your opportunities were significantly limited if your home did not fall within the “Irvine” district.

I made a lot of generalizations here, but just food for thought when you’re thinking about where to move in Cali.

Agree with this.

The solid school districts in CA are in areas where the average 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 2000sqft house is $1M

 

[VenusinFurs]

So, I work in the Central Valley, which is a rural and under-served area where housing tends to be more affordable. Based on what I've seen- pay in the Bay Area is not proportionally increased relative to the cost of living, and I believe it is going to be pretty hard to find a house unless you've got some significant savings (bear in mind I have not yet bought a house). You probably could live in a place like Stockton or Modesto for a while, try to save as much as possible, and then by the time your kids are school age try to move to a place with really good schools.

That said, because the central valley is pretty horribly under-served and cost of living is relatively low, you could probably get a pretty good deal in terms of salary and either buy a nice house for pretty cheap or rent a nice place for pretty cheap.

 

[DO2015CA]

So, I work in the Central Valley, which is a rural and under-served area where housing tends to be more affordable. Based on what I've seen- pay in the Bay Area is not proportionally increased relative to the cost of living, and I believe it is going to be pretty hard to find a house unless you've got some significant savings (bear in mind I have not yet bought a house). You probably could live in a place like Stockton or Modesto for a while, try to save as much as possible, and then by the time your kids are school age try to move to a place with really good schools.

That said, because the central valley is pretty horribly under-served and cost of living is relatively low, you could probably get a pretty good deal in terms of salary and either buy a nice house for pretty cheap or rent a nice place for pretty cheap.

Do not live in Stockton. Choose Modesto or Tracy. Tracy isn’t too far from the bay but still has manageable COL

 

[VenusinFurs]

Do not live in Stockton. Choose Modesto or Tracy. Tracy isn’t too far from the bay but still has manageable COL

I didn't really know much about Stockton, I live under a rock.