Does it really cost $131,414/yr to live in CA?

U.S.A. California

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Specializes in ICU.

first let me start off by saying like everyone else, i want to move to ca from tx. the problem is i don't know where to live. so i go on this website called www.bestplaces.net and compare cost of living to get a better idea of my choices. to my horror i received some devastating information.

with my potential new grad salary of 50,500 in houston, i would have to make:

$131,414 to live in san fran,

$121,114 for san diego,

$97,603 for la, or

122,483 to live in san jose to "maintain" the same standard of living.

is this true??!!! surely there are new grads that live in these areas, and they don't make that much money? right? i read plenty of threads, and all of them mentioned how expensive it was. i got that part loud and clear, but i never thought there was such a huge gap. i was already confused, this just makes me afraid and confused. each time i check out a hospital i look up the area and i get news like this. are there hospitals with good new grad programs in med/surg that are in areas where i won't be a victim of crime and not have to eat roman noodles to survive? can anyone shed light on this or am i doomed???

any advice on programs or areas would be great. thanks

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Yes, this is true. Best advice, stay away.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

I was born and raised in California. Housing continues to rise. My parents say that they could not even afford to buy their own house if they had to re-buy it. If not for family I would get the heck out of here as soon as I graduated nursing school, and I do not even live in a major city. However, look what that web site you posted said:

Average house hold income. My town: $33,812 US: $44,684

Unemployment rate. My town: 5.70% US: 5.00%

Median Home cost My town: $346,500 US: $208,500

A new graduate nurse around here makes about $20/hr

Is there something wrong with this picture? I bet every one in California can say there is imbalance in their towns.

And I live in a Rural area.........

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Well, I'm pretty sure living in the smaller cities is better... like living in the countryside... may be a longer commute to work, but I'm pretty sure the cost of living is much cheaper than in the city. Might be worth checking out!

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It's funny because a lot of us CA RN's want to move out of the state (like me?) Born and raised in SF it's hard to tear myself away from it but it really is expensive and it gets exhausting trying to keep up with the increase in prices. Don't get me wrong as a new grad you'll be making $40-50/hrand nice raises every 6 months and you will be able to get a job quickly because we have a horrible nursing shortage. It depends if you want to buy or just rent. Rent is not too bad. I live 15 min north of SF and I pay $1080 for a nice, new one bedroom apartment with garage in downtown san rafael. It is virtually crime free and beautiful. Oakland/Berkeley is also an option, lots of nightlife and great restaurants, but there are great neighborhoods and not-so great neighborhoods. Try Craigslist.org and check out the prices. Living in SF is ridiculously expensive. I lived there for 2 years and paid $700 for a room in the inner richmond district which is close to the beach but this was 5 years ago so it has probably gone up. You should take a good week to come out and drive all over the bay area and check out the cities, its gorgeous but you'll pay the price. I work at a hospital called Kaiser Permanente and they have them all over California. They have great new grad training programs and they have excellent benefits and competitive salaries. Let me know if you have any other questions. Why are you leaving Texas? I was thinking of moving there.

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Specializes in ICU.
it's funny because a lot of us ca rn's want to move out of the state (like me?) born and raised in sf it's hard to tear myself away from it but it really is expensive and it gets exhausting trying to keep up with the increase in prices. don't get me wrong as a new grad you'll be making $40-50/hrand nice raises every 6 months and you will be able to get a job quickly because we have a horrible nursing shortage. it depends if you want to buy or just rent. rent is not too bad. i live 15 min north of sf and i pay $1080 for a nice, new one bedroom apartment with garage in downtown san rafael. it is virtually crime free and beautiful. oakland/berkeley is also an option, lots of nightlife and great restaurants, but there are great neighborhoods and not-so great neighborhoods. try craigslist.org and check out the prices. living in sf is ridiculously expensive. i lived there for 2 years and paid $700 for a room in the inner richmond district which is close to the beach but this was 5 years ago so it has probably gone up. you should take a good week to come out and drive all over the bay area and check out the cities, its gorgeous but you'll pay the price. i work at a hospital called kaiser permanente and they have them all over california. they have great new grad training programs and they have excellent benefits and competitive salaries. let me know if you have any other questions. why are you leaving texas? i was thinking of moving there.

thanks for your reply! this is the sort of thing i was looking for because i thought surely there were "outskirt" places to live that would not cost a fortune. i was looking at ucsf because i believe it is a teaching hospital...correct me if i am wrong. i have seen threads about kaiser, but a lot of them don't have good things to say about it. how do you like working there? i am not really sure what other hospitals are in the area. when i finally narrow down at least 3 places to consider, i plan to visit them all in the summer. i will be in anaheim next month, so hopefully i can get a feel then.

the $1080 apartment sounds like something i am looking for because it's close, but not too close. i like to enjoy the nightlife occasionally, but i really like the water, outdoor activities, and good restaurants. if you don't mind me asking, what is the zip for san rafeal?

as far as texas goes, i love tx. i have been here all my life though, and would like to experience something different. i visited la once about 5 years ago, and have wanted to live in ca ever since. i figured i should do it now, before i get married and have kids. i live about 15min from the tx medical center and i feel really blessed to have lived and worked here. there is always something to do, and always some place open that has good food to eat. i'm not sure if this makes sense, but i want to live somewhere that i always have the option to do something fun. not somewhere that all the restaurants close at 10p and every store is closed on sunday...make sense? anyway, i would recommend anyone who wants to come to tx to feel free to join. the people are friendly and the food will make you fat!:lol2:

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Specializes in ICU.
yes, this is true. best advice, stay away.

i'm sorry to hear you feel this way. care to elaborate on your experience?

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Specializes in ICU.
Well, I'm pretty sure living in the smaller cities is better... like living in the countryside... may be a longer commute to work, but I'm pretty sure the cost of living is much cheaper than in the city. Might be worth checking out!

Thanks icey,

That is exactly what I was thinking, but it is hard to find out where the good outside cities are. For example, I know LA is a major city, but then there are little areas around it that I can't pull up in a salary comparison search. Reading these threads help a little, because I get an idea of what outside cities are good ones to live in without an hour commute. That is what I DO NOT want...to have to spend an hour getting to work. That sounds really sucky. I'll keep searching though...I'm bound to come up with something.

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first let me start off by saying like everyone else, i want to move to ca from tx. the problem is i don't know where to live. so i go on this website called www.bestplaces.net and compare cost of living to get a better idea of my choices. to my horror i received some devastating information.

with my potential new grad salary of 50,500 in houston, i would have to make:

$131,414 to live in san fran,

$121,114 for san diego,

$97,603 for la, or

122,483 to live in san jose to "maintain" the same standard of living.

is this true??!!! surely there are new grads that live in these areas, and they don't make that much money? right? i read plenty of threads, and all of them mentioned how expensive it was. i got that part loud and clear, but i never thought there was such a huge gap. i was already confused, this just makes me afraid and confused. each time i check out a hospital i look up the area and i get news like this. are there hospitals with good new grad programs in med/surg that are in areas where i won't be a victim of crime and not have to eat roman noodles to survive? can anyone shed light on this or am i doomed???

any advice on programs or areas would be great. thanks

no it is not true. apartments in la go for $1100 for a nice 1 bedroom apartment in a nice good neighborhood. houses cost $600,0000 for an average 3 bed 2 bath in a decent area not in the desert. you can do the math of how much you would need for a down payment and house payment. you can find dumps for much less. food and gas and all that kind of stuff is similar to other states. it is the housing that is expensive.

good luck.

ben

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If you insist on living in the expensive coastal areas then, yes ... it's costs a fortune to live there. If you willing to move further inland to cheaper areas of the state then ... no, it doesn't cost that much.

People seem to forget that California is a huge state and there's lots of places to live besides San Fran, LA and San Diego.

:typing

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OP - I work @ UCSF, and yes, it is a teaching hospital. A very good one (IMHO), but every place has it's pro's and con's. A lot of great nurses here. :). I worked @ Stanford for a couple years - would NEVER let my family (or myself) go there. My nurse manger was one of the worst people I have ever met in my life. Just awful.

I was born and raised in San Jose - very expensive, but not nearly as expensive as SF. I'm not kidding - to rent a ROOM it will cost you a good $600 easy. Nice 2 bedrooms are upwards of 2K +. A house in East Palo Alto (not a great area, ex-murder capital of the US) will cost you at least 500K. It's laughable.

Having said that, while SF is a very fun city, I would very much recommend living on the outskirts. There are a lot of cute towns here that are within driving distance and yet are affordable. For example, San Rafael, Redwood City, Burlingame, San Mateo, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, etc.

There are many more very nice towns, but with very nice towns comes very expensive housing. For example, Palo Alto, Marin, Los Altos etc.

I think the CA is a great state (I love it here), though it is ridiculously priced. However, esp. in the Bay Area (where I was born and raised and still live) you really aren't that far from everything (mountains, beaches, snow [Lake Tahoe].

I will probably stay here indefinitely (provided I can keep up with the price of housing).

:twocents:

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Specializes in ICU.
OP - I work @ UCSF, and yes, it is a teaching hospital. A very good one (IMHO), but every place has it's pro's and con's. A lot of great nurses here. :). I worked @ Stanford for a couple years – would NEVER let my family (or myself) go there. My nurse manger was one of the worst people I have ever met in my life. Just awful.

I was born and raised in San Jose - very expensive, but not nearly as expensive as SF. I'm not kidding - to rent a ROOM it will cost you a good $600 easy. Nice 2 bedrooms are upwards of 2K +. A house in East Palo Alto (not a great area, ex-murder capital of the US) will cost you at least 500K. It’s laughable.

Having said that, while SF is a very fun city, I would very much recommend living on the outskirts. There are a lot of cute towns here that are within driving distance and yet are affordable. For example, San Rafael, Redwood City, Burlingame, San Mateo, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, etc.

There are many more very nice towns, but with very nice towns comes very expensive housing. For example, Palo Alto, Marin, Los Altos etc.

I think the CA is a great state (I love it here), though it is ridiculously priced. However, esp. in the Bay Area (where I was born and raised and still live) you really aren’t that far from everything (mountains, beaches, snow [Lake Tahoe].

I will probably stay here indefinitely (provided I can keep up with the price of housing).

:twocents:

Thanks for the reply jewels! I have a few questions...

-Of the places you named, are any close to UCSF? Close meaning, I won't be in traffic for an hour trying to get to and from work?

-How long have you been at UCSF and do you know how hard is it for new grads to get in on a Med-Surg floor?

-And this may be a dumb question, but is the Bay Area considered San Fran...?

I would like to rent a 1-bedroom that's affordable in reference to my salary and safe. Being close to the water would be nice, but I'm not sure how affordable that would be. With this thread I am getting a better idea of what outskirt towns are best. THANKS

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