Is Southern California affordable on a psych NP salary?

db2xs · Jan 11, 2020

Hi there. It certainly is hard to beat San Diego for ideal weather, food, way of life!

I grew up in California and currently live in the SF Bay Area. While it may be true that certain things cost more in California than in other parts of the country, in general NPs get paid more here too. I currently don't own a house but in SD County, I imagine you could find a decent house. It won't be by the ocean in La Jolla or Encinitas though--keep that in mind.

Is California affordable? If I were making a Wyoming clerical wage, probably not. As an RN and NP? Yes, it is. As I see it for myself, what is my priority? Quality of life or massive material goods? An NP with whom I was talking made a good point: What's the point in having a five-bedroom house on two acres of land if you're in the middle of nowhere with no diversity and subpar food? But that's just my opinion.

I earn a good wage and am not complaining. Other people I went to NP school with from other states were making several thousands of dollars less than me out the gate.

caliotter3 · Jan 11, 2020

Your query reminds me of the remarks I heard one day from a radio talk show host. He emphatically made the point that if a person or family found their California digs to be rising above their ability to afford, then it was incumbent upon them to move further and further away, so that they could live somewhere that they could afford. I could have strangled that man in that moment.

ToFNPandBeyond · Jan 12, 2020

Psych NPs are one of the highest paid NP specialties. I've lived around California, and know of colleagues who live quite comfortably on their NP salaries making less than psych NPs in that area.

FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP · Jan 14, 2020

I am from San Diego County and am leaving. The healthcare job market there is terrible. Given the cost of living, which keeps going up, the pay is low. I can't seem to get a job there to save my life, yet get multiple job offers from other areas. You will make a lot more money in low-cost areas of the state from Bakersfield to Redding.

The reason the job market sucks in San Diego County is that a lot of people want to live there, there are a lot of military spouses that are RNs, NPs, even MDs, and there are a lot of healthcare professionals who retire from the military (which you can do in your 40s) and who want to stay in the area (and they have full military pensions). Given the high population of military veterans, they also get first preference for jobs. This drives down salaries.

Even the pay for PMHNPs is lower than in other parts of the state.

The average rent for a 1 BR apartment in North San Diego County (Carlsbad/Oceanside) is $1800; it becomes more expensive the closer you get to San Diego. The closer you are to the ocean, the more you will pay for an apartment or to buy a house. The traffic is becoming horrendous, too.

I would advise you carefully research the cost of living where you want to live. San Diego County is big, so if you want to live near the beach, you will pay a lot of money. If you are willing to live inland, it is more affordable. You should also start looking at job listings for PMHNPs to get an idea of the pay, and compare that to other cities in California. I've seen ads for PMHNPs paying from $110K per year to $200K per year in San Diego County. Yes, you can live on $110K per year, but you're not going to live very well if you have student loan debt, any other debt, and want to live in a nice place on or near the beach.

Traffic is getting much worse so factor in how much time you will spend commuting. It can take well over one hour to go 30 miles or less in rush hour traffic.

FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP · Jan 16, 2020

Just another note: this past week I had calls from 2 different locums recruiters for an NP gig in La Jolla. They wanted to pay $30 to $35 per hour! I told them their client was crazy.

ForensicPMHNP, MSN, NP · Jan 24, 2020

On 1/16/2020 at 12:03 AM, FullGlass said:
Just another note: this past week I had calls from 2 different locums recruiters for an NP gig in La Jolla. They wanted to pay $30 to $35 per hour! I told them their client was crazy.

$30-$35??? That is insane how could they make that inquiry with a straight face??

Thanksforthedonuts, MSN, APRN · Jan 27, 2020

I’m not sure how familiar you are with the area, I would return to SoCal in the summer to see if you really like it. Boston and SoCal are totally different climates. Coming from Seattle, I enjoy SoCal in the winter... I HATE it from late spring to late fall. Muggy, gross, hot. Looks can be deceiving.