San Francisco nursing salaries and COL

[baby_gurl0604]

I am strongly considering moving out to Cali after i graduate (Have family in SF area). I am single, have no kids but do have student loan debt. I really want to hear from some others who have similar situations as mine, and just find out what I can expect. i read all these posts about people who swear no one can afford to live there on a nurse's salary, but then they talk about buying houses and stuff, and that is not where I am. I am just looking to move out there and find a one bedroom apartment and take care of myself! I am from St Louis and the market here is saturated due to the abundance of nursing schools in the area. I work for BJC and I think they are starting nurses around 18 right now. People think that the midwest is so much cheaper, but when you consider how much lower the wages are here, imho it sort of works out to be about the same. At least in Cali you get better weather, laws that protect nurses, the beach and more diversity! it just seems like overall it is the place to be right now in terms of nursing. My Aunt works part time for Kaiser and makes 100K a year. granted she is on call a lot but still... well i am going on here, but if anyone can give me some info it'd be great.