Can I live comfortably as a single man making $110k a year in Santa Clara, California area?

[Anonymous]

I may be taking a job in California. I am from the South and come from a state with no income taxes. I know Cali is different.

Yes

No

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[ArrowheadSW]

You should be able to live comfortably, although that is a pretty expensive area. It is very doubtful you'd be able to afford a house, but an apartment should be OK. I would get online and see how much a nice apartment is going for per month. What kind of work will you be doing?

[Asker]

I am thinking about looking at areas adjacent to the Bay, like Dublin. I really don't want to pay more than $2,600 per month on rent, and that is WITH utilities and internet included within. It will mean a 35 or so minute drive to work, but it will save me over $1,000 in rent. I am a software engineer, but I am in the interview process so it may not work out anyways.

[ArrowheadSW]

Wow that is expensive rent. Yeah if you can only have a 35 minute commute to save $1,000 a month that isn't bad. I know a guy who lives at home with his mom in that area, and he has about a 30 to 40 minute commute.

[Anonymous]

It depends on your definition of "comfortably", but by my definition the answer is no. California is horribly expensive with very high taxes and a costly regulatory environment. Housing costs alone are going to eat up a huge chunk of that salary. This is a big reason why so many people have fled from CA in recent years.

https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/streeter-61810-c.gif?x91208

[FilmGuy93]

Not really, no. You're talking about moving to an area where the average cost of a home is +$800K. At $110k, you'll be living a very average lifestyle.

[Asker]

I am not looking to buy a house but live in an apartment anyways. If I were to have a one bedroom apartment and my car I already own, could I live comfortably? What I mean by that is I'd like to eat out something small maybe once a day and travel back home once a month or so. I mainly just spend money on the essentials anyways. Food, gas, and shelter mainly.

[FilmGuy93]

You'd probably be fine living like that, yes.

[Ezra_lila]

Probably you could