3 ms·

Thanks for adding the note on the tax difference! That doesn't address my point though. If the salary difference of $33k is the difference between gross salary

Thanks for adding the note on the tax difference! That doesn't address my point though. If the salary difference of $33k is the difference between gross salary, that $33k is going to be taxed at the marginal tax rate. My guess at a marginal tax rate would be ~40%. Accordingly, that $33k becomes closer to $20k after tax. Edit: to clarify, consider a Seattle salary of $100k and a Bay Area salary of $133k. The take-home salary for each location would be: Seattle : $100k*(1-0.4) = $60k Bay Area: $130k*(1-0.4) = $78k Leaving $19.8k in additional income to cover the median rent increase of $18k annually.

serge2k 10y ago
> My guess at a marginal tax rate would be ~40%. Sounds high for Seattle.
brotherjerky 10y ago
Washington state has no state income tax, which in California is a little under 10%: https://www.tax-brackets.org/californiataxtable https://www.tax-brackets.org/californiataxtable Works out to $9k according to this for a single filer: https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#8TRRj8YaEI https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#8TRRj... -- so your additional income is more like $11k, or just under $1k / mo. In my experience, the difference in housing is far more than $1k/mo, so you come out ahead in Seattle. EDIT: Looks like I forgot about California's other taxes on payroll, so it's actually even more in Seattle's favor.
baccheion 10y ago
There are take-home salary calculators online (know about the variations by state) if you want to get that "into it."