3 ms·

What is your rent? How much does it cost when you go out to eat? I don't know much about Chicago, but a quick look online suggests that almost all of the diffe

• softawre 9y ago
  Maybe true. But if you save 20% of your income for retirement at either job, and would go retire in Florida or some constant place after you are done working, you'll have a lot more money to retire to if you work in a high COL area with high pay.
• cableshaft 9y ago
  About $1600/month. We rent a townhouse in the suburbs. I know that's a huge difference (I've heard people claiming they'd happily pay $4500/month for a 2 bedroom apartment in San Francisco), and it has been a contributing factor to not moving out there. Usually out there's not even really a distinction between 'base salary' and 'total compensation' out here. It's practically one and the same. So that higher base salary in SV usually covers the higher living expenses, and in addition to that, they usually throw in additional forms of compensation as well, and that seems to make a big, big difference. Going out to eat is probably similar. We often spend ~$50 when we go out between the two of us. Although my girlfriend was recently in SF for her job and she said it cost her $18 for two tiny tacos out there, that were half the size of what you'd get here for like $6, which does seem pretty ridiculous.
• sidlls 9y ago
  It wouldn't be, unless one just had to live in the city center. When I moved from the Midwest my housing spend doubled, but I also doubled my saving rate (started saving 30% of my previous gross salary annually). The increased cost of living is well worth it.