Holy crap you're gonna be broke. Don't do it. Expect to pay $3k-ish in the cheapest areas in the peninsula for an older 2 bedroom apartment. Now take all you

Holy crap you're gonna be broke. Don't do it. Expect to pay $3k-ish in the cheapest areas in the peninsula for an older 2 bedroom apartment. Now take all your expenses (eating out, gym, etc) and multiply by 2-3. Oh, and food is at least twice as expensive as in the Midwest (reference: when I fly home to see parents, I occasionally grocery shop for them.) My grocery bill is $700-$800/mo for 2 adults, plus $300/mo of munchery. (That said, I lift hard so I eat a lot of food. Still.) I really need to emphasize that $3k is for a crappy apartment thrown up in the 80s for bottom dollar. For comparison, friends rent a (small, crappy) detached 2 bedroom house with a 20x20 ft yard in Mountain View for $4700/mo. If you want to be in eg Palo Alto Unified, expect to pay $5k-ish for a 3 bedroom. Also, a friend who moved here with a freshman daughter said she hates the school and hates how competitive all the students are. Sales tax is 9% btw. And don't forget our high state income taxes. And if you ever managed to buy a home (which you won't be able to do), you'll spend near $1m and pay roughly $1-$1.2k/mo in property taxes. For forever. That makes saving enough money to retire extremely hard. btw I help manage apartments here; leave your email below if you have questions and I'm happy to answer anything directly.