I grew up and went to high school in Palo Alto, so let me add my thoughts: 1) The schools in SV (not SF) are quite good. Both public and private schools are so

I grew up and went to high school in Palo Alto, so let me add my thoughts: 1) The schools in SV (not SF) are quite good. Both public and private schools are some of the best in the United States and are comparable to top magnet schools in New York City. On the flip side, the academic culture inside the schools can be quite competitive (demanding on your kids). 2) Housing is quite expensive - more than $1 million for a good home. Renting a home would be about $50,000+/year. Check zillow.com for more accurate house/rent prices. My numbers might be skewed because Palo Alto is also more expensive than other places in SV. 3) $80,000 is the salary for an entry-level developer. Meaning someone fresh out of college. I don't know how much experience you have, but you should be able to make a lot more. Rdouble is right that a good developer with experience should make $150K+. Again, I don't know your qualifications. This was a good HN article/discussion about SF: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5073439 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5073439 AFAIK the only bad area of SF is the Tenderloin.