Having just moved to CO after living in Silicon Valley for 3-4 years, here is my cost experience. Most things are about the same price as everywhere else (food,

Having just moved to CO after living in Silicon Valley for 3-4 years, here is my cost experience. Most things are about the same price as everywhere else (food, clothes, etc). However two things are not: taxes and housing. If you are single, the only way to get a nice apartment at a reasonable price is to live with roommates. If you have a family, you will be living in an apartment/condo/small house unless you are super rich or you buy a house so far away that your commute sucks. However salaries are usually $100K+ for good, experienced engineers. There is a lot of low-income housing too which may be helpful if you qualify, and it is usually mixed in with nice housing so we are not talking the ghetto. The above is true for most of the Bay Area, not just Silicon Valley, unless you are willing to live in bad neighbourhoods.