5 ms·
One thing to keep in mind is how high salaries are across the board in San Francisco. According to sfgate and us news best jobs, registered nurses earn an aver
by geebee 12y ago
One thing to keep in mind is how high salaries are across the board in San Francisco. According to sfgate and us news best jobs, registered nurses earn an average of 122K a year in San Jose, and dental hygienists earn 106k in San Francisco (software developers fall between these two groups).
So this means a nurse and dental hygienist couple earns a family income of about 230K a year. They probably aren't buying in palo alto, but they aren't priced out of other nice suburbs. The sad thing is that most of the high salary is dumped into the housing market (and child care, which can be 25k per kid, which becomes a huge issue when you need two incomes). I guess it all depends on how much you love living here (if you have the right setup, it actually is pretty incredible, but you truly do pay).
It's not easy, but you don't have to scratch your head and wonder "who are these people". A two income middle class couple is in striking distance.
- NDizzle 12y agoIf everyone is dual income, 6 digit salary each, where are their kids care givers going to live? Are they going to make a 6 digit salary each, too? I can't stand dual income. I can't stand commutes now, either. That's why I left the bay area last year.
- declan 12y ago>where are their kids care givers going to live? San Jose, East Palo Alto, parts of Redwood City, Pacifica, etc...
- NDizzle 12y agoI'm fairly simple. I grew up 15 miles from a town of 3k in Arkansas. I came to the bay area in 2000 with $350 in my pocket. The parts of those places you listed that I can (could) afford, I wouldn't live due to various problems like crime, neglect, etc. They aren't really a good choice for normal, simple people like me. I think most people aren't there by choice, but by necessity. I'd much rather have the people watching my kids in a spot by choice than necessity. You may ask why that would matter, but given a little thought it'll matter you as well.
- bkjelden 12y agoI'm an engineer married to an RN and I never thought the bay area could work for us until I started looking up RN salaries in the region. $122K is double what RNs make in many parts of the country and almost triple the salary in our current location - and this doesn't seem to be restricted to RNs - a lot of healthcare positions in the bay area seem to pay incredibly well. Of course this may not all be attributable to high cost of living, taking a look at the BLS page on RN wages across the country, high RN salaries and states with strong union laws seem to run hand in hand.