Two job offers: $135K in bay area... or $160K in Seattle - what would you go with?

Definitely Bay Area

There is wonderful running on the Peninsula and you don't have to drive far to get to a huge number of trails. Weather is great year round (even in the rainy season it's still nice running weather). Great cross country series in the fall.

$135k is a solid starting salary for a young single person around here. I know a lot of people who make do with $60k. It's also a place where career advancement is relatively easy, so if you do well in your job you may be making double this in five years.

Beavus wrote:

No one here is even considering taxes. In Seattle, you will be taxed at only 26% of your income (2018 Federal Tax Brackets have the cutoff at just over 157k, so you could drop into the 24% bracket with a decent contribution to a non-Roth 401k/IRA)...There is no state income tax in Washington, so you would roughly clear 122k a year (at a 26% tax rate...as I said, you could easily move into the 24% rate which would net you 125k a year).

In San Francisco, not only will your living expenses be higher, but you will also be taxed at 24% Federal plus 9.3% State Income Taxes, meaning you will only clear roughly 91k. That's a huge chunk of money, especially with the increased cost of living associated with living near San Francisco.

True. This makes a big difference.

White male privilege at its finest.

Who cares, why don't you actually do something productive with your life.

Are you partnered? Ever heard of the Seattle Freeze? It might be tough finding people to hang out with, although, I never had a problem because I'm from the Pacific Northwest.

Hobo with a bb gun wrote:

White male privilege at its finest.

Who cares, why don't you actually do something productive with your life.

what's wrong with privilege?

Hardloper wrote:

jamin wrote:

The OP didn't specify what his priorities are.

If he wants "bang for your buck" in terms of city living lifestyle, San Franciso is way better.

If he wants to save money -- sure, Seattle is better.

Depends on if he can actually live in San Francisco with that income, or one of the many butt ugly strip mall suburbs in that region

"Butt-ugly strip malls" describes

* Aurora Ave

* Lake City Way

* Rainer Ave

* University Way

and so much more.

Regarding neighborhoods, I've always said that if I took random photos of neighborhood streets in Seattle and the Rust Belt (Toledo, Flint, etc.), no one would be able to tell the difference.

jamin wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

Depends on if he can actually live in San Francisco with that income, or one of the many butt ugly strip mall suburbs in that region

"Butt-ugly strip malls" describes

* Aurora Ave

* Lake City Way

* Rainer Ave

* University Way

and so much more.

Regarding neighborhoods, I've always said that if I took random photos of neighborhood streets in Seattle and the Rust Belt (Toledo, Flint, etc.), no one would be able to tell the difference.

Not in Bellevue.

San Fran is without a doubt a better town than Seattle. The sun comes out every day. In Seattle, you can go for weeks without seeing the sun. But if you are looking long term, as in having kids and buying a house, you will need to make a lot more in order to survive in San Fran. In Seattle, you can find relatively affordable housing in the burbs with good schools. There is no such thing in the Bay Area. Everything is $1.5 mil+. And there are crazy lotteries for public schools and multiyear wait lists for private schools. Essentially, San Fran is the Manhattan of the west coast.

Precious Roy wrote:

In Seattle, you can find relatively affordable housing in the burbs with good schools.

* Which burbs have less than an hour commute to Seattle and median house price less than $500k?

* If good school districts are a priority, know that the best school districts in the U.S. are in affordable counties in Michigan, Connecticut, Ohio. WA public schools are embarrassingly bad.

If you like the smell of urine and feces move to SF. If you like to be depressed by the lack of sun and bad weather move to Seattle.

JobAdvice1 wrote:

Got two job offers - what would you go with?

Leaning towards Bay Area since Seattle weather sux, but I can't deny that its a nice city

$135K in bay area doesn't go very far.. but still think quality of life there is superior for runners. endless amounts of trails and basically perfect weather

135K is fine for the bay area.

I bought a house for $950k in Marin and my wife and I each make less than $100k a year. We're fine.

Trails and weather ARE perfect for running.

JobAdvice1 wrote:

Got two job offers - what would you go with?

Leaning towards Bay Area since Seattle weather sux, but I can't deny that its a nice city

$135K in bay area doesn't go very far.. but still think quality of life there is superior for runners. endless amounts of trails and basically perfect weather

Dude you think the weather in the Bay Area is better than the PNW? Are you kidding me? It hasn't rained in Seattle in 3 months and it just had a record number of 90 degree days this summer (like 30+). On top of that humidity is always about 30%

If you like 75 degree summers with chilly sea breezes like in the Bay. Winter is winter - it sucks everywhere except Denver.

Also 135k in the Bay gives you the life quality of around 90k in Seattle so your Seatlle offer is nearly double your Bay one.

Stop. Don't listen to anyone else. If I had to do my 20's over again and I were about to be pulling down 135k I'd choose SF. I'd hole up in a 1200/month studio downtown with no car and have between 3-4k in total expenses. I'd take that extra 50k net put most into savings and max out an IRA, possibly invest beyond that. In 5 years my salary will have increased along with my disposable income and I will have experienced SF. I'd take that 200k and relocate to a city with lower cost of living and buy a starter home nearly outright and have a brilliant start on life before 30.

You have to find a way to take advantage of that big income (compared to other cities). Live frugally, who gives a sht you'd be in downtown SF.

Everyone is assuming San Francisco but if it were SF, he would have said SF and not "Bay Area."

i love feces and used needles

hobblejogger wrote:

Stop. Don't listen to anyone else. If I had to do my 20's over again and I were about to be pulling down 135k I'd choose SF. I'd hole up in a 1200/month studio downtown with no car and have between 3-4k in total expenses. I'd take that extra 50k net put most into savings and max out an IRA, possibly invest beyond that. In 5 years my salary will have increased along with my disposable income and I will have experienced SF. I'd take that 200k and relocate to a city with lower cost of living and buy a starter home nearly outright and have a brilliant start on life before 30.

You have to find a way to take advantage of that big income (compared to other cities). Live frugally, who gives a sht you'd be in downtown SF.

$1200 a month studio, huh? Where, in the tenderloin?

My studios have always been $2000+ per month in the past 5 years

son of a jamin wrote:

If you like the smell of urine and feces move to SF. If you like to be depressed by the lack of sun and bad weather move to Seattle.

Again, the job is in MV. He will not be living in SF unless he wants to spend 3+ hours a day commuting. The South Bay does not have the culture or nightlife of SF but it has much better weather and access to trails and outdoor activities - which seems to be important to the OP. He can always go to SF on the weekends.

As a Bay Area resident I would never consider Seattle. I'm completely spoiled by being able to run endless trails year-around without having to get in a car. $125K does not go far, but it's very easy to work somewhere for a few years and change jobs for a much higher salary. Job-hopping is a way of life here.

This. Must be thinking in 2004 numbers or something.

JobAdvice1 wrote:

well actually wrote:

If you flipped the offers around I would still choose Seattle...

Go on... why is that? You love being in a place where it rains 24/7/365 outside of the summer months?

It actually doesn't rain all that much here except winter months. But I'm all for keeping people away when at all possible so I'd say take the Bay Area job.