[Annie]

If your salary is between $65K – $68K, would this be enough to live in SF California? Any tips? Also, I am a licensed CPA in a different state. Is it required to transfer my license to CA if I will be working in public (tax) there? I will not be signing any tax return. I will be just a staff person. I have seen a few people keeping their home state licenses even if they work and live in a different state. Thoughts? I appreciate any comments/feedback in advance!

[Rip808]

You do realize that rents in the city go for 2,500-3,000 for a small one bedroom right? Factor in expenses, utilities, food, etc. and there is no way in heck that is even close to being a comfortable salary. Anything less than $100k and I would not even consider living in the city.

You also have to consider California has a state income tax, and some of the highest sales taxes in the nation. Your after tax take home pay may be around $3,500/month and that is not even considering any contributions to 401k, Healthcare, etc.

That salary would be “ok” in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio but even those places are seeing rents jump through the roof.

Texas

FAR: PASSED
AUD: PASSED
BEC: PASSED
REG: PASSED!!!!!

[taxycpa2be]

Rip808 is right. SF isn't cheap by any means. You might be able to survive with that salary, but your wallet will be burning with all of the state taxes we have here. I'm in the LA/OC metro area, and it's expensive, but SF??? Insanely expensive. San Jose/Silicon Valley isn't cheap either.

Do you have friends/family out there? If you plan on making CA or SF your home for the next 15-20 years, be prepared to factor in hefty taxes when making your monthly/annual household budget.

Also, regarding the licensing, it wouldn't hurt for you to transfer your exam scores to CA so that you can at least have your CA clients know that you are a CPA out here, and not just in your home state. Having both licenses would work.

The CBA website has a handbook dedicated to licensees. There are some out-of-state provisions within the text — if you have a chance, be sure to download the pdf and go through it to see what the requirements are

AUD: Pass (WTB)
BEC: Pass (Ninja/Becker)
REG: Pass (WTB)
FAR: Pass!!! (Becker/WTB/Ninja)

DONE!! 🙂 It's SO nice to be able to finally write this. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[mw798]

I wouldn't take a job in San Francisco for a salary under $150k minimum and even then I would be very hesitant unless there is a huge equity upside come bonus time.

If you want to stay in SF long term, the median home price is around $800k if you don't want a commute of over 1 hour. And that's just the median; not great homes.

If you are willing to commute 1+ hours to work, median home prices are still around $650k and then you are dealing with traffic.

[mw798]

Also parking expenses for a 1 bedroom apartment are typically not included the rent of $2,500 to $3000 a month. Plan on spending an additional $500/month for parking.

[Annie]

Well the city I will be moving to is not SF technically…it's San Jose. I looked up a few apartments in the neighborhood 10-15 minutes away from the city and the rent for a studio seems to be around $1,500. Am I completely wrong about this??

[mw798]

Rent for a decent apartment in San Jose is going to be around $2,000 a month:

https://www.apartmentguide.com/apartments/California/San-Jose/

For $1,500 I would imagine it's really tiny (like 280 to 400 sq ft), not well maintained, and in bad area. My bedroom is larger than those.

Also be sure to check if parking is included in that figure, most places have parking separate.

[Annie]

How about Campbell? I heard it's pretty close from San Jose downtown and rent is relatively cheap there and it's a pretty decent neighborhood. Is there any other area for affordable rents you can recommend?

[mw798]

The Bay Area is for people who have established work experience and are coming in with high salaries or tech workers from top schools who earn $150k with $100k equity bonuses right out of school.

This is what drives everything up; pretty much everything is more expensive there. Food, clothing, ect.

I wouldn't work in the Bay Area, but if you think you can manage it go for it.

[mw798]

Campbell is in Santa Clara right? Santa Clara is one of the most expensive counties in the United States to live in.

[taxycpa2be]

AUD: Pass (WTB)
BEC: Pass (Ninja/Becker)
REG: Pass (WTB)
FAR: Pass!!! (Becker/WTB/Ninja)

DONE!! 🙂 It's SO nice to be able to finally write this. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[Annie]

I should admit I didn't realize how hard/expensive to live in CA. I have a couple of friends living there and they said it's cheaper than living in NYC…but apparently not.

The reason why I'm considering moving there is because this is a Big Four opportunity. The position I got an offer for is in San Jose because the practice/specialty group is big there. Would you still go for it despite of high living costs/being broke possibly? I don't know what to do…

[taxycpa2be]

Go for it — but just keep in mind that you'll have to be very frugal. We have a water shortage too (as you've probably heard of already). doesn't seem so bad now, but who knows what that will bring in terms of increasing costs 5-10 yrs from now. If I had no family/friends here I'd definitely look into moving elsewhere… it's just how things are these days.

AUD: Pass (WTB)
BEC: Pass (Ninja/Becker)
REG: Pass (WTB)
FAR: Pass!!! (Becker/WTB/Ninja)

DONE!! 🙂 It's SO nice to be able to finally write this. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[MaLoTu]

I live very close to San Jose. I am sort of laughing about the comments here because they are not all necessarily true. I can tell you that COL is very high, but if you are willing to commute then you have options. FYI, almost anywhere in the Bay Area is close to an hour commute during peak traffic. Even if you worked in the city (SF) you could still be an easy 30-45 minutes from your job location in the city.

Please ask specific questions and I will try to give you answers. I am traveling right now, but when I get home I can give you some more advice/suggestions.

[Annie]

@MaLoTu

What city near San Jose do you live in? A friend of mine told me many of his co-workers live in Campbell because it's like 15-20 minutes away from San Jose downtown and the neighborhood is not bad. I looked up a few studio apartments in Campbell from Craiglist and the average rent for a studio seems to be $1,500. Is this legit? What other cities/areas do you recommend for reasonable rents and safety?

I am not sure what my ” true income” would be after tax (I'm single) but with a gross salary of $65K – $68K, is it impossible to live in a studio by myself near San Jose? I do not plan to live in the city and I am definitely willing to commute although I'm not sure how bad traffic is during rush hours.

[Anonymous]

To calculate true income: https://www.adp.com/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/payroll-calculators/salary-paycheck-calculator.aspx According to what you've said and what I plugged in here, $65k would be about $3800/mo after state and federal, would have to add local taxes too it sounds like.

[Author]

Replies