Hi Blinders, Can you please chime in and help me get to a conclusion. I’m a backend engineer with 8 yoe in Bayarea. I’ve an offer from a company in Austin and I’m contemplating moving there. TC: Bayarea- 200K TC: Austin -200K YoE : 8 Here are my concerns. 1) Hardware jobs in Austin. Though Apple, Broadcom and Annapurna have presence there how’s the overall job prospects in long run. Which other major companies have presence there ? 2) Affordable housing in west Austin 3) I’ve no kids. Is it worth taking a risk and move back to bay if things don’t pan out. Should I just wait and try my luck with F/A/G in near future. Thanks
You can’t go wrong with Austin. There is a sizable tech presence, people are warm and friendly and tons of great schools ( if you ever end up having kids).
Thank you !
My husband and I are both in the tech industry with TC around 310 together. We live in a really nice, new house and our payments are 9% of our income. We save so much money compared to the Bay Area. Yes, it’s hot, but I think there are fun things to do in the area. Plus no state income tax is nice. If your unsure about job opportunities in Austin, you can always search on LinkedIn for listings in Austin. We are both excited to raise kids in the area when we have them, and still be able to retire early.
$200k in ATX will go a lot farther than Bay area. Austin is very liberal compared to rest of rural TX and has a great music scene, a couple of annual festival as well. I would take that offer in a heartbeat, ask if they can cover relo.
Thank you
I would take 200k in Austin any day over 200k in SF. Not only you ll save on state income tax, but rent and insurance is cheaper, and unlike other cities, Austin has a charm to it! It’s a really young city that boast “keep Austin weird” as it’s motto! And there is a huge tech presence!
Yeah. Never lived anywhere outside Bayarea (read immigrant) and finding it hard to come to a conclusion after getting used to weather/nature surrounding bay
You will love it here, take the leap of faith. Plus intel has got some really good people working for them in Austin!
Just be prepared for nasty humidity. Been in Austin this last week and I can’t fucking wait to go back to California. But your money will go further in Austin.
I am in hw and I made a reverse transition. I will do that a million times. Austin isnt worth it imo
Well yeah. Like I said if it’s FAANG it’s worth staying in bay. F/G are recruiting through third party vendors now
Actually I will save less money every month here owing to higher cost of living and taxes. Also I had to leave a huge house and adjust in a shitty apartment. Workwise bay area is much better and I have family and friends around. But again TEHO
Are you moving within the same company? Looking at the TC for Austin, its towards the higher end, I'm guessing Apple/Amazon. Austin is a great city, I live in the West and it's pretty affordable. But opportunities wise, it's not as great as the Bay. Everything depends on the timing at the given moment, this might change in the future as Apple/Google and others expand in Austin area.
I did the reverse. Not enough opportunities in HW in Austin (there are only a handful of silicon companies). I left for a SW role that leveraged my HW background. That said, had Apple in Austin chatted with me sooner I might have stayed in Austin but I was contacted by the mothership first. TC is way higher in the Bay Area for me even with taxes. The only sad things here are: no Tex Mex, the cost of housing, and taxes.
You will save a lot in Texas with that TC
You pay 0% state income tax. This dude will get atleast $1000 raise each month on his paychecks. Austin isnt "cheap" but it sure as shit is cheaper than the bay