Realistically, is it worth moving from Seattle to California? Folks made that move, and was it worth it, considering the housing price over there? I have been looking at roles in Cali and thinking of making the switch #tech
Depends on where your from imo and what you want out of life I’m from the Midwest and the Seattle weather was actually an upgrade. Lived in Ohio all my life previously. Seattle is expensive, but it’s cheaper compared to other tech cities in its class The other case is if you want to work for a young startup or form one yourself. Want to get rich off of the next Uber, Stripe, or instacart? Gotta be in the bay
What do you mean the weather was an upgrade. Asking cuz I'm in Ohio and might move to Seattle soon
Not as cold, in fact there’s barely ever snow on the ground in Seattle proper, no shoveling, raking, AND THE MOUNTAINS! So many mountains. No humidity or bugs.. relative to Minnesota anyways 🤷🏽♂️
I didn't like it, suddenly having state income tax brought down my after tax TC even with a bump in pay
I think Seattle has more upside for housing and tech industry. Bay is just way too expensive and I don’t want to pay state tax, which is massive in California.
Dont you get paid enough that it offsets the taxes?
California is more expensive than Seattle in a lot of ways. In California there are more taxes on property, slightly less sales tax but still quite high, state tax that can go up to 13%, more expensive housing, more homeless camps, more aggressive homeless people. Terrible smog that probably reduces average life span of a person and child. If you are asian, probably will get assaulted by random strangers. Weather is nice though.
I moved from SoCal to Seattle and totally regret it because of the weather, food, quality of life. 1 year has passed since I moved, and I am coming back to Cali soon.
Would you say make more in Seattle or in Socal? Family man here by the way, 2 kids
I have 2 kids too. We feel ourselves miserable here
If you keep calling it Cali, you’re going to regret your decision to move.
Lol. Please enlighten me
You need a different mindset to be in the Bay Area. You need to be in constant competitive spirit. May be there are more companies but there are enough people too. Although jobs are more people are more too. Be able to live in a smaller house in comparison to wherever you are relocating from. Nature is great but not sure you will have time to enjoy it every now and then. You may feel that value for money is lot less compared to other places. Your gross paycheck looks thick, net pay would be peanuts. You probably won't be able to live mortgage free and pass on the loan to your kids. Traffic hassles are the same like any bigger city. Lesser diversity compared to other places, more Asians if you like it. Weekend discussion with friends are about which stock to buy and which company is going IPO next. Weather isn't anything extreme.
Hey, I’ve lived in seattle before but was born n raised n cali. I would recommend only if you’re not moving to the Bay Area. The entire bay is expensive (more so than greater seattle) and taxes here are really high. Everything costs more money, groceries and eating out, just adds up over time and it requires a lot more budgeting here. Crime is worse in general all around California too, so be prepared for that. I left seattle cuz the cold weather had me sad after living there for a few years.
I moved from SF to Seattle and (since 6 years ago) I don't regret it at all. The weather is not as bad as people say. SF is extremely dirty and has lots of homeless people. The weed smell is dominant everywhere and taxes take a big bite of you TC. Traffic is horrible and moving between FAANG means you'll need to change your house or accept an awful commute. While in Seattle I live in the Eastside (Bellevue) with water view and commute to all FAAMG is between 5-17 minutes. Schools are great, the area is clean and there's no homeless around. Seattle downtown itself is dirty and becoming the next SF though.
Your TC had to drop right. Or at the time you weren't in Apple? It's lovely in East side. I live right now in west seattle, to be honest I Iike Seattle, nice clean air especially for kids. I am just shamelessly chasing TC 😔. Maybe I should just have a roommate in California and spend my weekends in Seattle with my family
TC drop for Seattle is less than the tax you pay in California. So basically no, it didn't drop.
6 million percent yes.
Taxes.
Are significant lower in CA. Look beyond just income taxes. WA taxes on property, sales, and capital gains are bonkers.
Property taxes are on par with California. Sales tax is a tiny bit higher than LA. The capital gains tax is new, and doesn’t impact everyone.