What salary should you ask for in order to live well in San Diego?

Question

My husband and I think San Diego would be an incredible place to live, work, and raise a family. So, he's always looking for jobs there. He thinks we'd be able to have a good life if he could find a job making around $60-75k/year plus me making at least $35k/year. I've heard horror stories about the cost of living in SD and really California in general. When I looked online at homes, it seems like you can only get a SHACK for $250,000!!

We are used to living in a 1700 sf home (3bd/2ba), being able to eat out at least 3 times per week, and being able to buy clothes/misc items fairly freely without thinking or budgeting tooo much. So, with this standard of living in mind....how much would we have to make in order to maintain that quality of life? I'm thinking we'd have to make at least $100k/year in order to live that way in or around SD. BTW, we're definitely willing to live outside of SD (maximum commute of 30 min).

Answer 1

It depends on SO much! I have lived in SD my whole life (La for a few years but other then that..)... it is TOUGH to live here if you haven't started here. We are used to the prices of everything but you get what you pay for. We bought a 2 bedroom 1/5 bath townhouse with 1 car garage, laundry and small SMALL yard.. tri level. For $340k and 170/mo HOA. We sold that for less then we paid and then bought this house which is about 20 miles from DOWNTOWN in a nice east county area. 4 bed, 2 ba, 1850 sq ft, pool, big yard, 3 car garage....for 585K but appraised for 600k. It's TOUGH... you have to definatley learn how to cut back and prioritize your finances. You definatley need about $6k a month to live on a tight budget (for our mortgage).....so figure that one out.
There is a reason why we pay so much for our homes... our weather is a starter
Also, if you DO come here... PLEASE do a LOT of research on different neighborhoods... there are some GHETTO ones out here!

Answer 2

A 30 minute commute in the San Diego equals about 10-15 mile of distance from work to home.

A 1700 sq ft house relatively close to the main employment centers will likely cost in excess of $400,000. Depending on whether you have an equity in a house you currently own, the house payment will be $2,500 -3,000/month, less if you have a significant down payment from the sale of of your existing house (if you have one).

The rest of your expenses are pretty similar to anywhere else (eating out, clothing, miscellaneous). Water is expensive if you compare the cost to places that get plenty of rainfall, but heating and air conditioning costs are fairly low because of the mild climate in San Diego. If you live 20-30 miles northeast of San Diego, where most of the newer, more affordable houses are, it will be quite a bit hotter in the summer and the electric bill may ehigh fro running the airconditioner.

Answer 3

I've lived in California my entire life and the it's the state with the highest real estate market. For you to get a decent house out there, it can cost $450,000+ easily. That is being really conservative. For you to actually "live" with expenses and all, you'd definitely need way over $100k+ unless you're renting. Then maybe you can get away with buying a house. Why don't you consider Texas or even Chicago? The standard of living is much better and cheaper out there.

Answer 4

The average home in SD is now over $450K. I don't think a combined income of $100K is all that good there.

Answer 5

Hi,
Just letting you know that there are always ways you can earn an extra income (part-time/home-based). For more information, email me at [e-mail]. My husband and I are able to run a very lucrative part-time business with no risks to our current careers which is now providing us with the lifestyle we both enjoy.
Good luck. KP