[mroche]

I only spent 6 months in the Bay Area in 2019 for an internship, so I don't have a strong understanding of the cost of living other than "it's expensive". For a family of 5 (two adults, three kids) what do folks perceive to be the minimum base annual salary (with no other compensation) to support such an environment in the Bay Area comfortably and without, as put by the author, financial distress?

[refurb]

My perspective is the COL difference is mostly housing. There are other things that are more expensive than MCOL cities like gas, utilities, childcare, but it's pretty much housing that makes up most of the higher costs.

And housing costs are quite different between the peninsula south of SF and the East Bay, so it's not easy to answer your question.

But if the expectation is that a family of 5 owns a home and the 3 kids are in public school, I'd say a household income (base salary) of $200-$250k is where you get into the "I can afford the basics and still save for retirement" starts.

[Firmwarrior]

That fits my experience. If your W-2 income is 200k+ you should be able to afford everything including a place to live (old beaten-down shithole house in a bad neighborhood with a long commute, or old beaten-down tiny shithole condo close to work)

Of course, it's easy to look at that and say "Oh, I'm coming out way ahead by making 150k in $NormalCity instead", but realistically _everything_ after that base 200k is going straight into liquid net worth. So if you're choosing between 400k in Mountain View and 300k in $NormalCity it's an interesting decision, but 400k in Mountain View means you're going to retire way earlier than you would with 200k in $NormalCity

[refurb]

Exactly. Once you cover the essentials, everything above that is cash in your pocket.

People say "oh my god, housing is double in the Bay Area"? And yeah it is. But if you're renting and it doubles from $2,000 to $4,000, that's an extra $24,000 post-tax per year.

If you're getting a salary bump of >$36,000 per year (pre-tax) then you'll still be ahead paying double for rent.

[e1g]

I'm in that situation in NYC, which is roughly comparable. The author quotes ~$190k I'd peg it at ~$250k, but both are in the ballpark. Health insurance is another ~$35-40k on top.

[101008]

That depends of your lifestyle, hobbies, idea of savings for the future, holidays plans, etc, etc. I do no tthink there is a generic answer for this question.