Cost of living - Irvine/Huntington Beach

[react.is.a.geek]

I have an oppourtunity for a job in Irvine as a web developer, but being from Miami im not too sure what is a typical salary for that area of CA. I did some reasearch and found that the cost of living in Miami is ~117 as compared to 122 for Irvine. Basicly, since you guys live/work/play in that area, I thought someone might be able to give me more of a realistic answer (so i dont have to depend on some statistics from google, etc) as to what kind of salary would one need to live normally living in/around Huntington Beach?


Thanks!

 

[Dimitrios]

I think just like any place, you'd have to consider if you want to maintain your quality of life, so to speak.

If you like to go out every night, party and what not, it can get expensive any place - you'll be working just to keep up your lifestyle.

It applies anyplace...what does the 117 vs 122 mean? What unit of measure is that?

 

[MSPRCRX44]

i think that if you were to give us some of your current prices for things down in miami, we could compare to see what the difference is. for instance gas, utilities, rent,ect...

 

[react.is.a.geek]

177 and 122 is a "cost of living index" (100 is a "normal" city). It's basicly a measure of how expensive things are relative to other cities. So, say you make 30,000 in miami with a cost of living index @ 117, and you want to maintain your current standard of living in a city with an index of 122, you would calculate the differnce of the index (117 - 122 = 5) and add that to 30,000 (30,000 + 1500 [5% of 30,000] = 45,000).

I was using this index/calculator:
http://houseandhome.msn.com/pickaplace/comparecities.aspx

 

[02ESwBoost]

To live in So. Cal. is going to be the type of decision that has to be a solid yes or no.... things are a lot more exspensive here.... gas is about 2.25 a gal for the cheap stuff.... and insurance is off of the chart due to the population..... but the the biggest cost factor is rent / mortgage... the average rent for an apt or house is $2000 a mo. and if you want to buy a house be prepared to see 650,000 for your basic single story no frills home..... it is exspensive but it is the lifestyle and the location that you are paying for.....

 

[LapisBlueProteg]

i pay 1100 for rent in a 2bed room 1 bath! very nice place and not too far from irvine!

 

[react.is.a.geek]

1100 sounds about right...the guy that offered me the job has a friend looking for a roommate for 600/mo. My insurance runs about 250/mo w. Allstate down here and MSP is around 330/mo. So in keeping with those kinds of basic figures, what would [you] say someone would need to make in order to live comfertably? 40k-45k?

 

[biochembruin]

1100 sounds about right...the guy that offered me the job has a friend looking for a roommate for 600/mo. My insurance runs about 250/mo w. Allstate down here and MSP is around 330/mo. So in keeping with those kinds of basic figures, what would [you] say someone would need to make in order to live comfertably? 40k-45k?

yes. i'm a grad student and live in rancho park near ucla (not a cheap area) and get buy on much less than 40K/year. i pay my own gas, rent, car, insurance, food. you will not have a problem if you don't live paycheck to paycheck and are slightly careful with your money. you won't have to live off ramen and tuna, but you won't be going to vegas every weekend either.

 

[react.is.a.geek]

Thanks biochembruin, thats exactly what I wanted to know =)

 

[biochembruin]

Thanks biochembruin, thats exactly what I wanted to know =)

no prob. irvine is a really nice area. san diego is close enough to drive to for the day, and LA is only 30 min north. i was going to go to UCI, but ended up picking UCLA. i might add that the 40-45K you're talking about should be fine if you're single. if you have a family it might be kinda tight, but i'm assuming you don't.
btw, let us know what you end up doing.

 

[Chuckness]

I'm from KC(cheap but boring) and I lived in SoCal for 3 yrs in north San Diego County. My 1 br apt was 2000 a month. The same apt here would be around $500-$600. It is a fun place to live though. I had to move back to KC because i could no longer afford to live there without a roomate. Gas is about 2.30 a gallon. But there's tons a stuuf out there, you'll never get bored. In the end its all up to what you want to do.

 

[react.is.a.geek]

I was thinking of attending UCI also (and xfering my existing credits from FIU). Just need to find out about out-of-state tuition and all that mess. Oh, and yes im single =)

Hopefully i'll find out by sometime next week if i'm gonna be able to join the SoCal MSP community (drinks)