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A comment on 90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housing shortage intensifies. Parent comment

Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by thirduncle on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @01:40PM (#16924010)
the ridiculous salary and equity while I'm here would be foolish to pass up

So - how much of the "ridiculous" salary is left after subtracting living costs and taxes, actually?

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by tmh79 on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @01:51PM (#16924129)
I make ~175k/year cash, and I'm able to put away about 60k/year in savings. If you add in the equity I'm receiving (currently illiquid, but company is one of the mega-corns), I'm able to save an additional 60-100k/year on top of savings from salary.

I live a decent life, 2 annual international trips, own a car, lease a ski house with friends in the winter, if you make over 120k, life in the bay area is quite nice.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by abritinthebay on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @01:58PM (#16924213)
You're putting $5k away every month when your take home pay is ~$8k a month?

I assume you must live a VERY spartan life in the Bay. Basically pay your rent (which must be shared or very cheap for the Bay) and utilities and not do much else...

I mean the average Bay area rent is more than the difference between your take home and your savings...

edit: I'm using ADP's calculator, don't know why SmartAsset is different but ADP is pretty legit so I'm going to continue to lean towards those numbers.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by kolpa on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:08PM (#16924323)
Take-home pay on $175K in CA is $10k/month, not $8k/month

https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#RZ3V1...

Sharing an apartment isn't "spartan", it's "normal"

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by thirduncle on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:41PM (#16924647)
Sharing an apartment isn't "spartan", it's "normal"

It may be "the new normal" in the Bay Area and other hyperstressed markets.

But it's not a living standard most people aspire to.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by stefano on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:24PM (#16924474)
Earning 10k/month after taxes and still having to share an apartment is not normal.
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by d1zzy on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:37PM (#16924607)
If you're single I can see the advantages (beyond the obvious financial savings) of sharing an apartment. Doesn't really work as a couple/family.

I was saving much less per month because as a couple we rented our own single bedroom apartment and my SO doesn't work. However, we still managed to save enough in 5 years (while still not having sold most of the vested equity) to buy a house in the Bay Area. So I agree that the pay is worth the hassle, so far at least.

I'm curious how much you spend for food monthly (including restaurants)? Somewhat surprisingly this is the highest cost for us, after rent/mortgage, and we do cook a lot at home (go out maybe twice a month).

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by LyndsySimon on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @03:18PM (#16925052)
> Sharing an apartment isn't "spartan", it's "normal"

From my perspective, as the sole income earner of a family of four, that's a pretty shocking statement.

I feel like I've built a very comfortable life for myself and my family, and I make quite a bit less than that.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by hindsightRegret on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:35PM (#16924592)
Take home is closer to $10k. I'm assuming he's including 401k as part of his savings as well
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by abritinthebay on Thursday April 26, 2018 @04:27AM (#16930020)
Might be but most I find 401ks rare in the Bay due to most startups not offering them...
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by guiomie on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @01:45PM (#16924069)
Much more than other places in the US. I keep seeing this type of comment, do the math, 2-3X salary increase, rent 2X increase, but rent is only ~25% of your salary, cost of things around ~25% higher. You are much better of in Silicon Valley as a techy in general.
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by seanmcdirmid on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @01:50PM (#16924113)
Besides rent, are other things really 25% higher in the Bay Area? Taxes are a bit higher, but cars, computers are about the same, groceries can even be cheaper. A plane ticket to Tokyo is probably even cheaper than most places.
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by eecsninja on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:07PM (#16924305)
Hell, even rent is cheaper in Tokyo: https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/san-fra...
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by softawre on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:38PM (#16924622)
Unless you want to have square footage and not have roommates.
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by nathan_long on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @01:53PM (#16924155)
Now factor in the fact that you spend 15 hours a week driving - not working, jogging, cooking, singing, or making friends. Factor in the gas and maintenance for your car and the medical costs to you for your sedentary time and to society for your exhaust.
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by usaar333 on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:35PM (#16924586)
Few programmers are doing that.. you can rent 3 bedroom homes for under $4k within 20 minute driving distance of any job.

The super commuters tend to be lower paid workers.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by kolpa on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:09PM (#16924336)
"driving" could be "riding a bus" aka "working at the office".
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by seem_2211 on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:09PM (#16924338)
A lot. My expenses (having moved from NZ) are probably 2-2.5x of what my friends back home pay - and I don't live a particularly frugal life. My income is 4-5x (probably even higher) what they make. Tech people on HN in the Bay Area talk about saving $25-50k / yr. The average household income in America is roughly $50k.

*Caveat: I'm unmarried and don't have kids. I don't own a house yet. I think that might change the equation a bit.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by ryanSrich on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @01:48PM (#16924095)
Average FANG salary is $200k with roughly another $200k in equity each year spread out over 4 years. So that's roughly $400k per year in total comp. Conservatively 40% of that is going to taxes, so take home is closer to $240,000.

While $240,000 is a nice salary it's not even close to what you'd need to afford a house in SV. And that's just housing. All in all it feels like a bad deal.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by tedsanders on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:23PM (#16924466)
Do you have a source for the average FANG salary being $200k cash plus $200k in equity?

Glassdoor shows Google software engineers make a base of $127k cash plus $75k bonus and stock:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Salaries-E9079.htm

Senior software engineers make more, but there seem to be many fewer of them relative to software engineer.

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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by jeffreyrogers on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @03:05PM (#16924929)
It can still make sense to live there while you're young, save a bunch, and then move to a lower cost of living area later. I know a few people who did this. Then you can buy a house in a great neighborhood in a smaller city closer to things you like doing. Because of compound growth saving as much as you can when you're young and have few obligations really adds up later in life.
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by kolpa on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:10PM (#16924346)
You can move out of SV when you want to buy a house.
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Re:90-minute ‘super commutes’ more common as Bay Area housin... by rokhayakebe on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @02:06PM (#16924299)
While $240,000 is a nice salary it's not even close to what you'd need to afford a house in SV

This cannot be correct. If you are taking home $20,000 a month and cannot have a house in SV the problem is not affordability but availability. Or what kind of house are you talking about.

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