[quote=SK in CV]BG, sometimes I think you just pull numbers out of your backside. Most SF jobs don’t pay 45% more than SD. It’s more like 15 to 20% more, with the cost of living differential just a couple % more.[/quote]
My own kid(s) are currently making 40-45% more in SF than they ever could in SD County. In addition, employees there are promoted faster, often MUCH faster than they would be in SD County.
As you know, SD has a porous int’l border and there are too many people (Americans and Mexicans alike) willing to work for less in SD because they can live much cheaper in MX and commute to work every day on a Sentri Pass. You might be shocked to learn that many of these daily int’l commuters are actually doctors, dentists, lawyers, other professionals and various para-professionals. They are NOT all gardeners, busboys and dishwashers as is a common belief.
In addition, there are still 2-3 dozen mobile home/manufactured home parks which allow families (under age 55) to reside in them in all areas of SD County except dtn SD and close-in metro communities. SF Bay area doesn’t have those unless a SF/SV worker who lives in one is willing to cross an east-west bridge every day and commute another 20++ miles east after that, making their daily commute close to 3 hrs RT.
In numerous SF bay area cities, mobile home parks have been long banned, and, in any case, the land there is too valuable to bother with trying to manage one. In at least a dozen Peninsula cities, there haven’t been any residential building permits issued (except for a major remodel of 1-4 units) in 10-20 years.
In short, there are far more nontraditional housing alternatives available in SD County than in SF and the Bay area and all of these “affordable” communities have workers in residence who can afford to work for less and do and will continue to do so until they retire because they are not going anywhere.
Then there is the ever-present “sunshine tax” in SD County, as Pigg ER has so eloquently posted here a few times. Unlike the strong winds in the SF peninsula frequently blowing up against the Santa Cruz mtn range, SD has a balmy breeze, more beaches and warmer water 11 mos out of the year. The mantra of SD employers is, “This is what we pay. If you don’t like the salary here, you are welcome to look for a position elsewhere.”
Even local city/county job payscales for the close-in SF Bay Area are 20-50% higher than SD County for the same or similar classifications. I’ve posted them here before for SF and a couple of surrounding counties but of course, this was before Vallejo went BK and the public outrage of city/county pension levels.
[quote=SK in CV]The cost of living in NY is much as 30 to 75% more than SD. Salary differential varies but most sources have it as about 10 to 20%.[/quote]
SK, besides not including cable TV/internet expense and not knowing if your $450K listing has an underground pkg space, why do you think the cost of living in NYC is 30-75% higher than SD?
I don’t know but I’m surmising that water/sewer and trash pickup expense is included in NYC co-op dues because spdrun stated that the rest of the (necessary) utilities typically are.
