Go sub to my new channel - kzfaq.info/love/edlVG7DetjhvcWKXMy5QSQ Take home pay calculator - smartasset.com/taxes/paycheck-calculator Cost of living calculator - www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator 117k is "Low Income" - www.cnbc.com/2018/06/28/families-earning-117000-qualify-as-low-income-in-san-francisco.html Cost of living is highly dependent on if you have bills. The big one being your living expenses. 100,000 is alot of money, but 99% of the time, you don't get that money, your landlord or bank gets a majority of it. Then your student loans, then food, and a car.

Step 1: Get a 300k developer job in the most expensive area Step 2: Negotiate to work remotely for a small salary deduction Step 3: Move to the cheapest area Step 4: Profit

As an eastern european, I envy your salaries. But then again, my cost of living is a lot less, and my college was free, tho.

me (a european): *laughs about American student loans* also me: *cries in 1 room appartment*

I'm a Bay Area native. The cost of living is absurd here. You are 100% correct that six figures is poverty level here with our million dollar average homes and California taxes. Meanwhile minimum wage is like $12 an hour in places, and then people wonder why everyone who isn't a tech worker is broke. I'll be honest, it's going to keep getting worse. This place is ground zero for people who halt development of any kind and they have all the power thanks to all our laws, so traffic will get worse and housing costs will keep increasing. If you get a 2x raise to move to the Bay Area but have to deal with a 3x cost of living increase, you're actually decreasing your quality of life by alot. Just keep that in mind if you're planning on coming here.

Averages are so misleading, it's far worse than that if you have a family and want a "safe" area

It’s a lot when you’re broke

So basically work in a tech company like Google, then live in an RV. Got it!

The key is not to live in SF and save the money

The rich people in Utah also live above the smog. Lol

An assistant manager at a grocery store in Iowa with a high school degree lives much better than a Google software engineer in San Francisco with a Masters degree. How did society convince the smartest people to accept the lowest standard of living and quality of life? Because they did.

This comment is food for the algorithim.

If I ever start feeling old and wish I was 25 again, all I have to do is watch a video like this and I get over it! I feel really bad for the up-and-coming generations and pretty disgusted by the greed of the powers-that-be who are driving this mess!

I heard in SF, they are taking these old warehouses and divided them up into rooms with bunk beds 3-4 beds high and people are paying 1500 a month for basically a bed to sleep in. It’s crazy that programmers and other IT folks are making 300-400K and they can barely afford proper housing

You can get a studio apartment in SF for $2k - I lived there for 3 years and made a little less than $100k/year. I moved there $5k in debt and left with over $60k in the bank.

I live in Egypt and I still don't know why I find this interesting. I AM NOT EVEN IN USA!!

As someone who went from 30k to 110k (oilfield gig) I absolutely agree that money is all relative, but saying 100k isn't as much as you think isn't a fair shake, imo. The key, that I learned from taxi drivers in NY, is to make 6 figures but live in places where its boring as hell. That way, the cost of living goes down, and you can profit off of the difference.

The article says $117,000 is low income...for a family of four.

Just did the math. My rent is 42% of my monthly income and I live in a modest place for my area.

$100k is more than enough to live comfortably. If someone making that isn't able to afford to save, get healthcare, and take care of their other needs, that is completely on them. I honestly am so tired of people forgetting that not everyone wants to be rich. They just want to be able to afford to live.

The sad part is that they never taught this in school.

God I love your channel. It really has all the info I've been searching for and wanted to know. It feel like I'm getting a more honest, realistic expectation set for tech workers. (more than the other 'tech worker life' channels). Thank you.

Here I am making 6 figures living in Birmingham AL and I own a 150K home (far more impressive than what he showed here for 800K), drive a 50K car and I'm able to save about 1500 bucks a month. Point is, make them pay you for the area. I'm a software developer for The University of Alabama in Birmingham just FYI. I also turned down a 250K in CA that was offered to me for this very reason given in the video. My low 6 figure salary here in AL goes WAY FURTHER than a quarter million would in Cali.

I've been bingeing your videos every weekend since I came across your channel a few weeks ago. I'm a tech worker (but not an engineer) making the Google engineering base pay you described in this video and in love how this video puts into perspective Bay Area life and struggles for nonBay Area folks. I can definitely confirm that it has been a struggle, especially with regards to saving up for a home and putting down a high enough of a down payment so that I don't end up house poor after factoring in mortgage.

Living in Seattle here. Making 100k a year here is still good, but it’s definitely not what it used to be. Cost of living just keeps going up and wages don’t change.

Couldn't agree with you more. I literally have a video going out in a week about how ill never live in silicon valley for this exact reason.

I learned that as a kid after reading a Connecticut Yankee in Arthur's Court: is not the amount of the money, but its buying power that counts, and that varies from location to location. Mark Twain taught me that!

This us very important lesson for the ones who change countries. In my country the revenue tax is taken from each paycheck so I have had colleagues who have been blindsided by the fact that they have accepted a salary that seemed big but after taxes, rent, transport fees it wasn't that much.

"People in eastern europe probably get like 1000$ and their rent costs like 100$" I wish.. an average paycheck is like 700$ and rent for 1 room apartament with comunal fees is about 350$. We basically give 50% for rent.

1:43 I mean that view is incredible....

San Franciscan here. The idea the average person is living in a 2 bedroom and owns a car sounds WILD to me.

Hey Joshua, I just wanted to tell you that I really like your content and I'm glad that you make progress :-) Keep on doing your great work! Cheers from Austria (big fan here)

Outstanding video, Josh!! It should be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people as a public service announcement. Highly informative and practical. Thank you!

50 years ago people would have thought someone was crazy to go into debt for the next 30 years to buy a home. But that's what makes everyone good little slaves and makes them obey their masters. Stack a handful of credit cards on that and nobody feels they can afford to tell their employer to kick rocks if they make unreasonable demands. Hence, a population of debt slaves.

Loved this video, lots of content and stuff to see! Also I thought 200k was too much for a place here in Lisbon but compared to that yea it's not that much!

all the shit you been through im glad to see you happy and having your own place

Just wanted to say thank you for the knowledge. Fav'ed the links and subscribed to your channel. Also saved the video in youtube.

I live in Louisiana and have a $400k developer job cause I work remote.

How I survive in the bay area: living with my parents.

Fucck, thanks for this video Josh. Rent, student loans... its very important to think about all this stuff when deciding where to live/work/get jobs.

Besides inflated salaries which are attractive on paper I think another reason a lot of people don’t move to places like Pittsburgh, KS is because then they’d have to live in Pittsburgh, KS. Most new grads and young adults would simply rather struggle in a big city where there’s more attractions and dating prospects. Sure you could move there when you’re further in your career but you only have so many years to be young. There’s a balance that must be struck. I’d love to hear your insight on that part of it Josh

I'm from East European country and I totally agree with you man. It's all about the country you are living in. I have three years of experience as a front end dev and I'm currently searching for a job. I'm ready to work for a 25K per year cause for me It's a lot of money and when you said it's a salary of a trainee I was really surprised. For 2K, I can live like a king for about three months. Don't get me wrong people are people all over the world, I'm learning really hard because the requirements are ridiculous to get this much of money and this is kinda disappointing.

Great vid, wish more people would talk about this.

I love watching Josh gradually figure out just how dysfunctional and no fit for purpose our economy is. This is what happens when you have crony capitalism and government of by and for the rich.

You ate right on point with this.

I actually live in a small town in Kansas, just started a new job as a computer engineer with a slightly lower starting wage for a computer engineer around here, and it is wild how much money I have left over even including 401k and HSA contributions. Bless small town living, two bedroom 1.5 bath apartment for $600 a month (water included) is pretty damn nice.

Really enjoyed this video man. Also, appreciate the effort you put into it. Good work!

Mr. Joshua Fluke, this was a very good video and I am sure a lot of viewers were well informed. I was well aware of the information, but none the less, a good and informative video. Good work!

thanks for the analysis

Just as bad in London. The Office for National Statistics reports two interesting stats: the 30th percentile rental cost for a house of a given size (in bedrooms), and the 10th, 30th, 50th, 70th and 90th percentile incomes for full-time and part time workers in every county area. If you imagine a couple where one earns the 50th percentile full-time, and the second earns the 50th percentile part-time, and they live in a _30th_ percentile costing 2-bedroom place, then they'd actually have more disposable income if they moved to South Wales, or the North of England far away from London (and took the 50th percentile jobs and 30th percentile house there). Places like London and Bay Area are only great if you're in the top-top-top earning percentile. The vast majority have to live in relative squalor or have stupid commutes that waste your life.

I'm Canadian, I work in video games, I''ve been a senior for a while, so I'm getting paid accordingly and I do less than 100K US$, yet I'm way above the average pay and I have a pretty decent house. I'm really happy of the cost of living of where I live, if I were to move to Vancouver, my house would worth around 5-6 times more than what I paid for. So as senior game programmer, I get a lot of headhunters poking me for jobs in LA that's where a lot of big game companies are. I see big numbers (when they do give any) and I'm thinking "ok it's 3-4 times my current salary, but the cost of living will be WAAAY higher".

Great Advice Josh!

Good stuff Josh. I like this format :)

Rocking the Slav squat I see!

Would it work to get a job in San Fran, (working remotely) move elsewhere, and recieve Sillicone Valley wages without the ridiculous cost of living?

Coming back and watching this and hearing u you say ur parents would talk about other people’s spending problems made me lol

What a good research! Good video joshua!

This is Truth! I live in San Diego and my husband and I are low income. I just convinced him to move to Arizona because the cost of living is so much lower than here in San Diego. I'd rather hustle and work hard to live life and have some savings, not just so we can scrape by.

I smiled when i read the title)) Hi from Eastern Europe

Love your videos. I'm in Boise. Not quite as expensive as SLC but getting there. Wages aren't keeping up with housing costs.

This is mostly true. I lived in SF and other places in the Bay Area for 7 years. The cost of an apartment in SF is exaggerated if we're talking about one person . But there are other costs that aren't mentioned. Like for example, the cheapest parking ticket you'll get in SF is $80. One time we paid $10 for 3 tomatoes from a hip grocery shop in the Mission district. It gets more ridiculous than you think in SF

Greetings from Russia, where an average citizen will not make 100k in his entire life. I usually spend like 300-400 a month tho (and I am not trying to save money or anything), so at least I got this going for me. LOL.

There is enough to satisfy a man's needs but not his greed.

This is a great video, my sis wanted to accept ab offer in NY that cost iif living wise was a downgrade from her job in SC, but numerically higher, she wouldn't listen but luckily had another reason not to take the job

Those mountains look lovely!

I've been to SF for a conference back in 2016. Amazing city especially for tech but expensive as absolute hell. One guy I talked to works in city but commutes 2 hours each way. Imagine getting up so early because you have to spend 2 hours just to get to the job, work for 8 to 9 hours, and then it's another 2 hours before you get home. Maybe you see your family? Doesn't feel like a good trade to me.

I'm learning web developmet after my current job so I can look for a remote position that pays me in euro or dolar. In the beginning of this strategy I've considered leaving my country but I gave up bc of the high living costs. I can live a super comfortable life here in Brazil with 2~3k EU or USD monthly. Most families manage to do with under 250usd/month.

great vid if your looking for a quick way to start getting an idea of the change from where you are to san fran just take whatever your offer is for the job and cut 50k out of it right from the start for the change-ups in rent

Very informative

1. Get a remote job with an American/UK tech company 2. Move to SE Asia (Vietnam/Thailand) 3. Enjoy the sun and profit

Me, a person who grew up in Pittsburg, Kansas after hearing the first 15 seconds of this video: "How has anyone else heard of this town?!?"

that's a beautiful view of snowy mountains wow..

Cost of living comparisons are essential! You do also have to consider where you want to live. Some people will take less take-home money so they don't have to live in rural Kansas.

life hack: work in a big city, save money, then move out to the middle of nowhere when youre like 35 as a relative millionaire

This was eye opening content, Josh. Appreciate it! 👊

Firstly, excellent breakdown of “the dream”

this channel is amazing!

Wow, tough life. It doesn't matter how much money you earn, the matter is how good you are living.

Im from an eastern european country. In the capital i was payed 1700 a month out of that i had 300 rent 300 for food and 200 for some other expenses. I could basically live an average life and save half my income. In the smaller city's no one pays rent every one owns their house.

I moved from Seattle Wa to North Carolina to get a lower cost of living. My pay was good in Seattle but cost of living slowed my ability to save and build wealth. If you want to build wealth the point you are making is very important

Now imagine being a network admin and making $40,000.... welcome to Florida.

I couldn't imagine being over 30 and still having to live with roommates.

Also include medical insurance in there as well. Depending on what plan you have you can deduct an extra $80

I love this! 😊

I think you are right about San Francisco, and pay and expenses are relative. I did a few comparisons of cities I have first hand knowledge of on the nerd wallet calculator. Sorry to say their estimates can be waaaaay off depending on the cities. The sources they cite are clearly flawed.

It's even worse to think about it as an European, because here (especially in Poland and some other poor countries I guess) 6 figure salary is A LOT, but that means we get used to it, so when we finally decide to go to USA or somewhere similar... we're gonna have a hard time, I guess.

7:52 No. This happens because you are American. Here, in Europe, where *nobody* gets a six-figure salary except high-ranking managers and CEOs, it is said that your living style more-or-less stabilizes after you make 25K-40K per year (depending on the country). Everything else above that goes mostly to savings. You'll have Internet, a car, and a decent place to live. After that 25-40K break, the only difference will be whether you vacation to the Caribbean or within your own country, or whether you have a Renault or a Mercedes car, or whether your kids go to Harvard or to the local college. That can make a difference, sure (especially regarding what college your kids can go to), but for 92% of the time, your life is exactly the same whether you make 40K or 80K. Most of us grind for the good jobs because we want security and a nice cash pillow to land on if things go wrong. It's not about "I make 80K, so I spend 80K, even if it's on frivolous things". It's more like "I make 80K so I can have a nice life, a nice car, nice vacations, and still save 30K a year so my kids can go to an expensive University when they're older and I can retire to a nice house by the beach".

Im happy you made the point its relative to where you live.

nicely said

The prices in us always bugged me. I live in middle europe Hungary, so the low side of eu. Minimal wage after tax 5.680usd/year Avrage junior developer salary is around 10.000usd/year Cost of a newly buildedhouse, 85 squre meter ~900squrefoot Here families with 2-3 children has a house this big. Or a smaller, 4-500 squrefoot flat in the capital city Cost around 84.000usd 1gallon (3,7l)gasoil 4,8 usd 1kg (2;2lbs) of bread 1 usd Cost of living is somewhat cheaper here, and having a car is not as much of a has to because of the more widespreaded public transport system But I always just watch: Man living in the usa is so exehausting and expensive.

200k for a house smaller than my apartment lmfaooooo

Wow the mountains are so beautyful from that hill

I have been watching your videos for a bit now, had no idea you lived in SLC -- I do too!

Couple of things to consider: Average is often not a great measure for a lot of things to do with money, somewhere like San Francisco there may be a lot of very high end properties which can skew the average high. Second, it's pretty normal for rentals to have more than a single occupant, so whether it's a partner or roommate, you may be able to effectively half (or more) the rent on any given dwelling. Of course if you live alone in a nice neighbourhood, then these numbers are pretty reflective.

Okay but lets be honest $4,000 a month for rent is the extreme. You make good points though. As long as your aware of your location & your budget you will be just fine.

This is eye opening wow.

This opened my eyes.

laughs in sydney, there is not a single freestanding house for under 800k anywhere near sydney

Me, a Frenchman : San Francisco leftover money is half a junior dev's whole salary.

Hey Josh, have you considered making a video about the renting process? I recall you saying you’re renting this place out.