I'm moving to the Bay Area [preferably San Francisco], and am going to be making about $100k. If I am 21 years old and at the start of my career, how much rent can I afford? What is my ideal budget after taxes? Where in San Francisco should I live (or not, since I will be commuting to one of the big tech companies)?
You'll probably take home somewhere around $5k a month after taxes. Rent will eat half of that, but living on $2.5k a month is easily manageable and you should be able to put some savings away as well.<p>I prefer to live in the city proper, but many people who prefer a more quiet lifestyle are perfectly content to stay in south SF or across the bay.<p>Commuting is easy, if a bit slow. Between BART, Muni and Caltrain getting to and from anywhere in the Bay Area is possible. I sold my car before moving here and haven't looked back. If I need to pick something up or leave the city for the day I just use getaround.<p>Hope that helps :)
You can afford any apartment in the city, but spending a ton on rent isn't the requirement everyone makes it out to be. I live in a new building 2 blocks from the Caltrain and pay $1200 a month. Just be diligent about it (as others have mentioned: roommates, location-specific, etc.). Leverage your network if possible. My friend in finance who makes close to 7 figures just got a room in a rent-controlled apartment and pays 800/month in the heart of the Marina.<p>Have fun in the city, but be mindful about saving as well.
Live with a bunch of people and split the rent so that you're paying as little as possible. Don't live outside your means, and SAVE SAVE SAVE.<p>Also, work hard, and LEARN LEARN LEARN. Your salary, if you are good and work very hard, will rise faster than you can imagine and if you live a frugal lifestyle, you will have a lot of money in 10 years.
Don't rule out living in Oakland, especially around the Lake Merritt area. It's a nice downtown area (getting nicer), rent will be cheaper, and you can often get to downtown SF faster than from other parts of SF (like from the Richmond district).
If you want to live in the City, now is a great time in your life to do this.<p>You can get your own studio and it will cost you between 2K and 2.5K. A better idea would be to find some roomates. You can get a bigger place, pay less rent, and live with with interesting people.<p>Good luck!
whatever you do keep your costs as low as possible (roommates, live in a motor home, minimize commute, etc.). Strive to save 80% of your take home pay and live off only 20%. If you do this and invest your savings in low cost index funds, then working will be optional for you in less than 6 years. Meaning you can work on what you want. Don't fall into the debt/slave trap. Most fun/happy times happen because of experiences and the people you hang with, not because you spend a lot of money. Being so young and just starting out, your life will revolve around work anyways (time spent, friends).
try to find a roomate and split the rent!
its really expensive to live in san francisco!<p>I was living there two months, and the prices are not lower than 4k!