Filed under: notes
My husband and I used to live near the Bay Area. A recent article in the San Francisco Examiner explains one reason why we left. We were working fifty plus hours per week, bringing home twice as much as we made working retail, and we still could never afford to buy a even a small house.
A family of four has to earn over $77k per year, and that is up about 10% from two years ago:
The federal poverty threshold, used by the government to calculate how many of the nation’s people are poor, is an income of $20,650 for a family of four. That means basic necessities in the Bay Area cost roughly 2.5 times the federal poverty level.
But it isn’t just the Bay Area that is feeling the pinch. People who used to be considered middle-income are now having to rely on food pantries to make it through the month.
What this means is that people have less time, energy, and money for the things that make life more fulfilling. They can’t even afford to move out of the area that is killing them financially (we’re still paying off the credit card debt from ours two years ago.)
Check out a Cost of Living calculator here. If we still lived in California, we would have to earn 11-13%/year more in combined income to maintain the same lifestyle.
-GhostGirl
So in your case the NYC metropolitan area is actually less!?!
Comment by Ms. Theologian 10.20.07 @ 5:24 pmAmen, sister. My hubby and I are finally comfortable after working for eight and seven years respectfully in our career field (architecture) in Denver, CO. It is only with a Master’s Degree and seven years’ experience that my income has become commesurate (sp?) with my expenses. It is only now that my mortgage takes up 35% of my monthly income. (I understand that most financial experts say you should pay no more than 30% of your monthly income towards housing…on whose planet is that?). So for the past six or so years, in order to live in a decent condo within a ten-minute drive to my office and in a safe neighborhood with services I can walk to, my mortgage was nearly half my monthly income. I say all of this to make this point: the “middle class” isn’t so middle anymore, and it costs a boatload of cash to survive. When hubby and I realized last year that our combined income was over $100K, we were aghast–we certainly didn’t feel like we lived like we made that much. That’s just what it costs to live healthy and safely.
And we live in Denver. WTF do people do in bigger cities?
Comment by Mile High Pixie 10.20.07 @ 5:49 pmWell, the NYC Metro-New Jersey-Long Island area is all lumped together, so probably Manhattan bumped it up a bit. But, yeah, surprisingly, it was less than both Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara. Our standard of living has defnitely gone up. Part of it is, at least on the island, you get more for your money. A four bedroom here is the same as a two bedroom in California.
Comment by GhostGirl 10.20.07 @ 7:17 pmMile High Pixie, I hear you! I love the idea of living and working close together, but it is just about impossible for people in Los Angeles, which is why the commutes are so awful.
Comment by Ms. Theologian 10.20.07 @ 8:34 pmRead the Economist from 2003 profiling Pelosi’s and Hastert’s districts. I live in Hasterts.
Comment by Bill Baar 10.21.07 @ 5:33 amSo do you like living in Hastert’s district, Bill? I did read the article.
Comment by Ms. Theologian 10.21.07 @ 10:51 amOh yes, have been here 17 years now. We have the problems of growth but it’s a more equalitarian place. I like San Francisco too but only to visit.
Comment by Bill Baar 10.21.07 @ 4:15 pmLeave a comment
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