Cost of living in bay area

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

My brother has taken up a job (software engineer)in Mountain View , CA and he has been offered 100K and nothing else . No bonus , no stock options , no rsu's. Visa H1B
Now the thing is how much would be the take home salary considering his salary. The company doesn't offer 401K.

From what I know , the cost of living in bay area is very very high and with this salary , he can just afford to make a decent living , nothing more.

Question -
1) Can 100K for a 9+ years experiences Java developer be considered as a good package. I know it depends on the skills , but please give me your opinion.
2) As the cost of living is very subjective and would vary from person to person , can someone point me to getting a approximate figure of monthly take home. I have used sites like paycity etc , but the number looks quite less like 4k or so.
3) Can someone point me to things that one should consider while calculating deductions. Like house , transport , phone , tv , etc

Any help would be highly appreciated!

[Jayesh A Lalwani]

I have always lived in the DC area, and around the 10 year mark I earned somewhere around 90K. I always thought that I lowball myself, but you never know. Also, that was 7 years ago, and at 3% inflation, that's 110K now. This site lets you compare cost of living across cities in the US. And when I put in 110K for DC, it tells me that I should earn 125K in SF. Also, I was getting 401K+ benefits on top of that

So, I think 100K in San fran is low for a 9+ year experience. However,I was earning considerably less when I was on H1B. I did accept low offer because I joined a company that was providing a stable job and was sponsoring my GC. And I figured, if the company is laying off people, they are going to lay off the costliest people first, so I might as well earn less if it means that I keep my head under the great layoff machine.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Rahul,
Health insurance is a big cost that you didn't mention.

You didn't say if your brother has a family. This is going to be a huge factor in cost of living - whether he is supporting just himself or a family of X.

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

Thanks for the response Jayesh and Jeanne.

I have suggested to reconsider the offer as he is earning good sum in India. However , people are crazy to work in valley for sometime.
His offer says that employees can select from a wide variety of medical plans.Nothing was mentioned about companies contribution etc and we have also not asked.

He is single as of now and is all set to loose his bachelors in april 04 .

[Jayesh A Lalwani]

Where is he in India? There are significant differences in standard of livi g between India and US. I don't know why people came to US anymore, you get a good start can't of living in India in a programmers salary. However, for some people it's better to be in the US than in India. It depends on your personality type

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

For a single person, 100K is plenty to live comfortably, travel, etc even in a higher cost US city. It's nothing to worry about.

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

Yes Jeanne , for a single person its more than sufficient , but he would be married some time in next year and again he is earning good in India , I think he probably should pass this.

Anyway , thanks a lot for your inputs.

Jayesh , he is in Bangalore with [redacted].

[Bear Bibeault]

Hmmm, just for kicks, I went to a relocation calculator to compare Austin to the Bay Area. I'd need a 72% raise to enjoy the same standard of living. (And [famous company in Bay Area] wonders why I turned them down.)

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Bear: That was interesting. Where I live is comparable to San Jose. (Manhattan of course is a lot more.)

Rahul: If income is your only consideration, yes. If he's getting married in the next year, that's a factor too. If his spouse is in India, how long before she could join him in the US? I know a US Citizen who married someone from another country and it was many months before she could come here *after* they got married.

[Jayesh A Lalwani]

There was a time when computer programmers from India would dream of coming to US and earning 6 figures.. Now, OTH salaries have improved, and standard of living in India has improved (if you have the money). However, having lived in the US for 15 years, I can't go back. India seems to be becoming like US in all the wrong ways

Edit: Getting your spouse here is a lot easier if you are on a work visa. If you are a citizen, it takes a "few" weeks. If you are on a green card, you are screwed. You have to sponsor your spouse's GC while s/he is in India

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

I completely agree with Jayesh about his comment about income and standard of living in India.

Do not agree entirely about not able to return to India having stayed in US for 15 years. The company where I work in India,most of the mid - senior management , engineering employees have stayed more that 15 years in US and then have come back to India.I think its upto the individual.

Jeanne , Income is not the only thing , however if there is no much of benefit then I think its better to be here only.Closer to family and friends.Considering to stay in US for couple of years will not be a bad option either.
Just that we hear that cost of living especially housing is very very high , so that thing is making us feel that it might not be worth. Anyway , we still have time to think.

[Paul Anilprem]

Another way determine if it is worth it is to look from savings potential perspective rather than Cost of living perspective. I know many people who went to India and came back because even though they were making good salary in India, their net saving was less as compared to what they were able to save in USD after applying Rs/US conversion.

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

Paul Anilprem wrote: I know many people who went to India and came back because even though they were making good salary in India, their net saving was less as compared to what they were able to save in USD after applying Rs/US conversion.

good to know this , I have not seen much of people returning to US. Yes , some of them do.

[Jayesh A Lalwani]

I know only one person who has been buying up property in India for 5-7 years because his goal was to go back to India. He came back in 6 months. All his money is stuck there

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Rahul Bhattacharjee wrote:Jeanne , Income is not the only thing

I didn't say it was. I said "if income is your only consideration" because that's what the poster brought up. I'd like to think some is about having a different experience.