Relocating to the US
Discussion
So, I work for a company that's based in San Francisco, and they've made noises about me relocating out there with the family. Whilst I can ask other people about the city itself and the best places to live one thing that I'm finding hard to get info on is about the cost of living.
Whilst I can find a load of info about a comparison of a pint of milk, or rent in London vs rent in SF, I can't find anything that talks more in general terms, e.g. the percentage of my monthly salary is left for me versus living in the UK. i.e Tax rates, medical and so on.
Therefore, does anyone have any first hand experience of this at all? Anyone made the same transition fairly recently?
Whilst I can find a load of info about a comparison of a pint of milk, or rent in London vs rent in SF, I can't find anything that talks more in general terms, e.g. the percentage of my monthly salary is left for me versus living in the UK. i.e Tax rates, medical and so on.
Therefore, does anyone have any first hand experience of this at all? Anyone made the same transition fairly recently?
fomb said:
So, I work for a company that's based in San Francisco, and they've made noises about me relocating out there with the family. Whilst I can ask other people about the city itself and the best places to live one thing that I'm finding hard to get info on is about the cost of living.
Whilst I can find a load of info about a comparison of a pint of milk, or rent in London vs rent in SF, I can't find anything that talks more in general terms, e.g. the percentage of my monthly salary is left for me versus living in the UK. i.e Tax rates, medical and so on.
Therefore, does anyone have any first hand experience of this at all? Anyone made the same transition fairly recently?
I'd repost in the US forum as well, frankly.Whilst I can find a load of info about a comparison of a pint of milk, or rent in London vs rent in SF, I can't find anything that talks more in general terms, e.g. the percentage of my monthly salary is left for me versus living in the UK. i.e Tax rates, medical and so on.
Therefore, does anyone have any first hand experience of this at all? Anyone made the same transition fairly recently?
Quite a few of us there who've made the move. Not sure about how many in SF, though.
In general - tax is lower, especially for you as you can deduct for each dependant you have (kids plus wife), so you'll be better off there.
Medical will be more, especially as you have the aforementioned family.
Again in general, salary will be more, so with the lower tax you'll be better off, even with the healthcare - speak to colleagues here as your contribution will depend on the healthcare plan your company has.
Cost of eating out is less, cost of eating in is about the same, if not a little more.
Cars cost less, but choice is reduced, and european stuff isn't as cheap as detroit pig iron.
One important thing to note is that, like London, house prices can be horrific - I assume that you know the area you'll be working, so have a look at house prices in the surrounding areas, and speak to colleagues to see where they commute from.
Bob_Defly said:
Then you can buy some guns so you don't have to worry about all the guns out there.
semi automatic and automatic assault weapons have seen a 500% increase in sales in some places since the shooting at that school in December....
There is quite an interesting video of Piers Morgan (usually intolerable t
t) going to a gun shop in Texas and trying out a load of weapons. It's quite scary really.San Francisco can be eye wateringly expensive, real estate in particular is insanely pricey.
Realtor.com will give you current listings.
city-data.com forums will tell you where you do and do not want to live.
The Bay Area is beautiful, but a lot of people have hellishly long commutes due to the housing costs.
Realtor.com will give you current listings.
city-data.com forums will tell you where you do and do not want to live.
The Bay Area is beautiful, but a lot of people have hellishly long commutes due to the housing costs.
I was asked to relocate a while back now and it's something I looked into ... One thing that scared me was the lack of employee protection out there. Company has a bad year .. your fired. Couldn't get a straight answer with regards what would happen to myself should that happen so chickened out.
Also seemed to be less holiday time with this company .. 10 days standard vs 20 days in the uk ...
Also seemed to be less holiday time with this company .. 10 days standard vs 20 days in the uk ...
ugh.... americashire is a horrible place.
well, let me re-frase that, the general american public are horrible. cant stand em, if it wasnt for americans america would be a nice place.
now im sure there are a few nice ones, but the general consensus is that they are retarded inbred fks who cannot string a sentence together in proper english and go out there way to start fights and are just tts.
can you tell i dont like them.
well, let me re-frase that, the general american public are horrible. cant stand em, if it wasnt for americans america would be a nice place.
now im sure there are a few nice ones, but the general consensus is that they are retarded inbred f
ks who cannot string a sentence together in proper english and go out there way to start fights and are just tts.can you tell i dont like them.
If the OP is looking to move to the SF area he might want to approach it a bit like if he were an American working for a company based in say St Albans. You'd speak to a few contacts and find out where they live. And you'd find out how long the commute is.
The individual cities in the US tend to have websites so you can find out about their demographics, crime rates, median income level, school results etc.
Food is pretty much the same price in the US as the UK, come things are a little more expensive such as bread and milk, others less so, such as meat. Sea food in SF will be in abundance.
Try looking at craigslist.com for rents in SF and figure out if you can make the experience work.
I would rent and not own until you know that you want to stay for good.
The individual cities in the US tend to have websites so you can find out about their demographics, crime rates, median income level, school results etc.
Food is pretty much the same price in the US as the UK, come things are a little more expensive such as bread and milk, others less so, such as meat. Sea food in SF will be in abundance.
Try looking at craigslist.com for rents in SF and figure out if you can make the experience work.
I would rent and not own until you know that you want to stay for good.
Slink said:
ugh.... americashire is a horrible place.
well, let me re-frase that, the general american public are horrible. cant stand em, if it wasnt for americans america would be a nice place.
now im sure there are a few nice ones, but the general consensus is that they are retarded inbred fks who cannot string a sentence together in proper english and go out there way to start fights and are just tts.
can you tell i dont like them.
Spent much time there?well, let me re-frase that, the general american public are horrible. cant stand em, if it wasnt for americans america would be a nice place.
now im sure there are a few nice ones, but the general consensus is that they are retarded inbred f
ks who cannot string a sentence together in proper english and go out there way to start fights and are just tts.can you tell i dont like them.
Slink said:
ugh.... americashire is a horrible place.
well, let me re-frase that, the general american public are horrible. cant stand em, if it wasnt for americans america would be a nice place.
now im sure there are a few nice ones, but the general consensus is that they are retarded inbred fks who cannot string a sentence together in proper english and go out there way to start fights and are just tts.
can you tell i dont like them.
Hmmm, both my troll and my parrot alert has gone off here!well, let me re-frase that, the general american public are horrible. cant stand em, if it wasnt for americans america would be a nice place.
now im sure there are a few nice ones, but the general consensus is that they are retarded inbred f
ks who cannot string a sentence together in proper english and go out there way to start fights and are just tts.can you tell i dont like them.
I'm actually quite flabbergasted by this post. In my fairly wide experience of visiting and living in the US, I have found the vey opposite to be true.
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