How much do you need to live comfortably in Santa Clara County?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am looking at a job in Santa Clara county also. I'm single and early in my career. Right now I live in the east bay, where it is close to impossible to find housing. I just need an apartment. Please tell me santa clara is at least slightly better than the East Bay ..?

No idea what inventory is like these days, but average rents in Santa Clara are higher than in the East Bay, so I would imagine it's worse, not better.

The only thing that might save you is if the job is farther out and you'd be driving, so could look at apartments that aren't near transit or walkable areas. A lot of East Bay buildings command high rents because they're close to BART or to downtown areas; there are occasionally better deals if you are okay driving and find one of the few apartments in a suburban area where there aren't many people looking to rent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Figure out your health insurance cost. I used to live in that area. It's expensive. Sale tax is close to 10%, and so is income tax.

+1

Health insurance is so expensive. It will be about $1k on low end, and $1500 on high end, per month.
Rent for a regular one-bedroom apt will be about $1500 on low end to $3k on higher end.

[Anonymous]

I am looking at a job in Santa Clara county also. I'm single and early in my career. Right now I live in the east bay, where it is close to impossible to find housing. I just need an apartment. Please tell me santa clara is at least slightly better than the East Bay ..?

No Santa Clara is the epicenter. San Jose is far more expensive than East Bay. Apple, Google and Facebook have driven rents way up. On the upside -you are single and no kids so you don't need to worry about schools. Avoid east San Jose and east palo alto but you could look around downtown SJ, Santa Clara area just east of Sunnyvale, or Campbell.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I am in Berkeley right now and it seems ridiculous how long it took me to find my current apartment. The Santa Clara job would be a substantial raise, hopefully that would help. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. I am in Berkeley right now and it seems ridiculous how long it took me to find my current apartment. The Santa Clara job would be a substantial raise, hopefully that would help. Ugh.

Several people I know commute from Berkeley to Santa Clara on the Capitol Corridor. If your place in Berkeley and your office in Santa Clara are close enough to the train station (or if you are willing to bike) it could be worth considering, especially if your employer might eventually allow you to count time worked on the train, and especially if the place in Berkeley is rent-controlled. I do think the rental market is starting to soften, but that doesn't help if you need to move now. Congrats on the job offer nonetheless, though!