In SV you can live in an RV, mobile home or shared housing if single. some co-living spots are $1,100 a month.

if a family go to NC. You don't really need housing. For instance when I worked in Bethesda across from the Metro my company gave free underground parking. I did not do it but realized there is a shower and bathroom at garage level of people who bike or go running I can use. There are public bathrooms lobby level. Garage is open 24/7 for people with monthly parking like me and a full cafereria at lobby level. At time I was driving a full size GMV SUV which can actually hold a twin size matress laid flat with three rows down. I could have lived there. If you did something like that in SV you could retire pretty quick. The garage was heated and in summer since below ground cool. Mabye if you go there get a vacation home and ask for hybrid like 2-3 days a week in office and just stay in a garage.

Anonymous wrote:Depends where you are in life - how old you are, where your family / friends are, where you want your career to go. I agree with all PPs that RT is significantly cheaper, but if you are younger, I would recommend SV. You can always go to RT from SV, but it's significantly harder to go from RT to SV. SV will open up so many more doors in your career.

also:

Plus, if you want to find a different job in tech, SV has more opportunities than RTP. This is the place to be to cut your teeth in the industry.

If I had a family, I'd choose RTP.

Some good advice here without knowing much about you and your interests. If you are early 20's, depending on where the SV job is, do it. If you live in San Francisco you can get by without a car and you'll meet a ton of like-minded people. It's a fun city and i miss it. Further in the valley you'll need a car and it isn't as fun except for some pockets like Palo Alto. Same for East Bay, i wouldn't move there in my 20's without a friend network already there or if i was in the family stage. Prices are going to be much higher in SV than RT, it isn't just nominal but you're paying to live in a great climate with the leaders in technology right there.

Do you know Research Triangle? You really do need a car, and there has been a migration to the Sun Belt, so while traffic isn't as crazy as the Bay Area, the 40 does have traffic jams during rush hour now. Would you want to live in Raleigh, or Durham? Different feel. Even thought RT is making moves to become more densified and has some housing options now, it was created as a suburban office park zone focusing on R&D. People live in neighboring communities.

The Raleigh area is really good for people later in life with a family, and the people there are shockingly friendly which is very apparent vs the DC area. I have considered the move there myself as I could move with my job.

If you are in tech (vs biotech) My guesses as to the company you are talking with would be Lenovo, IBM, or Apple, but there are many other companies in both areas. I'd avoid Wolfspeed altogether at this point however.

Depends where you are in life - how old you are, where your family / friends are, where you want your career to go. I agree with all PPs that RT is significantly cheaper, but if you are younger, I would recommend SV. You can always go to RT from SV, but it's significantly harder to go from RT to SV. SV will open up so many more doors in your career.

RT is no brainer. You will end up saving a lot more and future would be good. RE prices are going down in SV

Anonymous wrote:What portion of the budget gets expensive in SV as a single person? I don't plan on owning a home at either place, no family or kids.. I already checked out apartments in SV and I can find some for double the cost of what I'd pay in RT ($1500 vs $3000).

State taxes. Food. Gas. Sales tax. I grew up in the Silicon Valley and you must drive everywhere. Not short, cute DC distances either.

Anonymous wrote:What portion of the budget gets expensive in SV as a single person? I don't plan on owning a home at either place, no family or kids.. I already checked out apartments in SV and I can find some for double the cost of what I'd pay in RT ($1500 vs $3000).

If it's just you and the main additional cost is 2x rent (and your compensation would cover that), then just pick wherever you want to be. They're both great areas but very different.

Where do you want to live?

If you are young, I would pick SV because IMO, it's more fun. Great weather year round weather. You can do all kinds of outdoor activities year round. Have a summer bbq without worrying about rain. Go skiing in the winter/spring in Tahoe. Wine tasting in Sonoma.

Yes, it's expensive. I miss the Bay Area so much.

Plus, if you want to find a different job in tech, SV has more opportunities than RTP. This is the place to be to cut your teeth in the industry.

If I had a family, I'd choose RTP.

If you are female go to SV, the singles pool will be more affluent.

Anonymous wrote:I'm mulling at job offers in the Research Triangle vs Silicon Valley for the same company.. The RT area TC would be about 30% lower than SV. I'm single and it appears that i can take public transportation to work at both places. What factors go into evaluating the two to determine which location I can select? Rent, income tax (state and federal) differential and Sales tax differential, right? Anything else? Food and entertainment costs are cheaper in RT but not by much so I'll ignore those.

All the COL websites tell me that RT would be 50+% cheaper than SV which i find hard to believe.

No RTP is not that much less anymore more like 20 percent and rising fast
Public transport is not reliable at all. You need a car for anywhere in RTP.
If you value voting NC is not a place to move


RTP has way less jobs than Silicon Valley ie if you lose your job in NC.

I know both of those markets very well.
If your job is in the tech space RTP is not the place you want to be given where the economy is going.

Yes I understand the costs of Silicon Valley I have homes in both places.

What portion of the budget gets expensive in SV as a single person? I don't plan on owning a home at either place, no family or kids.. I already checked out apartments in SV and I can find some for double the cost of what I'd pay in RT ($1500 vs $3000).

Anonymous wrote:I'm mulling at job offers in the Research Triangle vs Silicon Valley for the same company.. The RT area TC would be about 30% lower than SV. I'm single and it appears that i can take public transportation to work at both places. What factors go into evaluating the two to determine which location I can select? Rent, income tax (state and federal) differential and Sales tax differential, right? Anything else? Food and entertainment costs are cheaper in RT but not by much so I'll ignore those.

All the COL websites tell me that RT would be 50+% cheaper than SV which i find hard to believe.

I find that hard to believe as someone’s whose lived in the Triangle. It’s infinitely more affordable than SV.

SV is VERY VERY expensive.

I'm mulling at job offers in the Research Triangle vs Silicon Valley for the same company.. The RT area TC would be about 30% lower than SV. I'm single and it appears that i can take public transportation to work at both places. What factors go into evaluating the two to determine which location I can select? Rent, income tax (state and federal) differential and Sales tax differential, right? Anything else? Food and entertainment costs are cheaper in RT but not by much so I'll ignore those.

All the COL websites tell me that RT would be 50+% cheaper than SV which i find hard to believe.