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Thinking about leaving California in a couple of years

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i've been looking at software developer jobs out in san diego and i've been pretty surprised that the salaries out there (at the companies i've talked to) are lower than they are around here in the DMV area. that's surprising to me considering the cost of living is significantly higher out there. i want to eventually move out there but there is no chance i would take a pay cut to live in a place with a higher cost of living.
 
At least try the central coast or SoCal/inland empire before leaving the state permanently. Some places in the IE are still developing so house prices are about half for what's closer to the coast. Even east LA county (diamond bar, pomona, covinas) have cheap houses.
 
purbeast0 said:
i've been looking at software developer jobs out in san diego and i've been pretty surprised that the salaries out there (at the companies i've talked to) are lower than they are around here in the DMV area. that's surprising to me considering the cost of living is significantly higher out there. i want to eventually move out there but there is no chance i would take a pay cut to live in a place with a higher cost of living.
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The software programmer/developer market is very saturated in SD and SoCal. My company contracts out about 10-15 programmers annually from India so that's who you're competing with.
 
how much of that 160$k do you make vs your wife?

i know electricians pulling 80$k or 90$k in ohio with a little OT and occasional prevailing wage jobs
 
core2slow said:
The software programmer/developer market is very saturated in SD and SoCal. My company contracts out about 10-15 programmers annually from India so that's who you're competing with.
Click to expand...

And DC area defense contractors don't hire non-citizens.
Seems like once you get your security clearance, you're all set for the lifetime...
 
microsoft was founded in Albuquerque but moved after three years to where the founders had family and where more coders would probably like living. When Bill Gates got tired of coding in the early days he would drive his Porsche 911 around at crazy speeds. He was disappointed that it wouldn't go over 140mph like the salesman promised.
 
how much you have to pay in child care costs? From what I've seen, it can get very costly in the bay area. Like $2k a month for child day care
 
core2slow said:
At least try the central coast or SoCal/inland empire before leaving the state permanently. Some places in the IE are still developing so house prices are about half for what's closer to the coast. Even east LA county (diamond bar, pomona, covinas) have cheap houses.
Click to expand...

Do you live in California? Anywhere near it?
 
purbeast0 said:
i've been looking at software developer jobs out in san diego and i've been pretty surprised that the salaries out there (at the companies i've talked to) are lower than they are around here in the DMV area. that's surprising to me considering the cost of living is significantly higher out there. i want to eventually move out there but there is no chance i would take a pay cut to live in a place with a higher cost of living.
Click to expand...

Don't move here as a developer. If you ever want to be a project manager or a director, go for it. The pay comes with managing whole departments.
We have too many developers and database admins.
 
brianmanahan said:
how much of that 160$k do you make vs your wife?

i know electricians pulling 80$k or 90$k in ohio with a little OT and occasional prevailing wage jobs
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Im averaging 110k a year roughly. I turn down a lot of overtime because I usually have some family stuff planned so it could be higher.
 
maddogchen said:
how much you have to pay in child care costs? From what I've seen, it can get very costly in the bay area. Like $2k a month for child day care
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No childcare for me. Im lucky enough to have my parents retired and 30 minutes away. They said that they would follow us out of state.
 
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foghorn67 said:
We have too many shitty developers and database admins.
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FTFY.

From personal experience hiring software engineers....

A *good/great* engineer is really hard to come by in the bay area without completely overpaying them. Programmers are a dime a dozen, but finding someone who can program as well make solid engineering decisions is real tough.
 
core2slow said:
The software programmer/developer market is very saturated in SD and SoCal. My company contracts out about 10-15 programmers annually from India so that's who you're competing with.
Click to expand...

developers are a dime a dozen everywhere, it's finding the good ones that are tough to do no matter where you are. i'm not concerned with competing with outsourced jobs from india. with software you get what you pay for, and if that is the quality of work a company wants, i wouldnt want to be a part of that company anyways. i get paid very well because i'm very good at my job.
 
Crusty said:
FTFY.

From personal experience hiring software engineers....

A *good/great* engineer is really hard to come by in the bay area without completely overpaying them. Programmers are a dime a dozen, but finding someone who can program as well make solid engineering decisions is real tough.
Click to expand...

lol i literally JUST typed something very similar to what you just posted.
 
Crusty said:
FTFY.

From personal experience hiring software engineers....

A *good/great* engineer is really hard to come by in the bay area without completely overpaying them. Programmers are a dime a dozen, but finding someone who can program as well make solid engineering decisions is real tough.
Click to expand...

You are very correct. The market saturation causes some hiring managers give up and settle with the lowest common denominators, hence the pay.
But yes, you CAN overcharge if you are decent.
 
KeithP said:
Yeah, that would be an especially nice place to start a meth lab. 🙂

-KeithP
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You guys do realize that a mfg home is built to the same standards as a regular home, and once put on a foundation it gets titled as a regular home.

And if you took the time to put my zip code at that site, that was just one home of many in that price range that IS'T a mfg home that can be had, before you go bashing one link....

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/158-N-Poplar-St_Dyer_TN_38330_M86730-33491

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/822-N-Main-St_Dyer_TN_38330_M80442-19870

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/229-Fletcher-Rd_Dyer_TN_38330_M71491-16082

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/383-E-Maple-St_Dyer_TN_38330_M73836-36955

http://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-St_Dyer_TN_38330_M87365-08580?ex=TN605255079

And there is a ton more like them in my town and the towns around me. They are examples of ones that can use a little work to make them into your liking, or ones you can just move right into, and there are more expensive ones, but these are around the first one's price of $45K
 
Most places that I worked outsource all programming, it's even in the programming company's contract that nobody at the company is allowed to code anything. Basically anything that would be expensive and advanced (note: liability) to do locally is outsourced these days. They don't care about the quality, they care more about liability. If someone screws up some code on the mainframe and it brings down the company for an afternoon, they have a company they can blame.
 
I know what you're going through.. been feeling like I'd be better off moving for a while. Unfortunately the work is here and I don't see that changing for my wife and I for the foreseeable future.
 
One good thing about being an electrician is that you can pretty much find work anywhere.

I have only really lived in Ohio / Michigan / Iowa but in general $160k will buy you a very nice house anywhere I have lived. You could be making the same money you are now with a LOT more buying power in Ohio.

The downside is that you are living in Ohio, but it isn't all bad.
 
purbeast0 said:
i've been looking at software developer jobs out in san diego and i've been pretty surprised that the salaries out there (at the companies i've talked to) are lower than they are around here in the DMV area. that's surprising to me considering the cost of living is significantly higher out there. i want to eventually move out there but there is no chance i would take a pay cut to live in a place with a higher cost of living.
Click to expand...

This is because there are so much talent that is retired military and that includes the shear number of available physical bodies. Thus there is much competition for the available type technical work which is heavily military based. The game that is played by the local companies/industries (and which works) is to hold to lower salaries and rely on the work force having a military retirement income as supplement.
 
C1 said:
This is because there are so much talent that is retired military and that includes the shear number of available physical bodies. Thus there is much competition for the available type technical work which is heavily military based. The game that is played by the local companies/industries (and which works) is to hold to lower salaries and rely on the work force having a military retirement income as supplement.
Click to expand...

i dunno, some of the companies i've interviewed with weren't looking for retired military guys. they were younger hipster type companies. one of those companies was zeeto. if you google them, they are doing incredibly we..

i talked to them about a senior level developer position and they maxed out at $90k. yeah good luck finding good senior talent for $90k, regardless of being in the military or not.

also, as mentioned, there may be "a bunch of tech bodies" out there, but that doesn't mean they are good at what they do. there are tons and tons of devs everywhere, but finding good ones, even with paying great salaries, is very tough to do due to the sheer number of possible candidates out there.
 
Based on this thread I'm actually looking at manufactured homes in SoCal. Seems not that bad if you can end up at a decent park.

My aunt lived in one growing up and it definitely didn't look like the redneck shit you usually associate with a trailer park.

//edit

OMG the variance in prices is crazy. Land rent is about $950/month.

This "mobile home" is asking 48k and they'll throw in the civic
http://losangeles.craigslist./lgb/reo/5406851439.html


This "manufactured" home is asking 150k (and I saw one asking 278k but it's ambiguous whether that one included the land or not)
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/reo/5406374829.html
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant/reb/5360701274.html

This may be the nicest mobile home lot I have ever seen.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/reo/5376729607.html
 
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