Madisen/Cali ladies

Martiza

I am trying to determine salary requirements. Could you help me out? If one made $20,000 a year here, what would that be equivalent to there?

Madisen

It's really, really going to vary unfortunately.  What part of Cali are you looking at?  COL can vary as much there as say Miami vs. Deltona here.  You definitely have to take state tax into consideration, but I believe sales tax may be a little lower.  Also, depending on how much you make (I'm assuming $20k isn't the real number) you'll want to look into the AMT and how much that can hurt.

Martiza

The hospital is in LA. I will look into AMT.

Madisen

This site is helpful:

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2010_California_Tax_Rates_and_Exemptions.shtml

As far as COL changes, I don't know what your expenses are now or what your expectations are as far as living space size, etc.  Los Angeles is a big city (like Jax) with different costs associated with different areas.  I'd take a look at some rental sites to get ideas about rental rates.  Come on here and ask about specific areas and I can give you my opinion about them, if I'd live there, etc.

+jennasue+

Like Madisen said... varies widely depending on location. But just to give you an estimate, when we moved here from Burbank, we both took a 30% paycut which seems to be the norm for all the jobs we've both looked at. But housing here is a lot more than 30% cheaper so it was worth it. We live much better here.

Martiza

Thank you ladies! I put a range down for pay. If I hear back then I will have more questions for you both. I don't have a very strong desire to move to the particular area, but the position would be beneficial for my career.