Yep, another post in the “Rants” section… After 3 weeks off too. On top of that, it’s another negative rant!
Don’t worry, I know the other sections of the site haven’t been getting a lot of love. It’s just that negative rants come so easily to yours truly. Plus, I haven’t really traveled anywhere in the past month or so.
I promise – more travel tips and posts to come soon!
But for now, let’s take down the Bay Area.
Honestly, living in the Bay Area sucks. Yeah, there are some good things about it (which I’ll go into in the interest of fairness), but overall, you’re putting up with a lot of shit to be here.
There are many reasons why living in the Bay Area sucks, and they are numerous and impactful. There’s also some smaller reasons, and you bet your ass I’m covering those as well. This post isn’t meant to be fair (kinda) and is definitely going to have a healthy dose of bias.
A little about my perspective – I’ve lived here for a little over 2 years and have also spent a fair amount of my adult life in the northeastern US, DC, and the south.
The US is incredibly culturally diverse, and while all states have a ton of similarities (McDonalds is everywhere!), there are a ton of differences. This is part of what makes America great, as you can definitely find the place that suits you best.
For me, I love traveling and seeing new places (hence the blog), and have even immensely enjoyed some things about the Bay Area. With that being said, there are some stark negatives about this place.
So without further ado, let’s get to why living in the Bay Area sucks.
Reason 1 – It’s Expensive AF
Living in the Bay Area and saving money do not go hand-in-hand. Sure, you can deprive yourself of a lot of things and scrounge some savings together, but if you’re the type of person that enjoys leaving their apartment from time-to-time, you’re wallet’s gonna be in for a hurtin’.
Let’s say you’re going out in San Francisco and you live in East Bay. Your cost of a typical night out will look something like this:
- Uber/Lyft: $30 round trip (that’s if you split with some friends)
- Cover: $10 (if you only go to one place with cover)
- Drink: $12 mixed, $9 beer plus 10% tax and $1 tip per drink
- Let’s say you have 3 of each – that’s $75.30 right there
- Food: $15 – I know you ate beforehand but you drank a lot and now you’re hungry
- Total: $130.30
That’s over $100 for a typical night out “drinking with the friends”. This also assumes you have no other costs or expenses associated with your night.
Sure, you could save a lot of money by not drinking but that’s #notfun, and then why did you bother going out in the first place?
And that’s just going out. What about your other costs? In the Bay Area, groceries are 30% more expensive.
Generally you’ll find the prices of goods and services around here to be significantly higher than the rest of the country. In fact, the Bay Area is so unaffordable that you basically can’t afford to live here making $64,000 a year.
Honestly, if you’re making less than $100,000 a year, you shouldn’t even consider the Bay Area. It’s about the bare minimum required for a comfortable lifestyle here. Part of this is due to the number one cost of living in the Bay Area…
Reason 2 – The Rent and Housing Situation
I put the above image in somewhat facetiously, but the sad truth is that the housing situation is so dire that people are actually considering being voluntarily homeless.
A few different factors are causing the Bay Area housing crisis:
- Too many people trying to live here vs. homes available
- Lack of new housing being built
- Plenty of land to develop but government won’t allow it
- Rent-control (great if you get it, but drives up prices for everyone else)
- Tech companies – bring in workers with massively salaries that price everyone else out
What this means is you’ll be spending over $3000 a month for your own room in San Francisco, $2500 a month in Oakland, and $2000 a month in north East Bay.
If you’re not pulling in good money, then good luck affording a place to sleep.
On top of your rent costs and the high cost of living, there’s going to be another huge hit to your wallet.
Reason 3 – The Taxes
For now, let’s not count the federal, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security taxes – they add up quite a bit, but are the same no matter where you live in the US.
However, on top of the federal taxes, with California you’re subject to state income taxes.
If you can afford to live in the Bay Area, you’re probably paying about 9.3% in state income taxes.
But wait! There’s more! Most states have either a high income tax, high sales tax, or have both but keep them lower.
For example, Oregon has no sales tax but does charge an income tax.
Texas, on the other hand, charges no income taxes, but you’ll pay a sales tax of 8.25% in most major cities.
In the middle, you have states like Pennsylvania with a 3% flat income tax and 6% sales tax.
But not California. Nope. In the Bay Area we get saddled with an average sales tax of 9.25% in addition to the 9.3% income tax. Basically, 18.5% of your income goes to state taxes! Assuming you eventually spend the money you earn, which in California, is not difficult to do.
An Income Example
Let’s do some quick math. You earn $100,000 per year at your company. You probably work 40 to 60 hours a week to make your company some more money than it costs to keep you employed.
How would your expenditures pan out? I’m going to assume you’re not contributing anything to a 401(k) (you need a job with better benefits), but you do take the standard deduction. And you’re going to spend everything you have leftover.
Here’s a breakdown of your costs before you really ever see any of it:
- Federal: 24% marginal, 15.41% effective: $15,410
- FICA (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security): 7.65%: $7,650
- State Income: 9.30% marginal, 6.14% effective: $6,144
- Rent ($2500/month x 12): $30,000
- State Sales Tax: $40,796 x .0925 = $3773
- What’s Left: $37,023 or $3,085 per month
Is $3,085 per month enough to live on? If you’re single, for sure. With a family, it might be a stretch.
In either situation, it’s tough to live and save on that income.
BTW, if you’re curious how I made this calculation, check out Smart Asset. It’s a great free tax calculator.
Anyways, maybe money isn’t an issue for you. In that case, who cares that it’s so expensive? Now there’s nothing to stop you from living here!
Whoa. Hold your horses. This party ain’t over yet.
Reason 4 – The Traffic
The traffic. It’s a fucking nightmare. No other way to put it. If you’re lucky enough to be able to afford to live close to where you work, you *partially* dodged a bullet.
If not, enjoy the gridlock commute. Traffic moves slow and sitting in slow moving traffic is a huge toll on your mind. Especially doing it day after day, week after week.
While traffic is a major issue for any large city, the fact that the many metro areas are separated by a giant body of water only compounds the issue in the Bay Area.
Will it improve in the future? Probably not. More and more people move here every year, and they’re not adding more highways.
Your best bet is to bite the bullet and live as close as you can to where you work.
Otherwise, enjoy the commute.
Reason 5 – People Aren’t Here for Long
Another factor about the Bay Area and the people it attracts is that they often tend to be more transitory. I admit, I’m definitely part of this problem.
However, from a long-term community perspective, the Bay Area can be a tough place to make long-lasting relationships. Oftentimes, people you meet and bond with are gone within a year or two.
The tech industry encourages this, as tech workers often switch jobs in short time frames. On top of this, tech pulls workers from other industries in the area (they pay better), which leads to people constantly moving.
Additionally, because it so so hard to save here, a lot of people come here, get work experience, and then move somewhere they can save money. If you ever want to buy a house and raise a family, starting off the in the Bay Area is going to be difficult.
Other Thoughts and Little Things
Overall, if I had to sum up how I feel, it would be like this: I work too long and too hard to be in the situation I’m in now. I work way harder than I did in college to live in an apartment that’s basically the same size and the same level of comfort I had in school.
Granted, I went to school in the south where things are cheap AF. However, between co-ops and summer internships, I was able to pay my rent and taxes and live comfortably on about $25,000 a year. In the Bay Area, I need to make almost 4 times that.
Also, my car insurance and car registration are way more expensive here so there’s another $1,000.
Anyways, that’s how I feel about the Bay Area. I know this article is pretty negative, so I’ll write a “Good Things About the Bay Area” or something similar soon to balance it out.
Completely disagree with what I said? Want to add on? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.