Moving to USA! Salary Question
May 28th 2016, 4:29 pm
#16
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
"A very good salary" is your opinion, and no doubt many people working in retail, restaurants, and semi-skilled occupations would agree, but whether it is objectively "a very good salary" for the occupation and the person concerned in this case, is unclear. If md95065 is correct in his glassdoor research, then it is only "a fairly average salary".
Given your location in California, your posting history, and general west coast mindset, I doubt you know anything about the cost of living in Virginia.
In short, other than expressing a layman's opinion, I don't believe you have any objective basis for declaring $93,000 to be "a very good salary" for the OP.
Given your location in California, your posting history, and general west coast mindset, I doubt you know anything about the cost of living in Virginia.
In short, other than expressing a layman's opinion, I don't believe you have any objective basis for declaring $93,000 to be "a very good salary" for the OP.
May 28th 2016, 4:34 pm
#17
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
If he was contemplating a job in the Bay Area I suspect that $93,000 would be both below market for the OP's occupation, AND be inadequate for a reasonable standard of living given current market prices for houses/ rents, which I suspect that you, as a long term resident of the Bay Area, are not exposed to/suffering from.
May 28th 2016, 4:41 pm
#18
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
Except I used to live in Virginia, my wife is from Virginia, and it is still only a few hours drive away, so I have plenty of personal experience to draw on, which I believe is what the OP was looking for, because if he had wanted information from Google he could, as you rightly suggested, done that himself. And anyway I explicitly stated that I have no basis for commenting on the adequacy of the salary for the job.
And anyway I explicitly stated that I have no basis for commenting on the adequacy of the salary for the job.
May 28th 2016, 4:42 pm
#19
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
[QUOTE=Pulaski;11958755]"A very good salary" is your opinion, and no doubt many people working in retail, restaurants, and semi-skilled occupations would agree, but whether it is objectively "a very good salary" for the occupation and the person concerned in this case, is unclear. If md95065 is correct in his glassdoor research, then it is only "a fairly average salary".
I can google just as well as anyone else.
How about it's 2-3 times his salary in London, considering London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. It's Richmond Virginia, not Richmond London. Irrespective of whether or not it's a good salary for the job, there are a lot of unknowns as to his experience, $93,000 is a pretty good salary. Do you make $93,000. I don't and live very well out here.
Given your location in California, your posting history, and general west coast mindset, I doubt you know anything about the cost of living in Virginia.
In short, other than expressing a layman's opinion, I don't believe you have any objective basis for declaring $93,000 to be "a very good salary" for the OP.
Last edited by johnwoo; May 28th 2016 at 4:45 pm.
May 28th 2016, 4:45 pm
#20
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
I bet the OP is glad he asked...
May 28th 2016, 4:52 pm
#21
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
See #18 above.
I suspect that not many people of working age and moving to SF today, would say they "live very well" on $93,000.
I suspect that not many people of working age and moving to SF today, would say they "live very well" on $93,000.
Last edited by Pulaski; May 28th 2016 at 4:56 pm.
May 28th 2016, 5:01 pm
#22
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
I guess it depends on ones expectations. If $93,000 isn't good enough, I suggest IT people are over paid. As you may know IT people are driving up house prices in San Francisco with their over inflated salaries. Driving lower income people out. Google buses picking up commuters and gentrifying old neibourhoods.
May 28th 2016, 5:04 pm
#23
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May 28th 2016, 5:27 pm
#24
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
Hello everybody!
Quick backstory. I am originally from the USA but I left when I was 1 year old and have lived in London ever since. My parents are both American but moved to England for work and just never went back. I have both passports and I'm looking into moving back to the USA sometime this year.
I am currently working in IT and I have applied for a lot of jobs in Richmond Virginia which is where I studied abroad for a year and loved it. I have been offered a few jobs and the pay is almost 2-3 times as much as I make now in London. While this looks great on paper I'm curious to how far my money will actually go. I didn't feel as if people in Richmond were very wealthy so I'm curious if Americans have a lot more expenses than we do.
Here is the most attractive offer I have received.
Base salary USD 93,000. Full match of 401k. 15 days paid holiday with an option to take as much time off unpaid as I want. Healthcare provided from the company.
Is this really too good to be true?
Quick backstory. I am originally from the USA but I left when I was 1 year old and have lived in London ever since. My parents are both American but moved to England for work and just never went back. I have both passports and I'm looking into moving back to the USA sometime this year.
I am currently working in IT and I have applied for a lot of jobs in Richmond Virginia which is where I studied abroad for a year and loved it. I have been offered a few jobs and the pay is almost 2-3 times as much as I make now in London. While this looks great on paper I'm curious to how far my money will actually go. I didn't feel as if people in Richmond were very wealthy so I'm curious if Americans have a lot more expenses than we do.
Here is the most attractive offer I have received.
Base salary USD 93,000. Full match of 401k. 15 days paid holiday with an option to take as much time off unpaid as I want. Healthcare provided from the company.
Is this really too good to be true?
May 28th 2016, 5:46 pm
#25
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
I am really not sure what people are arguing about any more ...
In the unlikely event that the OP bothers to read this far I would reiterate that, based on the information provided, it is my opinion that the answer to his question "Is this really too good to be true?" is "No, it is not too good to be true and, in fact, appears to be broadly in line with what I would expect".
In the unlikely event that the OP bothers to read this far I would reiterate that, based on the information provided, it is my opinion that the answer to his question "Is this really too good to be true?" is "No, it is not too good to be true and, in fact, appears to be broadly in line with what I would expect".
May 28th 2016, 7:04 pm
#26
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
I am really not sure what people are arguing about any more ...
In the unlikely event that the OP bothers to read this far I would reiterate that, based on the information provided, it is my opinion that the answer to his question "Is this really too good to be true?" is "No, it is not too good to be true and, in fact, appears to be broadly in line with what I would expect".
In the unlikely event that the OP bothers to read this far I would reiterate that, based on the information provided, it is my opinion that the answer to his question "Is this really too good to be true?" is "No, it is not too good to be true and, in fact, appears to be broadly in line with what I would expect".
The part that is weird to me is that London is one of the richest cities in the world, so why in a city like Richmond Virginia are the salaries so much higher in IT.
I don't know how accurate this is https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-l...rginia/london?
May 28th 2016, 7:11 pm
#27
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
Do you have much experience of IT salaries and the cost of living in Virginia?
To the OP: I have no comment on the level of the salary for the job, but you should be able to live very comfortably on $93,000 in Virginia. Richmond is on the outer fringes of a commutable distance to DC (where housing is expensive), but so long as you don't look too far north of Richmond you should find housing and the cost of living to be quite reasonable.
To the OP: I have no comment on the level of the salary for the job, but you should be able to live very comfortably on $93,000 in Virginia. Richmond is on the outer fringes of a commutable distance to DC (where housing is expensive), but so long as you don't look too far north of Richmond you should find housing and the cost of living to be quite reasonable.
May 28th 2016, 7:33 pm
#28
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
The part that is weird to me is that London is one of the richest cities in the world, so why in a city like Richmond Virginia are the salaries so much higher in IT.
I don't know how accurate this is https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-l...rginia/london?
I don't know how accurate this is https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-l...rginia/london?
According to a US city comparison, San Francisco is about 85% more expensive than Richmond, VA but you will not generally find anything like that variation in salaries between the two areas - it's probably more like 20%.
So, you appear to have been lucky in both your choice of career and location by being in a comparatively well paid job in a comparatively inexpensive place to live.
If you do some web searches you will find quite a lot of discussion of this issue and, while many different theories are advanced about why it is the case, there appears to be general agreement that salaries in the US are much higher than the UK and that a lot of it just comes down to supply and demand. The question is, however, often worded differently as "Why are salaries in the UK so low".
Tech jobs pay over third less in UK compared to New York and San Francisco | Business News | News | The Independent
Last edited by md95065; May 28th 2016 at 7:46 pm.
May 28th 2016, 7:45 pm
#29
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Re: Moving to USA! Salary Question
I think that the answer is simply that salaries in IT (and some other occupations) are significantly higher in the US as a whole than they are in the UK and that, while salaries do vary by region in the US that variation isn't nearly as great as the variation in the cost of living.
According to a US city comparison, San Francisco is about 85% more expensive than Richmond, VA but you will not generally find anything like that variation in salaries between the two areas - it's probably more like 20%.
So, you appear to have been lucky in both your choice of career and location by being in a comparatively well paid job in a comparatively inexpensive place to live.
According to a US city comparison, San Francisco is about 85% more expensive than Richmond, VA but you will not generally find anything like that variation in salaries between the two areas - it's probably more like 20%.
So, you appear to have been lucky in both your choice of career and location by being in a comparatively well paid job in a comparatively inexpensive place to live.
Scrub everything I've said.
