# Cost of living in Irvine, California



## Chaitanyakr (Jul 2, 2011)

Hi there,

Can some on help me with the current cost of living in Irvine, California. If you could give a breakup, that would be really helpful.

Thanks,
Chai


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Chaitanyakr said:


> Hi there,
> 
> Can some on help me with the current cost of living in Irvine, California. If you could give a breakup, that would be really helpful.
> 
> ...


There were several recent threads concerning cost of living in CA. Without knowing what you need, want, would like to have ... there is no ballpark figure.


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## Chaitanyakr (Jul 2, 2011)

Hi,

I am looking for details like the minimum amount required for a single male to live with moderate life style in Irvine.

I got an offer as programmer analyst in one of the company located in Irvine. I need to give a quote of my expected pay to them and for this i need to know the details like the cost of 1)Food 2) Accommodation 3)Internet 4)Transportation 5)Entertainment per month. If I could get some approximate per month amount for all these, I can add up some for savings and arrive at a final figure to quote to the employer. :help:

Thanks,
Chai


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Not the easiest sources but plenty of information 
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Census Bureau Home Page

I am out of pocket until Tuesday. Check city-data-forum and ask specific questions in the CA section. Especially rent/food ... can be answered by local residents. 
Consider 30% US taxes plus exchange rate adjustments.


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## carlb (Feb 11, 2011)

Chaitanyakr said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am looking for details like the minimum amount required for a single male to live with moderate life style in Irvine.
> 
> ...


If the offer of a job, (and your query), is legit, ask the employer what the going rate of pay is for the position they are offering, then come back and ask if it is enough for you to live on, but since no one other than you know what kind of lifestyle you like to live, it will be impossible for you to get an accurate answer. What do you mean by food?, restaurant food or grocery store food, and what do you eat/drink etc, what type of accomadation? apartment, condo, house, or? and what size, 1 bed, 2 bed etc, will you rent, lease, buy.. And what type of transportation, public, like bus or taxi, or your own vehicle, and again, will you buy, lease, and what type of vehicle will you want, and what type of entertainment do you like, your questions are way too vague. Theres some people that could get by on maybe $30,000 a year, but someone else might need $60,000.


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## Chaitanyakr (Jul 2, 2011)

Hi Carlb, 

Thanks for responding. Just got a mail from my prospective employer, they have proposed a pay of $80000 a year. Should I ask for more?

When i said moderate lifestyle, I meant the below.

Accommodation - 1 bedroom apartment for rent.
Food - Restaurant food, preferably Indian food.
Transportation - Public transport. if not available, a car for lease.
Entertainment/Travel - Leisure travel and visits to nearby places twice a month.
Utilities - Internet, telephone

Also what are the tax rates applicable in California?

Thanks,
Chai


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## Chaitanyakr (Jul 2, 2011)

Hi twostep,

Thanks for the details. Will check city-data-forum.

Thanks,
Chai


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## carlb (Feb 11, 2011)

Chaitanyakr said:


> Hi Carlb,
> 
> Thanks for responding. Just got a mail from my prospective employer, they have proposed a pay of $80000 a year. Should I ask for more?
> 
> ...


Unfortunately I don't live in southern California, but do visit several time a year, but know I could live very well on $80,000 a year anywhere in the US, But ask for more $$ if you think you can get it, whats the worst they can say? Check sites like Craigslist for idea of apartment rentals. Have you Googled Irvine California? Other than that, nothing more I can tell you.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Chaitanyakr said:


> Hi Carlb,
> 
> Thanks for responding. Just got a mail from my prospective employer, they have proposed a pay of $80000 a year. Should I ask for more?
> 
> ...


Your income tax state and federal will run around 25-30% of your gross. irs.gov will give you details.
Will your employer supply medical insurance and pay for you and your belongings both ways? Will he pay for temporary lodging for 30 days until you have gotten the necessities such as drivers license, apartment, social security number ... Remember - you have no US credit history thus will have to shell out deposits for everything from apartment to phone. You will need a vehicle and this has to be insured. Can you afford the expenses of starting out? The offer is 80k, ask for 10% more or at least an additional week of vacation which can be paid out at the end of the year. If this is not in your contract left vacation days will vanish.


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

I think it's strange that California has an unemployment rate of 11%, and people are being hired from overseas. I wonder how they justify that - otherwise, I'd worry if it's legit


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## carlb (Feb 11, 2011)

stormgal said:


> I think it's strange that California has an unemployment rate of 11%, and people are being hired from overseas. I wonder how they justify that - otherwise, I'd worry if it's legit


Its the same in Canada, with an unemployment rate around 8%, they still accept over 300,000 immigrants a year!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

stormgal said:


> I think it's strange that California has an unemployment rate of 11%, and people are being hired from overseas. I wonder how they justify that - otherwise, I'd worry if it's legit


It is fairly simple - supply and demand. Particullarly in the IT field it is unbelieveable how little US talent there is. How they justify it - H1B is not a skip and a jump for most companies.


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## Iron Horse (Apr 10, 2008)

twostep said:


> It is fairly simple - supply and demand. Particullarly in the IT field it is unbelieveable how little US talent there is. How they justify it - H1B is not a skip and a jump for most companies.


You'll understand if I disagree wholeheartedly with the talent here. It's a misconception, myth, lie, meme that's gone around on the news for too long. The talent is here, but companies don't want to pay for it. You'll recall that some California companies wanted to set up shop three miles offshore of the coast where they could pay workers far less for the same kind of work on land. Fact remains that corporations are making money hand over fist and they've made it on the backs of workers by paying them less and less.

But to answer the OP's question of living in Irvine or any part of Orange County...it's expensive. A saying you'll hear is that, "if you have to ask how much, then you can't afford it".


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Iron Horse said:


> You'll understand if I disagree wholeheartedly with the talent here. It's a misconception, myth, lie, meme that's gone around on the news for too long. The talent is here, but companies don't want to pay for it. You'll recall that some California companies wanted to set up shop three miles offshore of the coast where they could pay workers far less for the same kind of work on land. Fact remains that corporations are making money hand over fist and they've made it on the backs of workers by paying them less and less.
> 
> But to answer the OP's question of living in Irvine or any part of Orange County...it's expensive. A saying you'll hear is that, "if you have to ask how much, then you can't afford it".


It used to be my bread & butter until recently:>) Real H1B does not work off shore; that is like cheap Mexican labor in Texas :>)


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Chaitanyakr said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am looking for details like the minimum amount required for a single male to live with moderate life style in Irvine.
> 
> ...


Your salary should be based on what is the going rate for programmer analysts with comparable experience in Orange county, not the cost of living.

There are several web sites that you can get a good idea of what the salaries are for Irvine. One of these is: Programmer analyst Salary Survey Irvine CA 738

I live in Southern California and Irvine is quite expensive but is very nice.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

stormgal said:


> I think it's strange that California has an unemployment rate of 11%, and people are being hired from overseas. I wonder how they justify that - otherwise, I'd worry if it's legit


It is not strange at all. There is a shortage of qualified IT/High tech workers in California.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Chaitanyakr said:


> Hi Carlb,
> 
> Thanks for responding. Just got a mail from my prospective employer, they have proposed a pay of $80000 a year. Should I ask for more?
> 
> ...


A salary of $80,000 is more than adequate for a comfortable life style for a single person in Orange county.


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## Iron Horse (Apr 10, 2008)

JohnSoCal said:


> It is not strange at all. There is a shortage of qualified IT/High tech workers in California.


Nonsense. I know people that have all of the qualifications for positions, but the companies do not want to pay the higher wages being demanded. Nor do companies want to invest in people by training for those positions. They would love to have a revolving door of subcontractors that don't require health insurance, 401K, or other benefits.


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

Iron Horse said:


> Nonsense. I know people that have all of the qualifications for positions, but the companies do not want to pay the higher wages being demanded. Nor do companies want to invest in people by training for those positions. They would love to have a revolving door of subcontractors that don't require health insurance, 401K, or other benefits.


Agree. I don't want this to turn into a debate, but I really don't believe that there are any IT shortages in the United States. Simple - we came up with the technology to begin with - microsoft, apple, cisco, the list goes on. Silicon valley is here in the US. Second, there are many students taking IT courses all around the country - I myself just got out of a MCITP class, which was composed of many older american males over 40 who have been laid off by their employers. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it. Again, I'm not against legal immigration, only against shady business practices.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Iron Horse said:


> Nonsense. I know people that have all of the qualifications for positions, but the companies do not want to pay the higher wages being demanded. Nor do companies want to invest in people by training for those positions. They would love to have a revolving door of subcontractors that don't require health insurance, 401K, or other benefits.


That is total leftist union propaganda. There are lots of jobs for high tech in California at good salaries. Do you actually work in the industry or are just spouting off. I work in the industry and have no shortage of job offers with salaries well in excess of $100K and I am not looking for a job.

One of the big problems is that we are not letting in enough foreign hardware/software engineers.


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## Iron Horse (Apr 10, 2008)

JohnSoCal said:


> That is total leftist union propaganda. There are lots of jobs for high tech in California at good salaries. Do you actually work in the industry or are just spouting off. I work in the industry and have no shortage of job offers with salaries well in excess of $100K and I am not looking for a job.
> 
> One of the big problems is that we are not letting in enough foreign hardware/software engineers.


I don't work in the industry, but know of people that do. Leftist union propaganda? Someone has been drinking the Kool-Aid from Fox News in order to draw such a conclusion.

Please post those jobs so all of us can see these jobs?


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## Iron Horse (Apr 10, 2008)

Still wondering where those jobs are? Please post'em Johnny. Or you can just admit you made it up in order to try and make a point.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Iron Horse said:


> Still wondering where those jobs are? Please post'em Johnny. Or you can just admit you made it up in order to try and make a point.


If you really wanted to know, you could find them yourself. I get tired of people refusing to do any of their own research.

However, I will save you a little work. Dice ( number 1 high tech job web site ) currently has 83,000+ openings. It has gone up by 1500 in 2 days.

Dice.com - Job Search for Technology Professionals

There are 2898 job opening for Software Engineers just in Silicon Valley ( metro San Jose CA ). Median salary for experienced software engineers in Silicon Valley is $130,000+. I have worked in Silicon Valley for several years.

Software engineer Jobs at Dice.com

One of my best friends owns his own recruiting agency for software/hardware engineers in Silicon Valley. He cannot find qualified people to fill the openings and he is one of the best in the business.

Tell me how you can judge whether these people you know are qualified? You don't work in the industry. Did they tell you they are? Having a Computer Science degree does not mean one is qualified.


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## Iron Horse (Apr 10, 2008)

JohnSoCal said:


> If you really wanted to know, you could find them yourself. I get tired of people refusing to do any of their own research.
> 
> However, I will save you a little work. Dice ( number 1 high tech job web site ) currently has 83,000+ openings. It has gone up by 1500 in 2 days.
> 
> ...


I get tired of people throwing "facts" out without supporting them. So when posting in the future, just supply the link and douches like me won't have to question things because we can check the source rather than waste our time verifying your information.

But yes, friends and family work in the industry. They've found companies just collecting resumes and not really hiring. From the few articles I've read, they've all mentioned companies hiring recent graduates only. My father was a recruiter in Southern California, so I've heard the conversations before too. They want cheap labor which is why the OP is being offered $80K per year rather than something higher for Orange County.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Iron Horse said:


> I get tired of people throwing "facts" out without supporting them. So when posting in the future, just supply the link and douches like me won't have to question things because we can check the source rather than waste our time verifying your information.
> 
> But yes, friends and family work in the industry. They've found companies just collecting resumes and not really hiring. From the few articles I've read, they've all mentioned companies hiring recent graduates only. My father was a recruiter in Southern California, so I've heard the conversations before too. They want cheap labor which is why the OP is being offered $80K per year rather than something higher for Orange County.


Personally I consider dice as useful as careerbuilder. The world knows you are looking; 60 days into it you are considered desperate. There are recruiters working open positions and then there are those who mine resumes trying to sell them to the highest bidder. Scare crows:>( Without details on OP's experience - 80k should be on the low side. 
What some posters consider adequate income may not give any information about perks such as free housing, day care, no need for a vehicle ... OP posted he is single and does not want to spend 24/7 at work or in his apartment.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

twostep said:


> Personally I consider dice as useful as careerbuilder. The world knows you are looking; 60 days into it you are considered desperate. There are recruiters working open positions and then there are those who mine resumes trying to sell them to the highest bidder. Scare crows:>( Without details on OP's experience - 80k should be on the low side.
> What some posters consider adequate income may not give any information about perks such as free housing, day care, no need for a vehicle ... OP posted he is single and does not want to spend 24/7 at work or in his apartment.


Have you ever used Dice yourself? Many people have found jobs though Dice. My friend has several jobs listed on Dice and I can guarantee you that he is not collecting resumes.

Actually, it is not recent graduates that they want as much as people with specific skill sets.


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