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Living life in San Jose

Sandeep_Mahajan
#1
Hello Everybody,

I would like to have some informations about the cost of living in San Jose?
Is it possible to live properly with 5000 dollars/month?

I don鈥檛 know at all the cost of living in the US and don鈥檛 know if 5000 dollars is enough to live properly.
I鈥檒l have to find an apartment / buy all the equipment / buy or rent a car / pay insurance鈥�
Also, I would like to save some money each month(how much can be save).

Do you think it would be preferable to rent or buy a car this period?

How much amount can be saved each month ?

How much does it cost to rent an apartment or a house in the USA? How about buying an apartment or a house in the USA?

How much do you pay on average for public transportation (bus, subway, train, tram, taxi)?

How much do you pay for basic food items such as rice, bread, and pasta?

What is your monthly budget for groceries?

How much does it cost to see a doctor or health specialist in the USA?

How much do you pay for health insurance per month?

How much does it cost to buy or rent car and fill up your car鈥檚 fuel tank?

How much do you pay for electricity/gas/water etc. per month?

How much do you pay for your internet and phone subscription?

How much do you pay for your lunch pack on weekdays?

How much do you pay for a cinema ticket?

Thank you for sharing your experience.


Thank you in advance for your reply.
See also
T
#2
San Juan CA or PR?

The California expat guide

Updated in 2025, comprehensive and free

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California
Sandeep_Mahajan
#3
CA
T
#4
5k/month puts you at the bottom of the food chain in that area.
Sandeep_Mahajan
#5
Would like to know how much salary should be required to live life in San Jose聽 ?
Ciambella
#6
My nephew pays $3000 for rent on a one bedroom apartment with loft. After adding utilities, groceries, car payment, car insurance, entertainments, gym, clothing, medical insurance, life insurance, travel and other expenditures, the answer would be no, you cannot "live properly" in San Jose area for $5000/m.聽

Most of the young professionals I know who live in the San Jose area bring home 6-figure income.聽 If you cannot find a job that pays $250K/yr pre tax, I would suggest you to stay away from that part of Northern CA.

The rest of your many questions are impossible to answer.聽 COL in the US is as diverse as the country's climates.聽

The $250K income I mentioned above?聽 The top 20% of the new grads of Columbia and NYC law schools receive that as base income for their positions as junior associates at BigLaw in NYC (perks and bonuses are extra).聽 The top 2% receive a whole lot more.聽 At the same time, lawyers from lesser known schools in less affluent states are happy to bring home $60K/yr.聽 Those incomes reflect the COL in the US:聽 some are not much higher than poverty level, others have no limit.
L
#7
It's probably doable as long as youre careful with your money. You can expect close to half of that going toward rent though. California is expensive!
TominStuttgart
#8
Why don't you Google these questions instead of expecting people here to take all of the effort. People are happy to help here with pointed questions but聽 not to find out all of the basics for someone too lazy to bother.

And a lot of the questions are impossible to answer. Like what does a car cost?聽 The answer is between a few hundred dollars and a few million depending on what you buy. And once you consider a specific car you can research what mileage it gets and find out average fuel costs in an area and estimate how much you will drive. This is all possible by using Google but nobody will have the information to do this for you. The biggest cost factor is going to be accommodation so you can research what things cost in your intended area. Like people have mentioned, this part of California is rather expensive but of course there is always a great difference depending on size and condition of a place and what neighborhood it is in.

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