# California vs Alabama living expenses and salary



## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

So, for a secret reason I am interested in the differences in salary/living expenses between California and Alabama. In some quick searches I saw that many law enforcement jobs in California are 50-120k to start _but_ living expenses are fairly high. If I was single, for example, I would probably get together with some other singles at whatever church I attend to rent a place together for cheap. (They better be clean though; I can't stand slobs) For Mobile, AL (a la LawrenceU) a police officer would start at 29-33k but I don't know what the living expenses are like. Other law enforcement jobs in Alabama probably pay a little more than that, but do you think those would be enough to provide the necessary income for a future one-income family?

Any input on California vs Alabama living expenses/salary would be much appreciated. Thanks!


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## Grace Alone (Mar 4, 2009)

I can guarantee you the cost of living will be better in Alabama unless the housing prices in CA have crashed to a reasonable level. And at least Alabama is somewhat still in the Bible belt. I really can't imagine choosing to live in CA, sorry!


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

Much of my family is in the South and I know that the housing prices were almost disgustingly cheap compared to where I live. My mom/step-dad bought our current three bedroom two bath 1,500 sq. foot home for $550,000. Ouch? The house is in a great neighborhood, but still! I wonder if the living expenses and salary are proportionally similar between CA and AL.


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## Grace Alone (Mar 4, 2009)

Last year our daughter bought an 1100 square foot house (3 br, 2 baths) for $125,000 in a neighborhood of nicer homes in a desirable area in NC. She did this on a beginning teacher's salary which is close to your AL policeman's salary. She does have a roommate to help her with expenses. But the $778 mortgage payment (incl. taxes and ins.) is only a few dollars more than the nearby 2 br apts, which run $750 a month.


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## No Longer A Libertine (Mar 4, 2009)

AThornquist said:


> Much of my family is in the South and I know that the housing prices were almost disgustingly cheap compared to where I live. My mom/step-dad bought our current three bedroom two bath 1,500 sq. foot home for $550,000. Ouch? The house is in a great neighborhood, but still! I wonder if the living expenses and salary are proportionally similar between CA and AL.


550,000 is a 3600 square foot custom home with a pool, marble counters, outdoor bar and home theater in Katy, Texas.


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

No Longer A Libertine said:


> 550,000 is a 3600 square foot custom home with a pool, marble counters, outdoor bar and home theater in Katy, Texas.



That's just messed up  
Haha Josh I am in CA already, so I suppose it would only be of benefit to get out of here. My immediate family is here in CA and would hate to see me go, but I am more interested in having a family and would be more than willing to move to the south to do it.

I just want to be able to provide for a family and allow my wife to take care of the children. Hmmm


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## LawrenceU (Mar 4, 2009)

Alabama has a great cost of living and a good lifestyle to boot.

Here are a few examples:
My house is appraised at 105,000. It is 1450 sq. ft. It is in a very desirable part of town. 

250,000 will buy you a very nice custom home in the 2500 sq. ft. range in a great area.

Property taxes are very low. I pay approximately 600 per year. Tags are cheap as well. My 2002 F250 4x4 Crew Cab with a commercial tag is only 215/year.

It is very easy to live on 30-40,000/ year unless you have a large family. Fuel cost here are below the national average. Gas and electrical rates are good.

Alabama's home school legislation is among the best in the country. Civil liberties are still taken seriously here. Mobile has a very large and active home school community. There are not a lot of Reformed churches here, but the ones that are here are sound. We have three solid Presbyterian churches , 2 PCA and 1 OPC, and two solid Reformed Baptist churches that I know of. (One of them is ours. The other is the one pastored by Steve Lawson. They are both rather 'unique'.)


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## Mushroom (Mar 4, 2009)

If you're looking to raise a family, the last place I would ever think of for that would be Kalifornia.


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

I was hoping you would opine, Lawrence. That all sounds really nice! It almost sounds like a fantasy to this native Californian  Thank you for your input.

-----Added 3/4/2009 at 06:45:53 EST-----

Ha! Brad you called it! That's exactly why I was asking


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## HokieAirman (Mar 4, 2009)

Can't say for Alabama, but San Antonio TX is about 50% of the cost of living in Oakland, CA.

Google "Cost of Living Comparison" Places like Newsweek and about.com have comparisons, but there are microclimates so to speak on cost of living.


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

Ah that's the magic search entry I'm looking for, Jeremy! Thank you  LOL Mobile, AL is so cheap compared to where I live...oh my!


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## No Longer A Libertine (Mar 4, 2009)

Why Alabama?


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

It's better if I don't talk about it much just because I don't want any sort of undue emotionalism on my part that could cloud proper judgment...BUT there is this girl who really impresses me (which rarely ever happens) and who might be interested in moving to Alabama in the future so I just thought I would crunch some numbers and see what that might look like. That's all


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## LawrenceU (Mar 4, 2009)

No Longer A Libertine said:


> Why Alabama?



Why not? It is a great state. And, it is one of the few states that still has a strong economy and its future looks very good. When I talk to folks all over the country I thank God I live in Mobile if for no other reason that we are not being hit nearly as hard by the recession. And, with all the new business and industry being built in our area it looks like we will be doing even better. Much of it is 'recession' proof.


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## panta dokimazete (Mar 4, 2009)

MS is better


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## No Longer A Libertine (Mar 4, 2009)

LawrenceU said:


> No Longer A Libertine said:
> 
> 
> > Why Alabama?
> ...


Wasn't accusing Alabama of being a bad place, just wanted to know what motivated one to leave california for Alabama...especially since Texas is on the way.


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## panta dokimazete (Mar 4, 2009)

And MS is *even better*


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## matt01 (Mar 4, 2009)

LawrenceU said:


> Why not? It is a great state. And, it is one of the few states that still has a strong economy and its future looks very good. When I talk to folks all over the country I thank God I live in Mobile if for no other reason that we are not being hit nearly as hard by the recession. And, with all the new business and industry being built in our area it looks like we will be doing even better. Much of it is 'recession' proof.



You sold me; I just applied for a position in Mobile.


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## panta dokimazete (Mar 4, 2009)

**sigh**, ignored again  - yay!


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## LawrenceU (Mar 4, 2009)

sans nom said:


> LawrenceU said:
> 
> 
> > Why not? It is a great state. And, it is one of the few states that still has a strong economy and its future looks very good. When I talk to folks all over the country I thank God I live in Mobile if for no other reason that we are not being hit nearly as hard by the recession. And, with all the new business and industry being built in our area it looks like we will be doing even better. Much of it is 'recession' proof.
> ...



Come on down.

J.D. is right. MS is better than TX.


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## panta dokimazete (Mar 4, 2009)

LawrenceU said:


> sans nom said:
> 
> 
> > LawrenceU said:
> ...


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

Lawrence, you sell Alabama pretty well. I am really getting interested. 

Oh and I am not ignoring your opinion JD...I'm just not...convinced?


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## panta dokimazete (Mar 4, 2009)

AThornquist said:


> Lawrence, you sell Alabama pretty well. I am really getting interested.
> 
> Oh and I am not ignoring your opinion JD...I'm just not...convinced?



lol - it's all good - I live about 20 miles from Mobile. I am practically an Alabaman - t'aint much difference


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## Wannabee (Mar 4, 2009)

Andrew,

You can check a few sources on line. Data-city is a great source, with a lot of census information. But much of the info will be dated. For a more up to date perspective on the cost of living, you can type in "compare cost of living between cities" in the Google search and get a bunch of calculators. I'd try several in order to find some consistency. They might all be the same, it's been a while since I've used them. Here's one that came up. Cost of Living comparison calculator


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## DMcFadden (Mar 4, 2009)

There are LOTS of good places to live. But, whatever you do, brothers and sisters on the PB, DO NOT come to the People's Republic of California unless it is for reasons of being called by God to it as a mission field.

* Biggest across the board tax increase in 17 years approved last month!
* Sales tax on April 1 rises to 9.25%!!!
* 10% surcharge on salaries above the already high income taxes starts in a couple of months.
* Impossibly liberal legislature that has the state two steps ahead of the socialist agenda being called "change you can believe in" in the rest of the country but not implemented yet anywhere but California.
* Documented trend of outmigration of educated professionals, producers, and tax payers due to severely anti-business laws leaves more and more benefits to be paid by a shrinking pool of tax payers.
* Pro-abortion, pro-gay agenda dominates the courts, particularly the 9th Circuit.
* Traffic is quite difficult. One of my employees lives 26 miles from our office and typically spends 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 and one half hours or more getting to and from work.

IFF you come to CA, homes in the Inland Empire are CHEAP! Houses going for $600,000 a couple of years ago now available in foreclosure sales at under $300,000. These are good sized and have a host of nice amenities. Quite un-California prices. Commuting distances into the central L.A. basis from these locations in Riverside County, however, would average 2-3 hours each way.

My son outside Joliet (IL) spent $200,000 for a new house that would have cost $1 to $1.2 million in my neighborhood last year. My daughter in Fort Wayne (IN) purchased a house for $123,000 a little more than a year ago that would have been worth at least $800,000 to $1 million in my neighborhood.

Needless to say, my house is not nearly as fancy as ANY of my married children who live in the midwest including one who is an associate pastor with a stay-at-home-mom wife! And I am president of an organization with 180 employees!!!


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

The comparisons show that the cost of living is far lower in Mobile. I think Mobile would fit desires for a family much more as well.

-----Added 3/4/2009 at 10:47:43 EST-----

If I wanted to go into law enforcement though, I suppose I would have to fly down there for a physical and all that.  Or maybe I would have to move there and then hope for a job? That does seem risky, though.


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## AThornquist (Mar 4, 2009)

Haha I appreciate your input in either case, Josh  And honestly, I would be planning on leaving tomorrow if I had a job in Mobile waiting for me. I need to do some more searching for employment around those parts. I don't want to be rich but I do need to be able to not go into debt, if possible.


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## DMcFadden (Mar 5, 2009)

Oops! I join Josh in reading too quickly. But, my soapbox was intended toward the brethren generally, not you specifically. However, as a fellow Californian I would say, "Andrew, get thee out of this nuthouse." Where in the world is Kelseyville???


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## BJClark (Mar 5, 2009)

DMcFadden;



> Where in the world is Kelseyville???



California... 


Kelseyville, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


http://www.city-data.com/city/Kelseyville-California.html


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## AThornquist (Mar 5, 2009)

Kelseyville is a dirt hole. It is seriously the home of the strangest inbred "white trash" I've ever heard of. Also, there are only like two black people. I don't know why that is.  Yes, I need to get away.

And actually, starting Sunday I'll be back in Ukiah, which is similar but a little less inbred. It is a good place to live until I _leave_. (Hard to go wrong with Ukiah--it is in an ultra-high marijuana trafficking zone, Jim Jones had his cult right next to us, Rick Warren went to high school here, and oh yeah there's a city pool! )


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## Puritan Sailor (Mar 5, 2009)

AThornquist said:


> Haha I appreciate your input in either case, Josh  And honestly, I would be planning on leaving tomorrow if I had a job in Mobile waiting for me. I need to do some more searching for employment around those parts. I don't want to be rich but I do need to be able to not go into debt, if possible.



Mobile is nice. Birmingham is nice too, and you won't get slammed by the hurricanes as bad. Another thing you could do in your job hunt is look at some of the suburbs for either city. Generally less expensive costs of living for the same salaries. 

I have to agree some with JD. MS is good too for cost of living and raising a family. I worked part time as an RN and went to seminary and by the blessing of God made it through without any debt.


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## LawrenceU (Mar 5, 2009)

Birmingham and Huntsville are both good places to live. They are more costly than Mobile. But, they are still a LOT cheaper than California. Huntsville is practically booming right now. There is a lot of high tech industry there related to the work at Redstone Arsenal.

Hurricanes are just part of the price you pay. They are actually quite rare. When it comes to weather I'll take our hurricanes over the tornadoes that I grew up with any day. They were a common occurrence and you have little to no warning to prepare for them.


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## panta dokimazete (Mar 5, 2009)

Yeah - you can see the 'canes bearing down and run!


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## DMcFadden (Mar 5, 2009)

Besides, in California when you ask your spouse if she felt the earth move that is considered a public safety warning of extreme importance.


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