Disappointing photos show what living in San Francisco on a tech salary really looks like

Katie Canales

Jan 15, 2019, 23:51 IST

Disappointing photos show what living in San Francisco on a tech salary really looks like

HBO

Even tech workers in Silicon Valley struggle with the region's housing costs.

Tech workers come to Silicon Valley in droves with dreams of working for one of the world's biggest tech companies, like Google or Apple, or with hopes of founding their own startup.
Such a position entails a comfortable salary, but having a tech salary in the nation's most competitive real estate market doesn't always promise a life of luxury.
Here's what working in Silicon Valley's tech sphere really looks like.

The dream of working for one of Silicon Valley's many tech behemoths, along with the luxuries such a six-figure salary would afford, has resulted in droves of engineering degree-toting techies coming to the Bay Area.

Though, in reality, earning a tech salary is not all it's cracked up to be.

In the nation's most competitive real estate market, it can be next to impossible to find affordable living accommodations. The housing crisis has left thousands struggling, and has done nothing to help the city's homelessness epidemic.

It costs $3,360 on average for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco. That means, when the average starting tech salary of $91,738 is taken into account, some techies are shelling out a good portion of their paycheck solely on rent.

And when it's time for those tech workers to buy a home, forget it: a recent study found that 60% of them felt they couldn't afford one.

That's all before factoring in other lofty expenses in the city, like $7 bacon strips.

From fraternity house-style "hacker houses" to sleeping in a Google parking lot, here's what a tech salary in the "Tech Capital of the World" looks like.

Due to a housing shortage, the high demand for living accommodations has sent real estate values skyrocketing in the Bay Area.

And the region's behemoth tech companies aren't slowing down on talent recruitment. Engineers are constantly pouring in.

Many arrive viewing their new lives through rose-colored glasses, holding high expectations of what a tech salary will look.

Fancy cars, colossal homes, and a more-than-comfortable lifestyle fill their minds.

The reality is oftentimes much different than what they expected.

The biggest wake up call? The astronomically-priced rent.

They end up spending a good portion of their salary purely on rent, leaving little else to cover the other outrageous expenses in the city.

And so tech workers, both seasoned and newly-minted, have had to get creative with how they can outsmart the city's notoriously absurd rental costs.

Like the people behind The Negev, a communal living organization that houses tech workers in San Francisco.

It's one of many communal spaces in the city designed to help techies circumvent the housing shortage and high rent. The home offers 50 rooms across three floors.

Many of the Negev residents sleep in bunk beds and shell out $1,900 a month to live here.

The tenants are software engineers, UI designers, operations analysts, or virtual reality engineers, and most are under the age of 30.

There's also a social element to The Negev. Residents are encouraged to bounce ideas off of each other, and to code and create apps.

Resident Zandar Dejah (left) told Reuters that it's "basically an extension of college. We sort of live in a frat house."

Every Sunday there's a communal dinner for housemates, and on the weekend the house hosts parties.

As convenient as it is for its occupants, the home has been criticized for depriving natives of affordable housing.

But many young tech workers can't afford conventional housing...

...especially if they have a family.

Micah, along with his wife Jana and their son, moved to the Bay Area to pursue a tech career.

To avoid the city's steep rental costs, they had a tiny home built for their family of three in Texas and lugged it out to California.

The next step was finding a place to park it...

...so they teamed up with a family already settled in the Bay who allowed them to post up in their RV pad, for a fee.

They use an extension chord to stay hooked up to the house for power, and they also keep a generator outside for when they want to use the air conditioner or washer and dryer.

They also keep solar panels in the yard for extra power.

The pint-sized abode has everything the family needs.

There's a washer and dryer in the bathroom.

Guests are educated on proper toilet use with a handy cheat sheet on the windowsill.

And there's a fold-down table for eating.

The couple has a lofted sleeping nook, with another loft opposite them in the house for their son as he gets older...

...at which point they said they might need to reevaluate living spaces since a teenager will make the home a tad more cramped.

The D'Andrea's are also new parents...

...and like Micah and Jana, they're accustomed to the small-living lifestyle.

Googler Pete D'Andrea...

...and his wife Kara shelled out $1,900 for a Winnebago van and moved to Silicon Valley from Chicago when Pete snagged a job with one of Google's self-driving car teams.

They parked their mobile digs in the Google parking lot and lived there for a year and a half to two years (before having their daughter,) putting 80% of their income into savings.

An upraised Ikea twin mattress served as their bed...

...and a small compartment opened up to a toilet, sink, and shower.

The sink pulls out from the wall.

The couple kept a mini fridge in their small kitchen...

...and there was a stovetop for cooking.

To maximize space, they placed a cutting board over the sink for when they're not using it.

Kara knows it's not an ideal set up, but she didn't mind in the least.

“I think a lot of people think this is like the antithesis of comfortable, but I actually really loved it,” Jana told Tech Insider in 2016. “I was really happy.”

They saved up enough to put a down payment on a house. Seven months after moving into it, they got a dog, four cats, and three chickens. That was also when their daughter was born.

As for their van, they'll hang on to it and use it for traveling. Pete told Tech Insider that he sees plenty of other vans parked in the parking lot at Google. “We’re not the only ones," he said.

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