It's no secret that Bay Area housing prices make living in San Francisco difficult for many. And even tech workers, who theoretically earn the type of salaries capable of affording such pricey real estate, are thinking of moving elsewhere in search of a lower cost of living.
According to a recent survey from investment management firm Wealthfront, a significant amount of its Bay Area clients are contemplating a move. The firm polled around 2,700 of its clients---who all work at Bay Area tech companies---during the first five months of this year and found that nearly a quarter believe they’ll leave for cheaper cities.
Where do they plan to move? The top choices where Chicago, Seattle, New York, L.A. and Austin, according to the survey.
Wealthfront's survey found that clients expect to pay more than $1 million for a two-bedroom home in the Bay Area. Compare that to a place like Chicago, where the median price of homes currently listed in the city is $349,000, according to Zillow.
It's a narrative that Chicago tech boosters have pointed to for years: Rising home prices in Silicon Valley and other coastal cities will push tech talent and startup founders to Chicago.
One such example is BlueCrew, a San Francisco-based on-demand staffing startup that relocated its headquarters to Chicago earlier this year. Since opening the new Chicago office, BlueCrew said it plans to fill 100 new roles across engineering, operations, customer support and finance roles over the next year.
Fintech company Tegus also relocated its headquarters from San Francisco to Chicago in March. And last year, Salesforce announced plans to add 1,000 new jobs in Chicago over the next five years.
