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Los Angeles
#32 of 124
North America

Los Angeles

CA, United States

Salary & Cost of Living

View purchasing power ranking

How do salaries and expenses in Los Angeles compare to Dubai?

Purchasing Power Comparison

An engineer in Los Angeles is 4% better off vs in Dubai

This shows how far a software engineer's salary goes in Los Angeles compared to Dubai, taking into account both salary differences and cost of living.

Median Salary
$170,000
+$88K (+108%) vs Dubai
Based on 2431 data points from levels.fyi
Net Salary
$105,740
+$24K (+29%) vs Dubai
Tax Rate: 38%

Community Insights

New

Los Angeles offers a polarizing but potentially rewarding experience for software engineers. While it lacks the sheer density and career velocity of the Bay Area, it compensates with a superior lifestyle balance and lack of tech monoculture. The financial reality is tough—high taxes and living costs rank poorly nationwide—but for established engineers, the trade-off is often worth it for the weather and amenities. The "Silicon Beach" scene is vibrant but geographically fragmented, meaning your experience largely depends on whether you can avoid a daily commute. Safety and cleanliness are ongoing concerns that weigh on resident sentiment.

Resident Sentiment

Sentiment is decidedly mixed. Long-term residents and successful transplants often vehemently defend the city's quality of life, citing the "endless summer" and cultural richness as unbeatable perks. However, a significant portion of recent transplants express regret related to the social isolation caused by the sprawl and the grinding reality of traffic. Many report a "love-hate" relationship: they love the weekends but dread the work-week logistics. There is a strong consensus that remote work is the cheat code to actually enjoying the city.

Living Environment

Weather•Safety•Pollution•Events

A quick look at climate, safety, pollution, and tech community compared to Dubai.

Rankings

Comfortable Weather

Top 3%

#4

of 124 cities

90/100 weather score

Current value

Net Income

Top 11%

#14

of 124 cities

$105,740/yr

Current value

Purchasing Power

Top 26%

#32

of 124 cities

Housing Affordability

View affordability ranking

How affordable is housing for a software engineer in Los Angeles compared to Dubai?

Avg. Property Price
$7,262 / m²
27% more expensive than Dubai
View detailed property prices on Numbeo

Salary Converter

Enter your annual gross salary (before taxes) to see what you would need to earn in Los Angeles to maintain the same standard of living.

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Cost of Living
24% more expensive than Dubai
View detailed cost breakdown on Numbeo

Top Paying Companies in Los Angeles

Netflix logo
Netflix
Facebook logo
Facebook
Nvidia logo
Nvidia

The Good

  • Weather and Outdoor Lifestyle: Consistently ranked as a top draw, with year-round sunshine allowing for beach trips, hiking, and skiing often within the same weekend.
  • Diverse Tech Ecosystem: Unlike the "tech monoculture" of the Bay Area, LA offers unique intersections with entertainment (streaming, gaming), aerospace, and defense technology (Silicon Beach and El Segundo).
  • Cultural Variety: Residents value the escape from the "tech bro" bubble, offering access to world-class art, food, and music scenes that aren't dominated by industry shop talk.
  • Remote Work Leverage: For those with remote Bay Area or NYC salaries, the purchasing power goes further here than in other top-tier tech hubs, despite the high cost of living.
  • Nature Access: Proximity to diverse geography—ocean, mountains, and desert—is frequently cited as a major mental health benefit for burnt-out engineers.

The Bad

  • Soul-Crushing Traffic: The defining complaint; commuting is widely described as a major quality-of-life drain, making living near the office (or working remotely) non-negotiable.
  • Sprawl and Isolation: The city's geography makes impromptu socializing difficult, leading to feelings of loneliness and a "flakey" social culture, especially for transplants without an existing network.
  • Lower Job Density: While opportunities exist, the volume of high-paying SWE roles is significantly lower than SF/Silicon Valley, making local "job hopping" harder without a commute penalty.
  • Cost of Living vs. Value: Rent and taxes are high (ranked poorly for affordability), and residents often complain that the high costs don't always correlate with public services or safety/cleanliness levels.
  • State Taxes: The high tax burden is a frequent pain point for high-income earners like software engineers, significantly impacting net take-home pay.

The Verdict

You'll love it if...

Mid-to-senior engineers who are tired of the intense "grind" culture of Silicon Valley and prioritize lifestyle, weather, and hobbies over maximizing total compensation. It is also ideal for professionals in niche sectors like gaming, entertainment tech, or aerospace who want to be at the center of those industries. Remote workers who can bypass the traffic entirely will get the best return on investment here.

Skip it if...

Junior engineers seeking aggressive mentorship and rapid job-hopping opportunities will likely struggle with the lower density of roles and mentorship compared to SF or NYC. People who hate driving or rely on robust public transit will find the city frustrating. Additionally, those whose primary goal is maximizing savings (FIRE adherents) may find the high tax and cost-of-living combination detrimental compared to other tech hubs.

Updated 11/29/2025

Weather9.0/10+1700% vs Dubai
Safety46-45%
Pollution68+39%
Events60%
9.0/10TechCities weather score vs 0.5/10 in Dubai

0–10 composite (higher is better) combining temperature comfort, sunshine hours, rainy-day count, and humid days. See methodology for weighting and data sources.

Weather snapshot

Average High
24°C(vs 34°C in Dubai)
Average Low
14°C(vs 22°C in Dubai)
Sunshine Hours
3,254h/yr-254h/yr(-7%)
Hottest Month High
29°C(vs 41°C in Dubai)
Coldest Month Low
9°C(vs 14°C in Dubai)
Rainy Days
28/yr+18/yr(+172%)

Community & Quality

Los Angeles community pulse

Los Angeles has 6 Luma events listed.

Similar event volume to Dubai.

Home Affordability

Top 31%

#39

of 124 cities

≈5.5 yrs to buy 80m²

Current value

Community Events

Middle of the pack

#43

of 124 cities

6 events on luma

Current value

Safety Index

Bottom 27%

#92

of 124 cities

45.9/100

Current value

Pollution Score

Bottom 20%

#100

of 124 cities

68.4/100

Current value (lower is better)

Tax Rate

Bottom 19%

#102

of 124 cities

38%

Current value (lower is better)

Cost of Living

Bottom 11%

#111

of 124 cities

74/100

Current value (lower is better)

SWE Affordability
5.5 years
0.1 years quicker than Dubai
Muggy Days
5/yr-159/yr(-97%)
Cloud Cover
25%(same as Dubai)