Lol…it ain’t the best. I live in NY and it has a lot pollution if you go to NYC sksksksk and it’s very crowded lol
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I mean, it depends. There are some really great schools (especially universities like Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, etc) in California. I’m not super familiar with the UK education system and its efficacy regionally and overall so it’s hard to compare really. In CA (and the US generally), the better school districts for K-12 (primary through high school) are in more affluent areas like San Fransisco (Silicon Valley).
I’d visit a couple areas (more than once if possible), before you make a decision. also CA is a huuuuuge state and you’re probably most familiar with the LA-area from tv/media, but there’s definitely more to it than that. Tons of state parks, lakes, mountains, and of course the beach!
My favorite places to visit are: Los Angeles (it’s such a huge city, if you can try to see both the east side like Los Feliz, Silverlake, highland park AND the west beachy side in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. If you don’t have to commute far for work, the east side is really cool to live in but it’s def not the beachy life you’d think, with traffic it can take like 1-2 hours to get to the beach haha), San Diego (beach and a bit chiller than LA), Laguna Beach (gorgeous but probably too expensive to live in but it’s between LA and San Diego and a perfect stop for a road trip), San Fransisco (à bit far to roadtrip from LA/San Diego unless you have tons of time, of take the less scenic route but a short flight and full of great food and hikes), Santa Barbara (quick 2hr drive from LA, assuming no traffic, and a picturesque town on the beach, but again probably expensive to live in), there’s also Yosemite National Park, Palm Springs, Monterrey, and so much more that I haven’t seen!
Culture shock is real but I just moved from the US to France, but I did it too recently to tell you if I regret it yet! Considered CA but it was too far from both my husband’s and my own family so we chose France instead but I love CA!
And yeah, like other posters have said, CA is expensive and there are droughts/wildfires, so def something to consider. And yeah, healthcare is expensive, so that’s a concern when you don’t have a job for sure! But visit and see what you do/don’t like!
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I definitely wanna immigrate (legally, of course) to the US in the future, it seems greeeaaattt. (I’m from Israel, it’s super common here and I’d honestly love to live anywhere that is not in war for 71 years while only existing for 71 years) also English is a fun language
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I can’t in good conscience recommend moving to the US, at least not permanently. Coming for a vacation or for college would probably be a great experience, but…there’s just a lot to consider before planning a move.
Being a US citizen is expensive in general. School costs and medical costs have skyrocketed and you can end up in debt the rest of your life from either. I owe about 2,800 dollars for a three-day hospital stay and that’s actually a really reasonable price. That’s not including any sort of tests or treatments, though, that’s just for the bed and the food and some basic healthcare.
There are also places that are deep into the Us Versus Them thought process. They don’t take kindly to immigrants of any kind. You’ll want to make sure you live somewhere welcoming, so definitely visit the specific town you want to move to before deciding to relocate.
California is particular is crazy expensive. For rent alone it can be prohibitive. An apartment the size of mine could easily go for 1,500 (here, it’s about 700). This does depend highly on the area, but it’s still hard to get affordable housing in that state. I’d also keep away from LA. A commute that SHOULD take thirty minutes can take two hours or more.
I adore CA. I was born there. The weather is incredible. But I would recommend living in a different state nearby, and going to visit.
Whatever you choose, just aim for a visit before moving. You never know. You might decide it’s worth it. You might decide you hate it.
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the united states is a great country but it has it’s downfalls. i live in virginia, and to be completely honest i hate it here… california is a great state but i wouldn’t recommend moving there. you have to think about how expensive it is, the crime rate, the city being overpopulated, etc. there’s a first time for everything though and everyone’s different so maybe you’ll love it!
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Depends on where in California you’d like to live and what kind of career you want to get into.
I was born and raised about an hour outside of LA. Just moved back after being in DC for a few years and I love living here.
But, unless you live in a rural area or the suburbs, you’ll need to be prepared to deal with the cost of living. It’s expensive to be here.
@kimballet said pretty much everything there is to make note of, but I cannot stress enough actually checking out the neighborhoods you want to move to whether you’re in NorCal or SoCal. Drive around. See what it’s like during the day. See what it’s like at night. See if you like the vibe of the neighborhood. Same with the state itself. The California people talk about in the media isn’t the California I grew up in. Los Angeles is poorly portrayed as well.
Don’t rely on the word of people online. Some neighborhoods people think are dangerous actually feel fine to me.
LA has changed a lot over the last 20 years, and some people’s knowledge about the city could potentially be dated. While there are some places I wouldn’t recommend trolling around by yourself (that’s anywhere It’s not unique to California or the US) I definitely think seeing the place in person is the best way to decide if you want to live somewhere.
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Im from the US. I know someone who lives in the UK and they say that America is kinda glorified in the UK? At least where they’re from. So just a heads up, it might not be as great in some aspects as you think. There are some pros like we have a democracy and fully vote for whos in power, while UK does vote but also has a monarchy, thats one of the reasons my UK friend likes the US. However, there is cons to the US like our health care system is rediculous and you don’t get free health care like you do in the UK. Also its hundreds of dollars for an ambulance, even upwards to thousands if you dont have insurance. One medical problem can give you debt and ruin your credit score. People die because they can’t afford things. Also kinda random but i learned pain meds are like… less than a pound in the UK? In the US pain meds are like $6 for 20 pills lol. For individual states, it really depends on what you like and what you dislike. I’ve heard Florida is a mad house when it comes to weird laws and from what ive heard i probably wouldnt like dealing with those. But Colorado sounds cool to me. California is known for earth quakes and wild fires so theres that. And its overcrowded in a lot of places. Not my cup of tea personally. The US also has an issue with mass incarceration, specifically of minorities. Yikes.
Also if it means anything, I have met someone whos family is from Albania, and their family talked about how cool the US is and how great the oppertunities are. They got here, learned that things suck, and went back to Albania within a couple of years.
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Does anyone know about living in New York? I don’t want to move to New York City exactly but maybe somewhere like Manhattan.
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Big cities are often more expensive than rural / suburban areas, based on what I’ve seen. I agree with what most people have stated; living in larger states such as California / New York is more expensive than a smaller state.
Although I live in Florida, so I don’t really know. 
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Hey, so I lived in New York City for 7 years. NYC is composed of 5 boroughs, Manhattan, a Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, but what you think of when you think of NYC (Times Square, Wall Street, Central Park) is all in Manhattan, in a fairly concentrated radius of about 5ish miles (though Manhattan is 11 miles long I think and the smallest borough but the most dense).
There are a few other places people commute from, like New Jersey (Hoboken, Jersey City, etc) as well. Staten Island is all suburban and you have to take a bus or a ferry to get to Manhattan. The other boroughs are connected via subway which although we complain, is an amazing network, making it easy to get home 24 hours a day (if you’re willing to wait for the train). I loved not having to drive/own a car, but some people do if they pay for a parking spot or risk trying to find street parking. More convient in more suburban places further out from the heart of the city. People usually refer to “the city” as just Manhattan.
It’s a quite expensive place to live in, even in the outer parts. I think the cheapest studio 1 BR apartment within an hour (by train, driving in Manhattan is pretty impossible and forget parking) of downtown (where I worked) is in the $1700-3000 per month range and the lower end ones are super hard to find and go within the day of being on the market. I usually found an apartment within two weeks of moving in which is stressful since you have to give up your other apartment before that. I lived in Bed Stuy, Bushwick, Williamsburg, Fort Greene, and Park Slope, all in Brooklyn. Living with roommates as long as possible is the way to save so much money!
That said, I loved living there, there’s tons to do and see, amazing people from all over the world but know that it will be expensive! Jobs there usually (but not always) compensate for this fact so if the salaries seem crazy high, sometimes it’s just to offset costs. For example, a starting teaching salary is about $51,000 before taxes so it’s much higher than say, in Florida, but rent is much higher, there’s a state income tax, and city taxes as well. It’s doable, but you wouldn’t be living in luxury versus some places that could go pretty far and you could save a lot for a house.
PM if you have more questions! I just moved from NYC but I still love it and can’t wait to see it as a tourist again 
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Thank you!!
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I live in New York.
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Oh, You haven’t seen my school yet (it’s not in the US) We don’t even freaking have lockers goddd
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Do you like living there? I know it’s kinda expensive and all but…
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Taxes in California are awful. Taxes in Georgia are better than in Texas, but I live in Texas and I love it. I would never leave ^^
This is pretty much true. ^^ (although I was mostly homeschooled because the public school system IS trash)
I was in public school for a tad bit there, and I couldn’t STAND it. I had to get out, so I did ^^
No place in the world will ever be perfect, and I also think it depends on the individual. Some systems work better for some people. I love America and will forever believe it is the very best country in the world that ever existed. 
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Well, where I live, it’s not exactly expensive. See, I’m from the Bronx.
Don’t you have to pay more in taxes in the UK so that you have free health care? Some jobs here help with health insurance, but some do not.
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Yeah you do have to pay taxes to get free healthcare, because that’s where the money goes. But paying taxes isn’t really expensive it barely makes a difference.
From what I’ve heard, you pay double the taxes tho… like I pay about 20% of the money I make to taxes and (I’ve heard) that in the UK you pay like 40% if you make as much as I do?
Not saying if it good or bad, since that extra money goes to paying for health and college.
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honestly I don’t know much about taxes I don’t even work lol but according to my dad the ‘higher your salary is the more tax you have to pay’ so there’s no specific percentage you have to give. But idk If it’s true 
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