Canadian Dispatcher - should I move to California?

My sweet Californian soon-to-be dispatch family,

You guys rock ❤️ Seriously—thank you for everything you do. I’d love to join you someday. I recently just got my USA PR.

I’m currently a Step 2 Emergency Medical Call Taker with a large agency in Southern Ontario, Canada (think Toronto/high COL). I have a pretty solid situation here:

• Great workplace culture
• High call volume, but manageable burnout
• ~$70k USD base (~$55k after tax)
• I’m able to save ~$40k/year (no car, live at home, no dependents)

That said… the pay gap is hard to ignore.

Looking at San Francisco for example:

• Step 1: ~$114k
• Step 6: ~$145k

On paper, that feels life-changing. But I also keep hearing things like “$110k is basically minimum wage in SF,” and I don’t know what’s realistic anymore.

A lot of my Canadian coworkers say they’d move to California purely for the pay—but I want to sanity-check that with people actually living it.

So I’d really appreciate honest input from California dispatchers:

1. Do you actually feel well-compensated relative to your cost of living? Are you able to save meaningfully?
2. What does your monthly budget realistically look like (especially rent + commuting)?
3. Do you feel comfortable/safe where you live on your salary?
4. How sustainable is this job long-term in California (burnout, staffing, mandatory OT, etc.)?
5. Do most people stay with one agency, or is it common to move around?
6. For those of you who relocated for the job—was it worth it?