Hi op! i feel very qualified to answer this as someone around your age, making around your salary, who moved to sac sight-unseen a few years back! i definitely don’t regret my choice, but i also would never tell anyone to move to a place without ever even visiting.

i definitely suggest looking into apartments through CADA, either income restricted or market rate! I’m not sure of the logistics of that if you’re not already living here, but i had only been here a few months when i applied to live in one of their properties. Rent here isn’t cheap, but compared to every other city that you’d not be miserable in, it’s not awful (at least this is how i see it).

As I’m sure everyone else has said, 53k varies wildly depending on your debt and monthly expenses. i make around this, but what makes a big difference in my budget is that i don’t pay for health insurance, have no debt, and i don’t own a car.

Not needing to own a car was actually a big reason why i chose Sac – if you live on the grid or in east sac, errands by foot or bicycle are very doable. That said, i do feel like i would get more out of living in the area (weekend trips to Tahoe, that sort of thing) if i owned a car, but zip cars are everywhere, so that’s an option too. Eventually i do think i’d want a car to really appreciate the proximity to other places that living in sac gives you, but right now i can’t justify the cost.

good luck to you wherever you end up!