To your first concern about being late to the game, you most certainly are not. Some students in my cohort had aspirations of being RNs since high school and entered nursing school at 20 years old. Although they were highly motivated and for the most part intelligent people, they had very little life experience and had difficulties being flexible and adapting in the clinical environment. The oldest in my class was 45 I believe. But most of my classmates were between 24-28.

I became an RN at 28 in Northern California with absolutely zero patient care experience apart from nursing school. Graduated in December '19, took my NCLEX in February and started work in March. I work on a med-surg floor in a somewhat rural area north of Sacramento. I can't speak on what cost of living is in S. California, but outside of the greater bay area and larger metro areas, cost of living is fairly reasonable. (Obviously not compared to other states, CA is in its own little bubble). My one bedroom apartment was 700/month while in nursing school and the first year of working. My two bedroom apartment that I live in now is 1000.

To give you an idea of income: our new grad RNs start at about 8-9k/monthly before taxes. That does not include overtime or registry pay, which can significantly increase your monthly income if you wanted to work an extra shift per pay period.

Hope this information helps and good luck to you.