[123student]

Any nurses from Wasilla that support a family on there income commuting to Anchorage? Starting pay for a new grad is $25.50, is that enough for a family of three? How about the commute to and from, any problems?

[JMBM]

There is a hospital, Mat-Su Regional, located between Wasilla and Palmer. I don't know their pay scale, but I assume you could get that from them easily. Many people, in fact probably a majority of working people in Wasilla and Palmer, make the commute into Anchorage. It is on 4-6 lane highway. During fall and winter, the drive will be in the dark and often in very tough weather conditions. With gas over $3/gallon, alot of people carpool. One upside is that many Anchorage nurses work 3 12-hour shifts a week, so the drive is not as often.

[123student]

Originally Posted by JMBM

There is a hospital, Mat-Su Regional, located between Wasilla and Palmer. I don't know their pay scale, but I assume you could get that from them easily. Many people, in fact probably a majority of working people in Wasilla and Palmer, make the commute into Anchorage. It is on 4-6 lane highway. During fall and winter, the drive will be in the dark and often in very tough weather conditions. With gas over $3/gallon, alot of people carpool. One upside is that many Anchorage nurses work 3 12-hour shifts a week, so the drive is not as often.

I would only work 12 hour shifts, but I would like to work at Mat-Su. Problem is they don't hire new grads from out of state or so the human resource lady told me.

[ERMeg]

Hi there,
I hate to give bad news but $25 is a pretty low wage to live on in AK. Of course that would depend on what other benefits are being provided. I'm in Sitka, AK, but have family in Anchorage. Fuel is about $4.85/gal, Milk is $5/gal, and rent tends to be pretty high from May-Sept. If your company provides housing, rental car, gas subsidy, license reimbursement, utilities, travel costs, etc than $25 could be a good wage, otherwise I would tell your company your concerns (financially supporting a family) and try to negotiate your wage.
Good Luck!!!