[m_chatelaine]

Thinking of moving to California. Where do you think is best to relocate to? Pay? Working conditions? and Cost of Living?

[Imissthefall]

try
www.city-data.com

go to the California forum..
Good Luck on your move!!

[nursinguy]

Originally Posted by m_chatelaine

Thinking of moving to California. Where do you think is best to relocate to? Pay? Working conditions? and Cost of Living?

Sacramento and live in the outlying areas.

[SherBearRN]

The best pay in California, hands-down, is San Francisco. New grads start at $41.49/hr not counting shift differential at my hospital. Experienced nurses make around $55-57 an hour and per-diem nurses make approximately $70. The trick is finding living arrangements that are not outragious. So, my suggestion would be to live in the East Bay (like Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill) and commute on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which is a train. It takes me about an hour each way. My apartment costs around $900/month. If you live in SF, it will cost you $1500-2500/month in rent.

[nursinguy]

Originally Posted by SherBearRN

The best pay in California, hands-down, is San Francisco. New grads start at $41.49/hr not counting shift differential at my hospital. Experienced nurses make around $55-57 an hour and per-diem nurses make approximately $70. The trick is finding living arrangements that are not outragious. So, my suggestion would be to live in the East Bay (like Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill) and commute on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which is a train. It takes me about an hour each way. My apartment costs around $900/month. If you live in SF, it will cost you $1500-2500/month in rent.

Sacramneto might be better, new Grade pay runs around $37.00. Cost of living in surrounding area is much cheaper than surrounding areas of San Fran Freako.

[mommy2boys]

I agree with Sacramento there are many nice cities to live in (Sac is nice too but it is alittle more pricey to live there) and the COL is much lower than southern CA and the bay area. Plus buy living in the Sacramento area you are 2 hours from some the the best snow skiing in the US and 2.5 hours from coast (ie San Fransico). If you love the outdoors there are many lakes, rivers, beautiful parks w/i 1 hour drive.

Can't you tell that I love living in the area (I live about an hour north of Sacramento)

Erin

[youknowho]

Of course I am very prejudice about this questions, having been born and lived my whole life in SAN JOSE. Its wonderful. Low crime, good weather, one hour can get you to either the beaches or San Francisco. 6 or so hours north of Disneyland, my personal favorite. Tons of jobs, great pay.
You just to have find a nice home that cost less than a million, no joke.

[AshNeha113]

I've lived in CA since birth and have a lot of family here so based on my experience I would tell u to move to Central CA. The COL there is not high and you still have the oppurtunity to commute to work. Commuting in the bay area by car is HORRIBLE (EXTREME TRAFFIC!). Central CA has good schools, neat and tidy living environments, fresh air, a prime location that can take you to the snow or SO. CAL within 2 or 8 hours respectively. I'm not an RN yet, but when I graduate I would move to Elk Grove, CA. Its a developing city that is booming into becoming the next "all american city."

p.s. I'm not a real estate agent.. i promise lol

o yah... the weather in CA is not as great as before.. in the summer it tends to get any where from 85-100 degrees in Central CA and in the winter the temp. can drop to 28 degrees.. but with that u can get snow in tahoe and a nice beach day only hours away.

[nursinguy]

Originally Posted by mommy2boys

I agree with Sacramento there are many nice cities to live in (Sac is nice too but it is alittle more pricey to live there) and the COL is much lower than southern CA and the bay area. Plus buy living in the Sacramento area you are 2 hours from some the the best snow skiing in the US and 2.5 hours from coast (ie San Fransico). If you love the outdoors there are many lakes, rivers, beautiful parks w/i 1 hour drive.

Can't you tell that I love living in the area (I live about an hour north of Sacramento)

Erin

Orrovile? or Yuba City?

[Spidey's mom]

It depends on what you want - California is very diverse.

Rural nursing has alot of perks but one is not salary. You learn alot about alot of things - I work med/surg (5:1 ratio), ER, OB, OR.

Redding is a good place to work - access to Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen and the Sacramento River. Lots of outdoor stuff to do - up where I live is great fly fishing.

Red Bluff is a small town south of Redding, north of Sac. Nice little hospital associated with CHW which also owns Mercy in Redding and Mt. Shasta. Yreka has a hospital as well.

steph