Need suggestions on good cities for LPNs

Nurses LPN/LVN

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Hi everyone!

I'm a middle-aged LPN with two sons. We currently live in a mid-sized town in Illinois, but are looking to move to a city with a much larger population (preferably 500,000+). My son has done some research on various large cities throughout the United States, but we would love for more recommendations from some fellow nurses. The city would preferably have a good employable situation for an LPN, have a low crime ratio, and low or no income tax (making it easier to live on an LPN salary). A luxury would be living on a coast with a swimming area.

Two places that seem pretty nice are Austin, Texas (fits all criteria and then some!) and Seattle, Washington (high crime rate only issue) as well as a couple places in Florida (Clearwater, Deerfield Beach, Miami). Obviously, Florida remains an option if only because of the retiree population.

I'm sorry for making this my first post, but we're really trying to explore all our options before making our trip to various cities and checking them out.

Specializes in Med Surg.

You might check out Temple, TX. Its north of Austin and home to Scott & White Hospital. It's a lot smaller than Austin but it is about halfway between there and Waco so you aren't totally isolated from city amenities.

Specializes in Peds.

I don't know if you'd be interested in Mass or not, ....excellent pay for LPN's & RN's.....LPN's make almost $30.00/hr ( that was 4 yrs ago...i'm sure it's a little more now) I did home care private duty nursing, unless you want hospital or facility work........I worked doing private duty nursing in homes, the pay was excellent.....I moved to Fl...pay sucks to be honest, hardly any jobs & I find that you'll work twice as much for half the pay pretty much.......and as for taxes...no state taxes but still the pay is too low to really make it even without paying state taxes just simply because the cost of everything is high like most other places.....I found the only thing cheaper here is the price for buying a home or renting a place ( even the rents are going up from when I 1st came here) ........We are most likely moving back up north when we can afford it just because it's even harder to to make it down here believe it or not....some people absolutely love it here....but I however loved loved loved coming down for a vacation...once I moved here it was a real eye opener......anyway good luck with your choice whatever you decide :D

I live in California, lots of LTC that hire LVN's, but the job market isnt so great right now. I have been told by a lot of people that Texas has a good job market for nurses.

Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.

Seattle has a very high cost of living!

Thanks a bunch for the responses so far.

MrsReillyRN, we actually looked at Boston as a possible location (in fact we viewed it during the first day of searching...) and liked it but were afraid of the living standards (about 33% higher living standard required according to CNN's calculator), but that was with the assumption LPNs get paid around $20. When you told me they get paid $30 or so, it blew my mind!

OgopogoLPN, thanks for the information. That's the conclusion we came to when looking at Seattle's apartment-renting market yesterday.

My son actually looked through tons of cities in Texas and the only one we really liked was Austin. The renting market is fairly cheap (compared to other places), is a nice & beautiful town, and would allow us to live comfortably.

Thanks for the suggestions so far and please keep them coming! :D

Specializes in Peds.

Yes...don't go by what the "statistics" or anything like that .....on salary.com they have pay rate here in Fl as higher than what it actually is....I will tell you...I lived in Mass my entire life....but south of Boston....in the more suburban area....was actually very nice...& safe I as an RN in 2007 was making $30.31/hr days, and on nights and weekends made shift diff...plus holidays you get paid time and a half.....and this is for private duty home care...I moved to Fl and got a job doing the exact same thing...$18/hr no holiday pay and no differential for shift......kind of a real shocker believe me! And everything costs the same as up there really except houses & rents....... The area in Mass that is nice is any part in western part of state...the big cities were places like Worcester/Springfield... anything right around Boston. Cape Cod area is nice but busy in summer......I wish you luck whatever you decide to do!

Oh, duh! I should have checked your name and realized you worked as an RN to make $30 an hour.

As of now, I'm an LPN so I'm guessing the average will actually be closer to my earlier estimates ($20) than your salary ($30). *sigh*

Also, my son may be confused. While Texas doesn't have a state income tax, you are still forced to pay the federal income tax (25% or so) regardless of what state you live in, right? He doesn't think so, but he's got little experience with taxes and is learning on the fly (on the Internet no less).

Thanks MrsReillyRN.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
My son actually looked through tons of cities in Texas and the only one we really liked was Austin.
The nursing job market is dismal in Austin. The area has plenty of nursing schools that pump new nurses into a city that has a relatively limited number of jobs. In addition, experienced nurses have been flocking to Austin over the past three years from all over the U.S., which further contributes to the glut.

My personal recommendations are Tulsa and Oklahoma City because these cities still have plentiful jobs for LPNs.

Specializes in Peds.

deniatus..no seriously..the LPN's only made $2-$4 less an hour than the RN's....for real! I had LPN's working in my home with my own child, and I also worked with them (same company) at patients homes as well....when I left there 3 years ago the LPN's were making I believe if I recall correctly $28 an hour....seriously..and I am willing to bet the pay rate has gone up since then.....I remember all the nurses got a $4/hr raise the year before I left because I was one of them......seriously if you are looking to make good pay maybe consider mass...... I guarantee you will make more than $20 an hour......Did you know you can also be an independant nurse and work on your own....you can get paid directly through the insurance company or the state if the patient has medicaid....I had an LPN who was also a personal friend making $46 an hour as an independant nurse ....for real.... if you want info I can pm you on how/where to apply.......I was going to do it myself but then I ended up moving....

what is your email address. It would be nice to get information on independent nursing.

Thank You!

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I am a LVN in Dallas and there seems to be a good market here. I work at hospital making $20/hr (been working 4 years now) and I hear that the nursing homes (no thank you) and home health LVN's make even better money.

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