So, over on the Florida thread, we frequently bemoan the fact that nursing pay in Florida bites - about $19-22 an hour for a new grad, I'm hearing, and housing is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be. I am in one of the cheaper parts of Florida, and I've been in my house for several years - but for a halfway-decent not fancy 3/2 house in a decent neighborhood in my county, it would most likely run $175,000 to $250,000, and that is only because the housing market has slowed down.
In Tampa or Orlando, from what I hear, it would be more like $300,000 on up. Maybe $275,000 on up.
When I see nurses in New Jersey and New York and California talk about making $35 to $40 an hour base pay, I drool...then I remember that houses cost a lot more.
Sooo....what states start out with higher pay then I'm mentioning for Florida, or end up with higher pay then I'm mentioning - we're taking RN base pay here, just to compare apples to apples - and have affordable housing? And for those who answer, how much is an average 3/2 house or rent on a 2 or three bedroom apartment in your area? (In my area, $800 to 1000 for 2 bedroom, $1100 to $1500 for a three.)
I may move when I get through school, although I love Florida. Or I may do the travel nurse, working for an agency, working nights and weekends thing just so I can make ends meet.
To me, at least, if you want to do well financially (lower cost of living, higher wages) the question really isn't what's happening now ... but what will happen with the location you pick in the future.
You can move to a cheap area but, if wages are stagnant because there's little growth potential then, you're not going to do very well in the long run. You can also move to an area with high wages but, if the growth in that area has peaked and the cost of living is too high then, you're probably not going to do well there either.
The ideal situation, IMO, is to pick an area that's cheap but, where there's going to be lots of growth potential and wages are on the upswing.
I live in California where everybody loves to complain about housing prices but, what we did was move out to the desert where houses were (at least at the time) much cheaper. Everybody thought we were crazy because, to be honest, it was a somewhat dumpy desert town.
But, the town that few people wanted to live in five years ago has suddenly become a desirable location ... mostly because of good transportation access and, because a lot of growth was pushing out to this area because the California coastal areas have become too expensive. There's tons of development now ... all the hospitals are expanding.
By the time I graduated nursing school, my house doubled in value and the nursing wages greatly improved also ... I'm now making $41 an hour. So the key to doing well financially, IMO, is to pick a cheap town that will become a boom town in the future.
Sheri- that's great advice. That's what I'm doing. I just started a job an hour away from me. The pay is good, but the area is growing like crazy. My husband and I plan to buy a house in the next year in the small town next to the town I work in. The area is a long term goal for us...so we think we'll do well there.
*** The best states for nursing pay vs cost of living are Tx, Mn, &
Wi.
I live in Wisconsin and new grad starting pay is $28.61/hour and a decent house can be purchased for under $60K and a real nice house in the country with some land can be purchased for
Wow! The pay rate vs housing sounds excellent in WI!! I live in NYC, my hourly rate is 24.53 as an x-ray tech, but avg house in Brooklyn is 600,000 or more. To live in Manhattan, I'd have to work 3 jobs and not eat or buy anything ever...How much do x-ray techs start off with in WI? I noticed that salary chart is a bit dated(2004), is there a more current one?
It's still a heck of a lot cheaper than anything here. A coworker of mine is looking at moving.
Not always. Sure, Tucson and Phoenix is going to be cheaper than LA or San Francisco but if you're going to live in the Arizona desert you might as well also consider California desert towns.
Because the cost of living difference is neglible when you compare those two areas. Housing costs are pretty much the same. But nurses who work in California desert towns typically make $10,000 more a year there than Arizona nurses.
And there's another key difference ... ratios. Arizona doesn't have a ratio law. I've met Arizona nurses who travel to California because they can't stand the patient loads they get in Arizona.
I can't imagine trying to live in New York on $24 an hour!
Of course, when you're looking at places to live there are certainly other things to consider than salary and housing costs - what type of weather you prefer, whether you want to live in a big city, medium city, or small town, or out in the country, what the school system is like if you have children, what the other costs of living are such as property taxes and housing insurance (both insanely high in Florida IMO).
And also the quality of jobs available - if Arizona doesn't have a patient ratio limit, I would not want to consider moving there!
But its nice to know what my various options are, so I certainly appreciate everyone's replies here!
Not always. Sure, Tucson and Phoenix is going to be cheaper than LA or San Francisco but if you're going to live in the Arizona desert you might as well also consider California desert towns.
Because the cost of living difference is neglible when you compare those two areas. Housing costs are pretty much the same. But nurses who work in California desert towns typically make $10,000 more a year there than Arizona nurses.
And there's another key difference ... ratios. Arizona doesn't have a ratio law. I've met Arizona nurses who travel to California because they can't stand the patient loads they get in Arizona.
:typing
No offense, but I couldn't live in the California desert. I hear about those "desirable" locations all the time and whenever I actually drive through them, the only desirable thing I can see is the lower housing prices. Not a good enough reason to move to an area for me.
Places like Phoenix feel a lot more appealing to me even though they're in the desert. The wages are comparable to here and the ratios at good hospitals are the same in my specialty (no laws doesn't necessarily mean more patients). Housing is WAAAAAAYYYYYY less. I live where a 2 or 3 bedroom older home costs at least 700K. You could get the same thing in AZ for 1/3 the price.
No plans on moving yet, but I do plan on buying out of state and AZ is looking reasonable.
No offense, but I couldn't live in the California desert.
None taken. My overall point is that if you compare the cost of living in LA to anywhere else, pretty much any move is going to look like a financial winner because LA is so expensive.
But just because Arizona is cheaper than LA, doesn't necessarily mean it's a financial winner overall. For one thing, the wages really aren't that comparable. Nurses on average make $8 an hour more in California than Arizona.
So if you do live in the California desert (not that you want to but just as an example) ... and the cost of living difference is only 2-5 percent (which is what most cost of living calculators show) ...
But you're making nearly $20K more in California than you could Arizona then, the cheaper cost of living doesn't get you very far ... at least financially. It could actually turn out to be a money loser, despite the cheaper mortgage.
None taken. My overall point is that if you compare the cost of living in LA to anywhere else, pretty much any move is going to look like a financial winner because LA is so expensive.
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I get your point, don't worry. That's why I pointed out where I live:). My friend has been offered a job where the hourly wage is 2/hr less in Phoenix than here. So by accepting $3600 less a year in wages, she'll save about 400K for a house. Not bad at all:)
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
As I've said many times, in the area of Texas where I live, there are too many nurses, and no jobs. Every nurse I know from this area has become a traveler, because we can't find employment locally. Sure, my house was a bargain, but I can't live in it anymore, because I'm traveling all the time. I think I want to move to WI!
The major metropolitan areas of Texas (Dallas and Houston) have abundant job opportunities, and are suffering from a nursing shortage. A nurse who lives in rural, brown, dusty West Texas might have problems finding employment. On the other hand, I live in the greenery of Dallas-Fort Worth, and I have never had any issues finding employment. Also, I am thoroughly impressed with the LVN pay rates here, because they are comparable to some parts of Southern California.
*** The best states for nursing pay vs cost of living are Tx, Mn, &
Wi.
I live in Wisconsin and new grad starting pay is $28.61/hour and a decent house can be purchased for under $60K and a real nice house in the country with some land can be purchased for
Sheri257
3,905 Posts
To me, at least, if you want to do well financially (lower cost of living, higher wages) the question really isn't what's happening now ... but what will happen with the location you pick in the future.
You can move to a cheap area but, if wages are stagnant because there's little growth potential then, you're not going to do very well in the long run. You can also move to an area with high wages but, if the growth in that area has peaked and the cost of living is too high then, you're probably not going to do well there either.
The ideal situation, IMO, is to pick an area that's cheap but, where there's going to be lots of growth potential and wages are on the upswing.
I live in California where everybody loves to complain about housing prices but, what we did was move out to the desert where houses were (at least at the time) much cheaper. Everybody thought we were crazy because, to be honest, it was a somewhat dumpy desert town.
But, the town that few people wanted to live in five years ago has suddenly become a desirable location ... mostly because of good transportation access and, because a lot of growth was pushing out to this area because the California coastal areas have become too expensive. There's tons of development now ... all the hospitals are expanding.
By the time I graduated nursing school, my house doubled in value and the nursing wages greatly improved also ... I'm now making $41 an hour. So the key to doing well financially, IMO, is to pick a cheap town that will become a boom town in the future.