Clearwater or Tampla Florida RN pay and cost of living

filnurseuk · Dec 4, 2006

no one seems to be responding.

busylady61 · Dec 5, 2006

no one seems to be responding.

Hang in there... sometimes with a very specific request such as yours, it may take a few days before someone who is able to answer it correctly will respond....

filnurseuk · Dec 5, 2006

thanks busyladt, i hope so.

sunnyjohn · Dec 5, 2006

Just so you know, there is no state income tax in Florida

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Dec 5, 2006

If you review the threads on Florida, there are quite a few that discuss the pay rates/conditions in Florida. Nurses regularly (especially in Winter) inquire about pay rates, there and relocation. It just requires a little search.

As a note, there is no state income tax in Florida. And the pay rates are quite a bit lower than California and much of the country.

filnurseuk · Dec 5, 2006

thanks a lot, i dont want to sound lazy or anything but i really had browse quite a bit of thread here on this website, all i get is bits of info on all sorts of thing. i thought posting one with a specific question will get me straight answers just looking on this thread. my wife has been laughing coz i spend to much time looking at different threads every single day ove the last two weeks. and it is time consuming. there could be something wrong with my search skills but it really does take a lot of time. honestly.

appreciate all you guys that has responded

sunnyjohn · Dec 5, 2006

You are smart for doing you homework! Your wife will not be laughing she lands in a nice house in the US with low taxes :lol2:

You might also want to consider the states of North Carolina and Texas.

Teaxas has no income tax and the cost of living is very good. Property taxes are higher, but if you factor in all taxes and wages, nurses in Texas make the most. There was a chart floating around here awhile back.

Texas can be VERY hot in the summer. VERY,VERY Hot! It is a very conservative state. I think of my self a "conservative liberal' and I loved Texas.

North Carolina is nice, but I don't know about nursing salaries.

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Good Luck.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Dec 6, 2006

The problem is that this question gets answered over and over, repeatedly. People occasionally get tired of answering it over and over. It is not that anyone is ignoring you.

For a more specific breakdown, you can always contact the Chamber of Commerce of those cities and they should send you a package of data about housing, utilities, schools, etc.

Pay rates for fulltime w/benefits - it would be best to contact the facility that you are seeking employment with. For hospitals, they run from $18-28 an hour base pay, with additional for nights/weekends. But do be aware that you may be low censused in the off season. Agency pays higher, but with no insurance/benes and work can again be slack in the off season.

busylady61 · Dec 6, 2006

hello everyone. im a filipino nurse currently working in the uk for over 7 years now. im thinking of moving to south california (l.a., orange county, riverside) or clearwater florida for a better weather. i've been nursing for over 9 years now, 4 years in critical care. i would like to find out what an rn's average salary and cost of living.
the reason why i posted it here is i thought the best people to ask would be those who actually live in the area im interested in. i shall post the same thread in the california forum as well. i hope the moderators will understand this.
would anyone be kind enough to tell me their nurse pay as well as their monthly outgoings. this would just give me a better idea of what a cost of living is like. i do appreciate that it will entirely be different from one person to the other depending on their lifestyle but im hoping this will give me some idea and hopefully help me in making my decisions. summary of what i want to find is as follow
Income
rn salary per hour
bi-monthly pay
appreciate it if anyone can give me their annual salary and corresponding tax deductions (federal tax and state income tax)
Monthly Outgoings
house rental ( 3-4 bedroom)
Utilities gas
electric
water
council tax or equivalent
phone bills
etc.
car insurance . me and my wife (considering we're just new in the states)
health insurance (family of four)
malpractice insuranc?
groceries
family entertainment (theme park, theatre, cinema etc.)
dining out
anything else you can add please feel free.
your response will be greatly appreciated
many thanks once again

Hi FilNurse,

My goodness. I think the spirit of this board should be sharing information. I am more than happy to try to help ... As a newbie, I have also asked some obvious questions that probably had already been asked before, as well. Fortunately, people were very forthcoming with helpful advice here.

I'll take a crack at this even though I don't live in Tampa. I live in Orlando which is relatively close by (1 hour drive).

I think you would like living in Florida. There are a lot of things to like about the area... although there are some con's as well.

Pro's - interesting area, great beaches and shopping, good schools (if you are willing to pick and choose through the public school system) and no state taxes. Oh yeah, and close proximity to Walt Disney World. Cons: occasional hurricanes!

Despite many news stories about the increasing cost of properties here, a professional such as yourself would be able to afford to find a nice place to live in a safe area where there are plenty of opportunities.

For instance, the median price of homes in the Tampa/Clearwater area is approximately $250k.... if that is out of your price range, you could still afford to move into the metro area if you chose one of the suburbs on the fringe of town.

With that said, here is a breakdown of expenses you might expect to find:

Income: depends on your experience. I am a newbie so I might not be the best source of info on that. But if you go to Salary.com™ Job Salaries & Compensation Survey Software and type in the Tampa zip code and "registered nurse' you will see that they earn about $40 - $50k per year to start.

House/rent: You can find a decent place to rent in a nice area, probably for $1,000/month to $1,500 /month depending on how much square footage or rooms you want.

Utilities: water, gas, electricity are usually rolled all into one utility bill here. You probably won't have to pay more than $150/month for that total.

No council tax, no state taxes.

Phone bill could be as low as $20/month if you just go with a basic land line plan. Or you could go up to $40 or $60 if you want bells and whistles like call waiting, caller ID and all of that.

Car insurance - depends on the make and model and year. I have a 2001 Honda and pay about $70/month, but then I carry a lot of insurance for liability purposes. I like to be "over-insured" as they say.

Health insurance -- depends entirely on where you work. This is very difficult to calculate because it varies so widely. I would say as a general rule, about $300 maximum for a family plan. If anyone would like to correct me on this , feel free. I am a single girl so I am not the best source of info here.

I have no knowledge of the cost of malpractice insurance. I am new to all of this, getting ready to enter nursing school

Groceries -- I think groceries are high here. I am a single girl and sometimes I spend up to $100 to $150 a week on groceries... other weeks I spend $50. But then I like to splurge occasionally on the wine and cheese and the organic, gourmet things. I think the least you could get by on for a family would be $80- $100 a week. I just don't see how you could do it for less than that unless you ate hot dogs and beans all the time.

Family entertainment -- depends on what you want to do. Movies on Friday/Saturday nights are about $8-$10 per person just for the ticket. Popcorn, cokes etc. can be $4 to $5 a pop. In my opinion it's a much better deal to scan the local news web sites for free entertainment events. For example, this past weekend my friends and I went to see the "Nutcracker" ballet, performed for free by the local Russian ballet, at the downtown lake ampitheater. We packed our own picnic and had a grand time.

Hope this helps!

filnurseuk · Dec 6, 2006

message from sunnyjohn

Texas can be VERY hot in the summer. VERY,VERY Hot! It is a very conservative state. I think of my self a "conservative liberal' and I loved Texas.

Good Luck.[/quote]

many thanks for your reply, i like to work somewhere warmer and light compared to england but dont want the extreme opposite. a moderate climate would do, i know heres loads hence i just narrowed my choices downto just florida or california. thanks a lot anyway

filnurseuk · Dec 6, 2006

thanks for your response busylady61, you're busy yet managed to give me the info...lol..thanx for understanding