Nurses in Austin or San Antonio Texas

NedRN · Feb 6, 2020

The Texas forum would be the best place to find local nurses.

https://allnurses.com/texas-nursing-c120/

careat · Mar 24, 2020

San Antonio nurse here. I cannot speak to the market for dialysis nursing, as I am a contract nurse for acute care (MS/Tele/Ortho/CVU). I will say the pay on average is terrible in San Antonio. For a nurse with 2 years of experience the average start pay would be around $27/hr. Now this may obviously be different in an outpatient dialysis center as opposed to hospital pay. It breaks my heart at how many nurses I know here who wish they had never gone into nursing d/t the low pay and high nurse to patient ratios (Tele: 6:1, PCU 5:1, MS 7:1). Now this isn't true of every hospital, but most hospitals. Most nurses who rely on their incomes (single income household) have to work at least 4 shifts a week to stay afloat. I am fortunate because I just do contracts which pay anywhere from 48/hr to 60/hr. However, you do not have any benefits. That being said, there is always plenty of work available here. I have heard from friends that Austin pay is very similar to San Antonio pay.

In terms of cost of living it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking to plant roots and buy a cheap new home in a distant developing housing tract, you can definitely purchase one at an affordable $200,000 range. If you're looking to rent temporarily and enjoy the city there's definitely some cheap but decent rentals in the $800 range. However, you get what you pay for here. If you want to live in a more desirable area with less crime, you will be looking closer at $400,000 to purchase a condo, or $1300 to rent a one bedroom. My boyfriend and I currently rent a 2 bedroom in the Southtown neighborhood (the arts district near the riverwalk) for about $1800/month. If you want to live in the Rim area (desirable area in the Northern part of town), my friend and her boyfriend rent a one bedroom for about $1300/month. I will say the majority of my friends that I work with at the hospital that live in modest housing tracts have had their homes broken into at least once. It seems to be a somewhat common occurrence here, unfortunately. Which is why my boyfriend and I chose to rent in a locked building. Even then, my car has still been broken into and both cars been involved in a hit-and-run. It's also reportedly not uncommon to have your tires stolen from your car in open parking lots. So my advice would just be mindful of where you decide to rent/buy.

I LOVE Austin, but it is definitely significantly more expensive. My friend rents a modest one bedroom apartment there for $1350/month, which is the most affordable option she could find.

So depending on what you're looking for, San Antonio or Austin may be a good option for you, or it may not.