possible move to MD area

U.S.A. Maryland

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Hi all. I am looking at a possible move for a job at NIH in Bethesda from Michigan. Anyone work there or have info on how the gs pay scale works? Plan would be for me to go down first and my wife to follow in a year do we can sell our house. Any places we should shoot for or avoid? How's the cost of living in the area? Conducive for someone on a government salary? Thanks in advance!

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I don't know much about the gs pay scale, but this is a great area to live. It is, however, extremely expensive. I would look at parts of Silver Spring and Olney as possible areas to rent or buy. Lots of government employees live here, so it's possible to live well here on a gs salary. If you are willing to do a longer commute, look at Columbia.

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Hi! I can't speak about NIH, but I can echo Mischienza on the cost of living... it is expensive! Bethesda is nice, but it is one of the more expensive places to live. Silver Spring and Olney are good, and you may also want to look at Rockville, Gaithersburg, or Germantown. The farther out from Bethesda you go, it gets slightly less expensive, but in this area you may want to factor in commuting time. DC area traffic can be pretty hellacious. I don't know current GS pay scales, but the 2012 salary table can be viewed here to give you an idea, if you know what grade you would be: http://archive.opm.gov/oca/12tables/pdf/DCB.pdf

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