Relocating to Texas

Dallas/Ft. Worth has salaries that are NOT commensurate with the cost of living. They also have a higher incidence of problems with Group One (do a search on this forum for Group One to find out more). Staffing ratios are worse overall in the DFW area than in other places in TX where I have been.

Do not be fooled into taking jobs with big sign-ons down in the Valley (South Texas and on the TexMex border). There is a reason that they have to offer that kind of money.

Overall, there is no union activity in TX. The NNOC has been trying to come in for years but has a hard time as TNA fights them every step, along with all employers.

TX is a right-to-work state - they can hire and fire on a whim and laws are such that employers are not restricted to the basic reference checks of date of hire/leaving, salary, eligible for rehire, etc.

There is no state income tax here, which is nice. If you are accustomed to using public transportation - there isn't much of that here. Public transportation in the cities is very poor and not convenient compared to northern/eastern/western parts of the country. A vehicle is pretty much a necessity as is frequently having to drive long distances to get to work if you have specific requirements for where you want to live.

Personally, I would not recommend moving to TX if you have high standards for nursing/medical care and expect your employer to treat you well. Although there are some decent places to work, the TX employers I have had pale in comparison to the places that I worked in other states. I have lost several friends in the last few years as they moved to TX lured by job offers only to find that TX healthcare did not measure up to the standards in their home states and they have since left TX in sorrow at their choice to move here in the first place.

Do not move to TX without a plan. You will find yourself in an unpleasant job if you move to TX without goals in mind. You need to pick a place to live and then find a job you can live with in that town/city. If you try to find a good employer first and then simply move to that city, you will be disappointed. You must have a reason to want to move to TX, find a place that makes you happy to live in, then do research and pick the best of the evil places to work.

Thank you for the helpful information...I live in upstate NY, not near the city, so I don't have much public transportation here anyway...and wouldn't use it unless I desperately needed to!

I have both family and friends in Texas, which would be the reason for the move, but am flexible in which city I go to because the relatives are spread out a little bit.