RN Payscale in western N.C Asheville, Boone etc

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2011

I worked there as a travel nurse. The hospital offered me a full time position as a staff nurse for $19/hr, and then when I said no can do, they offered me $23. I was making that as a new grad 13 years ago! The nurses are paid terribly low wages because there is no competition. The benefits are not that great either.

With that being said, the hospital itself is gorgeous, clean, organized and well run. The staff are super friendly and work hard. You walk out of the hospital and are treated to a beautiful mountainous skyline. I loved working there.

If you plan on buying a house, plan on breaking your bank account. I rented a house from a friend (using my travel stipend instead of provided apartment housing) that was built in the 1950s. The living room was so small that a couch and chair could not both fit, the bedrooms allowed only enough room for me to have a double bed and dresser, it only had one bathroom, but had a nice sized kitchen and a full basement. It had a fenced yard and sat on about .5 acres of land. My friend was selling this house for $350,000. I thought she was out of her mind asking this price for a house like this, but she sold it for the asking price. The cost of living is not too bad, but since it is a resort town, you will be paying a bit more for things like gas and groceries.

It is a wonderful place to live. There are cute little bistros everywhere, very eclectic shops, and the music scene is progressive. The locals treat you as if you were one of the family. But I could not possibly afford to live there as a staff nurse on my own. Are you moving with your family? Are you planning to buy a house? What specialty of nursing do you do? I could help you get in contact with the appropriate people if you would like for me to. Just PM me and let me know.

elkpark · Jan 2, 2011

Both the Boone and Asheville areas are popular resort/vacation areas and "college towns" that have been flooded with affluent retirees over the last number of years. This has driven up the cost of living and housing to the point that "regular working stiffs" are barely able to get by. Because the areas are so popular and so many people want to live around here, and so many manufacturing jobs have been lost, employers are able to keep salaries/wages comparatively low and still have plenty of applicants. Lots of people native to Asheville, whose families have lived in the Asheville area for generations, are having to leave the area because they can no longer afford to live there. People are having to sell properties that have been in their family for generations because they can't afford the property taxes on the newly inflated values of their land.

I guess whether this would work for you depends on how you define "supporting" yourself. You could certainly get by, but it would be pretty difficult to live comfortably as a single person with a staff nurse salary in either area.

oliviajolie · Jan 2, 2011

I worked there as a travel nurse. The hospital offered me a full time position as a staff nurse for $19/hr, and then when I said no can do, they offered me $23. I was making that as a new grad 13 years ago! The nurses are paid terribly low wages because there is no competition. The benefits are not that great either.
With that being said, the hospital itself is gorgeous, clean, organized and well run. The staff are super friendly and work hard. You walk out of the hospital and are treated to a beautiful mountainous skyline. I loved working there.
If you plan on buying a house, plan on breaking your bank account. I rented a house from a friend (using my travel stipend instead of provided apartment housing) that was built in the 1950s. The living room was so small that a couch and chair could not both fit, the bedrooms allowed only enough room for me to have a double bed and dresser, it only had one bathroom, but had a nice sized kitchen and a full basement. It had a fenced yard and sat on about .5 acres of land. My friend was selling this house for $350,000. I thought she was out of her mind asking this price for a house like this, but she sold it for the asking price. The cost of living is not too bad, but since it is a resort town, you will be paying a bit more for things like gas and groceries.
It is a wonderful place to live. There are cute little bistros everywhere, very eclectic shops, and the music scene is progressive. The locals treat you as if you were one of the family. But I could not possibly afford to live there as a staff nurse on my own. Are you moving with your family? Are you planning to buy a house? What specialty of nursing do you do? I could help you get in contact with the appropriate people if you would like for me to. Just PM me and let me know.

hi, would you happen to know anything at all about eastern north carolina: cost of living, wages, housing? please help as i plan on moving there:yeah: