Unsure about moving to NC now

barefootlady, ADN, RN · Jul 6, 2008

27/hr sounds like a wonderful starting wage for new grads to me. You must weight the COL, your own bills, and the area you want to go to before making a final decision. The NE does not pay as well as Ca or Az. To have this knowledge is to have the basis for a plan. Good luck.

nuberianne_RN · Jul 6, 2008

Don't forget to factor in cost of living.

flightnurse2b, LPN · Jul 6, 2008

27 an hour sounds good for a new grad nurse to me! NC will probably not pay you that much an hour as a staff nurse with benefits.

my boyfriend is an RN who was working as a staff nurse at a local city hospital making 22/hr. he decided to take a local travel job (within 50 miles) and is now making 28/hr with benefits plus housing stipend, but has to drive an hour and a half to work. we live in the raleigh/durham area and his assignment now is in the fayetteville area.

you have to factor in that the cost of living here in NC is no where near as high as out west, although it is climbing. good luck to you!!!

vikichck · Jul 7, 2008

Yea I'm sure the cost of living is much better. For a nice 1 bedroom apt here it's 1000$. Gas is bad as well at 4.10/gal and we drive lots more here because it's a big city. I'm thinking I'll still do travel nursing and per diem for a while because I'm single so it won't be a big deal. I'm sure it will work out for the best somehow. :-) Thanks.

justme1972 · Jul 7, 2008

Hello Everyone!
I currently live in Phoenix, AZ and was planning on moving to NC in a yr when I get some experience. I can't take the hot weather anymore! I thought Phx. was really bad with our salary starting at 27/hr since north California starts as high as 50/hr. Now I see that there is much worse. I am dissapointed because I have been really wanting to move to the southeast for yeearrs.
What do you guys recommend instead taking the low salary? Per Diem? Agency contract? Local traveling?
I hope they will have an increase in pay soon.

What you have to remember.

When an average house in NC costs $190,000 vs $450,000 in California.

Now you know why you get paid $50 an hour California.

You cannot look at the salary alone....you have to look at the cost of living.

NC is not even in the STRATOSPHERE of being anywhere near what it costs to live in Phoenix or California.

blacksea pebble · Jul 7, 2008

Yea I'm sure the cost of living is much better. For a nice 1 bedroom apt here it's 1000$. Gas is bad as well at 4.10/gal and we drive lots more here because it's a big city. I'm thinking I'll still do travel nursing and per diem for a while because I'm single so it won't be a big deal. I'm sure it will work out for the best somehow. :-) Thanks.

Vikichck,

I was thinking about moving to NC and wrote a thread COL vs salaries in NC. I live in CA and constant fires, heat, and crime started me thinking about moving to NC. I looked up salaries for new grads and was shocked to find out that they range from $17-20/h; even with the lower COL I still would not be able to afford the same lifestyle on this salary. I talked to some friends in Charlotte area and they said that you can make decent money as a traveler, but for a new grad salary was quite ridiculous. I am afraid I am stuck!

I hope you will find a beautiful place to live where RNs are well compensated.

vikichck · Jul 7, 2008

Vikichck,
I was thinking about moving to NC and wrote a thread COL vs salaries in NC. I live in CA and constant fires, heat, and crime started me thinking about moving to NC. I looked up salaries for new grads and was shocked to find out that they range from $17-20/h; even with the lower COL I still would not be able to afford the same lifestyle on this salary. I talked to some friends in Charlotte area and they said that you can make decent money as a traveler, but for a new grad salary was quite ridiculous. I am afraid I am stuck!
I hope you will find a beautiful place to live where RNs are well compensated.

Yea maybe you can do some traveling instead also? Then you can keep track of how different your living expenses are compared to a typical month in CA. Don't forget gas prices are insane and you drive more there. Grocery prices too. I think I wouldn't mind compromising a few dollars an hr if I would be MUCH happier living there. I love how much closer NC is for traveling to Europe :-)

awpanda_99 · Jul 8, 2008

I am currently living in Las Vegas, and working F/T making $32/hour with 3 yrs experience in ER. I contacted Duke in NC, and they quoted $21.55/hour!

Don't tell me the COL is THAT much lower in NC than NV!! I was looking online at housing and can't find anything reasonable for less than $250,000 - there's no way I could afford that making $21/hour!!

Any suggestions on other hospitals that may pay more? Other states that are nice with good school districts??

Any help would be greatly appreciated - we are looking to move May 2009, but are still open to suggestions to locations!

Thanks,

Amanda

UNC_nurseL&D · Jul 8, 2008

Hi there, I am an NC native born and raised, and I love the South, but I will tell you, the pay in NC is pretty low compared to the rest of the county, and the staffing can be sticky. I live/work in Oregon now and if you are used to west coast nursing (i.e union nursing) NC will be a bit of a culture shock. Also, if you are looking for cooler weather, NC is temperature cooler, but if I were you I would look up a little thing called the "heat index". The 100% humidity and 98 degrees can make it pretty stiffling from about May to October. I am not trying to scare you away from NC, I am moving back there next year, I have just known lots of people who have moved to NC without ever visiting before and it was not what they expected. Good luck!

paacollins · Jul 8, 2008

I moved to NC from SE Florida 16 years ago and I loved it. I still like it but things have changed a lot. I live in a rural community about 30 minutes NW of Winston-Salem. The manufacturing industry has been hard hit here and the jobs have gone overseas. There are so many people out of work and houses for sale on every street. It is so sad to see people devote 30 years to a company and then have no job. Nurses are still in hot demand, however, and starting pay in Winston is $20.45 an hour. That is way more than most jobs here pay. Staffing ratios aren't also great because there still aren't enough nurses. Both the Winston hospitals have tons of jobs available.

The weather in this are has also changed a lot. When I first moved here we would get several snows each winter, each totalling from 2 to 8 inches. Now we are lucky if we get two dustings a season. We also have long, hot, dry summers when it used to rain a lot and keep things green. Droughts have been common the last few years. It also used to hit the mid 90s for a few weeks in July and August but other than that the summers were a comfortable 80s. I'd turn off my air a lot at night. It has been much hotter the last few years. The humidity can get bad but nothing like south Florida was.

NC isn't my favorite place anymore but it still has a lot to offer. I'm 4 1/2 hours from the beach, less than 2 hours from the mountains, there are loads of nursing jobs, and housing is affordable. A huge plus is people are here are very friendly and always ready to help when someone is in need. NC isn't a bad place to live at all.

LittleWing21, RN · Jul 12, 2008

As someone who just took a job and will be relocating to NC soon, I'd like to thank you (paacollins) for saying some nice things about it!!! I feel like I keep reading the negative...which scares me a bit. But I try to remember that nothing is perfect!!