“The only risk in moving towards a new horizon in search of more is losing what little you take for granted now.” That is a quote a friend of mine said to me when I was in college, dreaming about moving to San Francisco. I think she got it from a song. Anyway, I was amazingly unaware of the cost of living there. I never even thought about researching available job openings beforehand.
Over 35 million people move annually in the United States. Yet, how many actually do some research about the minimum wage, livable wage, or the availability of jobs before arrival?
The minimum wage is the state or federal entry-level salary mandate for a job. A livable wage is how much money you must earn in reality, not statistically, to live somewhere comfortably relative to your own circumstances.
Additionally, what is the point of moving somewhere if there is a dearth of available job openings? You can’t afford not to know such things before making a move.
So, here are 3 cities with a lot of job vacancies if you’re considering moving.
Alabama
Alabama doesn’t have a state minimum wage. So, the state minimum wage automatically defaults to the federal standard, which is $7.25-an-hour.
The living wage is $11.33-an-hour for a single adult or about $27-an-hour for a single adult with 2 kids. You would need to make at least $23,000 gross income annually as a single adult to live here.
There are about 251,000 vacant job openings in Birmingham and another 114,000 in Huntsville. Montgomery, Alabama has about 80,000 job openings.
Arizona
The minimum wage in Arizona is $11-an-hour. A single adult would need to make a living wage of $11.70-an-hour to financially support themselves. An adult with two children would have to make $30.24-an-hour to earn a livable wage.
There are 901,000 collective job openings available in the cities of Chandler, Mesa, and Phoenix. In Tucson, there are about 160,000 available job openings.
A single adult would need to make at least $24,000 gross income to live here.
California
The minimum wage of California right now is just $12-an-hour. To say that the cost of living in California is high is an understatement. However, if you are financially prepared and know what kind of work you are looking for, you’ll be OK.
A single adult must maintain a $14.61-an-hour living wage. However, if you are a single adult with 3 children, you would need to make at least $47-an-hour.
A single adult must make at least $30,000 to live comfortably here. However, a single adult with 3 kids must make over $97,000 to live comfortably here.
For another perspective, two working adults with 3 children must make over $100,000 just to live comfortably as a family.
In the cities of Anaheim, Long Beach, and Los Angeles, there are over 2.3 million vacant job openings. There are a collective 1.5 million job openings in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco.
Meanwhile, there are over 730,000 available jobs in San Jose, Santa Clarita, and Sunnyvale collectively.
Job Openings Doesn’t Automatically Mean Job Offer
Just because the city you’re potentially moving to has one million available jobs doesn’t automatically mean that one is waiting for you.
You should check online on sites like Indeed, Glassdoor, Linkedin, or Craigslist to see what kinds of jobs are in demand. Such issues are less worrisome if you telecommute and have multiple clients.
Do as much research as you can relative to your own circumstances. Never assume that’ll you find what you need after arrival.
Read More
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Personal Reflection – I Stayed in My Old Job for Far Too Long and Stunted My Potential
Allen Francis was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years with no money, no financial literacy, and no responsibility when he had money. To him, the phrase “personal finance,” contains the power that anyone has to grow their own wealth. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including focusing on your needs instead of your wants, asking for help when you need it, saving and investing in your own small business.
