[WI Native]

My husband and I are considering moving to Searcy, AR. His employer has a plant there which may allow him to transfer his seniority. It is the only place in the US we can transfer to right now. Our only reasons being that he would like to get a weekday / first shift position. He has worked 26 years on 2nd and 3rd shift and 50% of all weekends. I also do not enjoy the cold Winters here.

We vacationed in AR for 10 days and just got back home last week. However we did not visit Searcy because we didn't know at the time that my husband's employer had a plant there. They are pretty sure he can transfer.

I've done quite a lot of research on cost of living. It seems that even though we would take a cut in pay, the lower cost of living would make up for it. Our standard of living would not change much at all from what it is here in WI. I filled out fed and AR tax returns to see the tax impact and it is the same because we would not have much qualifying deductions in AR (we would not have a mortgage in AR and property tax is 1/9th what it is here in WI).

So my final questions are:

1) How do I find out about available jobs and pay for me? I am a bookkeeper/accountant and want part time. In WI I get $20 an hour plus occasional bonuses. Any idea what going rate is in Searcy area?

2) Which areas around Searcy are prettiest? Are there any hilly areas nearby? We would like to find a home (or build) with a nice view, on at least a few acres, as that is what we have now.

3) Would it be better to locate nearer to LR for me to find a job as a bookkeeper? It would mean a longer commute for my husband though.

I wish we had known about the branch in Searcy so we could have checked it out more while in AR last week. We will definately go down to check the area out before making a decision. But I'm wondering about a job for me first.

Thanks in advance for any help! I did get a lot of info on city-data.com. It was fun finding out about cities all over the US!

[woopig_sooie]

I don't know much about accountant/bookeeping jobs, but if you can make $20 an hour in Arkansas doing it then I am in the wrong proffession. I would think that $13/hr would be the max and that may be overestimating it. Searcy is a decent size town, so you should be able to find a job, but there would definately be better paying jobs in LR. Maybe you guys should look at Beebe or Cabot as a more central location to both Searcy and Little Rock.

[JohnN]

I live in searcy, it's very affordable, but good luck in you finding a job. Many employers have gone belly up in recent times, however the gas drilling is going great, maybe they need a bookkeeper. Not many job ads though except for truck drivers, wal-mart help, and medical professions. Good luck.

Our kids are almost raised, we'll be moving soon. Good schools but not that much to do here, small town for sure. Little Rock is too far away (I worked there) given gas prices