[MRayeD]

My Husband, Brother and I are moving to Searcy from Alaska, and I've read allot of threads about not being able to find good jobs above min wage. Also what is the min wage there? I've heard its pretty low. My husbands last job paid $35 an hour so I suspect this move will be a significant financial change for us. I would also like to know about how much utilities are a month, and what neighborhoods are good and which are bad. Also is it true that Arkansas doesn't take kindly to northerners?

[magrack]

It's going to be a big change for you.

By AR standards, Searcy is a big town, and as such will have more jobs available than many other places. Because it is a large town and has Harding University there, being from the north will be not necessarily cause you any grief.

Coming into town and acting "north" would.

Without knowing what your husband did in AK, I'd hazard a guess that there may be a shock if he's expecting the same pay.

AR minimum wage is $6.25 /hr. The good news is cost of living will be much less.

Though I live in the county,I don't live in Searcy, so I can't help you with neighborhood information.

[JohnN]

I'm a Chicago guy, now in Searcy. I like the town a lot, though there is a lot of closed knit old-timers. Gas drilling is big now, and lots of jobs there, but tough work. But otherwise, local jobs can be hard to find. Cost of living is generally the lowest in the nation, I'd think, and lots of choices of communities. It's a small town, 20,000 plus the Harding University complex, lots of medical, lots of education, great schools, lots of outdoors stuff. I can tell you about neighborhoods if I knew more about what you're looking for.