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Like some posters mentioned it is best to look at mid-sized cities in the South and if perhaps a few in the Midwest if you can deal with colder winters because those areas will have a lower COL than your Atlanta, Austin, Denver, Nashville, Portland, or Seattle type up and coming cities.
A few options to look at although not so about the Tech Openings of each area. Most of these areas have a significant enough international population and a lot of them house or are close to college campus meaning that they will be more diverse. Although these places aren't Millenial Meccas, they are steadily growing and have good enough social scenes without the high COL.
I would check out:
- Bowling Green, KY
- Chattanooga, TN
- Columbus, OH (winters are a little closer to KY than they are to NE OH)
- Greensboro, NC
- Huntsville, AL
- Louisville, KY
- Greenville/Spartanburg, SC
- Urbana/Champaign IL (same as Columbus the winters aren't going to be as bad as they are in Chicago or closer to the Great Lakes)
Greenville and Huntville have tons of young people who would prefer to live in them than larger cities.
I wouldn't describe the rents in Greenville and Huntsville as low.
There are very few cities with a low cost of living that have decent public transportation. If you're open to owning a bike and using Uber/Lyft for longer trips, that opens a few more options. All of the cities below have either Uber or Lyft, and a cost of living that's not too high. I'm not sure about your tech job options in them though.
Barstow, CA
Redding, CA
Palmdale, CA (has commuter trains that'll take you to Los Angeles, where there may be more tech jobs.)
Abilene, TX
Waco, TX
If you can afford it: Vancouver, WA (hear they've got a HUGE Russian community. Also, Washington has no income tax while nearby Oregon has no sales tax.)
Greenville and Huntville have tons of young people who would prefer to live in them than larger cities.
I wouldn't describe the rents in Greenville and Huntsville as low.
What? I'm on Zillow right now and there's houses for rent in Huntsville for the price you pay for a studio in the average medium sized US city.... How is the rent in Huntsville not low?
Those are all good cities to live in, good choices for living modestly.
I think most of the South besides South Florida and most of the Midwest is fantastic to live on a budget. I'm so glad I grew out of my fascination with wanting to live in California when I was 13 lol.
There are very few cities with a low cost of living that have decent public transportation. If you're open to owning a bike and using Uber/Lyft for longer trips, that opens a few more options. All of the cities below have either Uber or Lyft, and a cost of living that's not too high. I'm not sure about your tech job options in them though.
Barstow, CA
Redding, CA
Palmdale, CA (has commuter trains that'll take you to Los Angeles, where there may be more tech jobs.)
Abilene, TX
Waco, TX
If you can afford it: Vancouver, WA (hear they've got a HUGE Russian community. Also, Washington has no income tax while nearby Oregon has no sales tax.)
I lived in Abilene and its a wonderful place. Affordable, family friendly, less humid than most of Texas, surprisingly scenic for its location. But like you said, idk about tech jobs.
But that's the American way! "Hey everybody, let's all pile into _______(insert Austin, Seattle, Portland, Denver) and drive up housing costs and job competition". Meanwhile oodles of other mid-sized cities lacking the panache go unnoticed and maintain affordable living costs along with decent job opportunity. In retrospect I suppose oh never mind, let the lemmings continue on their own paths while those with some forethought and individuality succeed on their own terms.
These other cities need businesses that have jobs. That would be nice.
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