Magic Valley (Boise, Twin Falls, Moscow: insurance, home, unemployment rate)

[wow.radio]

What can I look forward to moving to the magic valley. Is the housing there still affordable? Are there jobs? Is is mostly retirement people or are their families? I am tired of the heat and would like to be someplace small that has the change of the seasons.

[huntman58]

There are jobs but the pay may not be what you want depending were your coming from same with the heat as it gets hot there. There are a lot of families there it is a growing small town and the only shopping to speak of for about an hours drive or more around. Winters get colder and more snow then Boise. If you’re coming from a non right to work state get ready as it is bad in the pay area. point in case 13 years doing same job I was offered a pay of 6.50 an hour same job that any were other paid over 20 the pay was the same for flipping burgers and is the biggest reason Idaho has a lot of working poor as most jobs do not have benefits ether so even with good medical it is very expensive with out insurance so plan to get it on your own most likely. so what I tell every one do your research and do it hard core but that’s my opinion as an ex Idahoan for good never to return for many reasons and some I said here as I could not make a good life there at all but I tried for over ten years

[tfidguy]

The Magic Valley is an eight-county area located in the south central part of the state. Twin Falls is the largest community with a population approaching 40,000. The MV is a large geographic area with a total population about 170,000 and includes Sun Valley to the north (very expensive).
The kind of work you do, will dictate your income. The previous responder was offered $6.50 an hour, but didn't say how long ago that was or what kind of work it was. With an unemployment rate of 3%, no one will work for $6.50. The majority of new jobs in the area now have an excellent benefit package and the average wage is $11. This area has historically been ag and ag related, but in the past few years has diversified quite a bit, eg., metal stamping, plastic injection molding, RV manufacturing and a Dell tech support center.
The cost of living is generally lower than most places and you can still buy a house. Be happy to answer specific questions.

[huntman58]

Originally Posted by tfidguy

The majority of new jobs in the area now have an excellent benefit package and the average wage is $11. This area has historically been ag and ag related, but in the past few years has diversified quite a bit, eg., metal stamping, plastic injection molding, RV manufacturing and a Dell tech support center.
The cost of living is generally lower than most places and you can still buy a house. Be happy to answer specific questions.

The job was for offset 4 color printing work were the average wage out of Idaho is over 17 an hour. This was a year ago 2005 this was also with 13 plus years experience also
Yes not an executive job but an average blue collar job

the above satistics were right off the Idaho state run web page and there looking to make them self look good not the real truth. here is some other pionts of view and what and how idahos wages are based on .
Idaho ranks 46th in earnings in the US

Idaho Right To Work Law
Supporters claim that "right to work" is good for the state’s economic development and that we should tout it as an attraction to business. In fact, "right to work" is the opposite of cooperative economic policy. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that annual pay for workers in "right to work" states ranks consistently below the national average. Sound economic development and job creation strategies should be based on such things as public investment in infrastructure and education that will attract stable businesses that pay decent wages and treat their workforce with dignity and fairness.
Add to that this
Idaho teachers salaries are 40th in the nation for elementary and secondary education.
California is the only state that has higher State Income Tax.
Idaho dropped from the 5th most livable state in 1991 to 20th in 2003.
Persons living below the poverty level in Idaho have increased 33% from 1990 to 1998. coypied from the boise weekly from 3-2006

Responding later to the Speaker's blank, Rep. Shirley Ringo (D-Moscow) pulled our minimum wage bill that would have raised it to $6.15

At $5.15 an hour, the current minimum wage in Idaho, a 39-hour worker grosses $800 a month. A couple with one child and one job would be lucky to find housing for $600, leaving $200 for food, clothes, transportation, telephone and utilities, school expenses, diapers, taxes, retirement and college savings, emergency savings, and everything else. Even with two jobs, the same family would still fall well below the federal poverty line.

Idaho Statistics:

An average of 66,300 (14.6%) Idaho families worried they could not afford food (known as food insecurity) between 2002 and 2004. And 17,377 (3.7%) families had members who actually went hungry (food insecurity with hunger) during the same period. This makes Idaho the 8th hungriest state in the country. Between the previous study in 1999-2001 and the new study in 2002-04, Idaho saw food insecurity increase from 13.0% to 14.6%. The national average was 11.4%, up from 10.4% or 12.6 million households in 1999-01. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, November 2005)

This increase moved Idaho from the state with the 18th worst rate of food insecurity during the 1996-98 period to the 8th worst during 2002-2004. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, November 2005)

This all shows Idaho in a real light. Low wages no benefits and the growing class of working poor

[altaina]

OK if we're going to get into "right to work" politics, I could tell you a lot of horror stories (from other places I've lived) about unions and the problems that happen when you HAVE to pay a union to get a job.... That's why this state voted for the Right to Work: that means we have the choice about whether we want to join a union or not. We Idahoans are independent:-)

As for Magic Valley --- the original question ---- you don't NEED the high "earnings" here because our cost of living is MUCH lower! Boise costs are double to triple what you'll find in the Magic Valley, so Mr Huntman's Boise data and experiences are not relevant to this discussion.

[huntman58]

Originally Posted by altaina

OK if we're going to get into "right to work" politics, I could tell you a lot of horror stories (from other places I've lived) about unions and the problems that happen when you HAVE to pay a union to get a job.... That's why this state voted for the Right to Work: that means we have the choice about whether we want to join a union or not. We Idahoans are independent:-)

As for Magic Valley --- the original question ---- you don't NEED the high "earnings" here because our cost of living is MUCH lower! Boise costs are double to triple what you'll find in the Magic Valley, so Mr Huntman's Boise data and experiences are not relevant to this discussion.

Well you always have the right of choice you could work for a union or not but people wanted union pay wages with out having to pay for them so they got what they voted for lower wages.
Idaho teacher’s salaries are 40th in the nation for elementary and secondary education.
California is the only state that has higher State Income Tax.
Idaho dropped from the 5th most livable state in 1991 to 20th in 2003.
Persons living below the poverty level in Idaho have increased 33% from 1990 to 1998. Copied from the Boise weekly from 3-2006
Idaho saw food insecurity increase from 13.0% to 14.6%. The national average was 11.4%, up from 10.4% or 12.6 million households in 1999-01. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, November 2005)

This increase moved Idaho from the state with the 18th worst rate of food insecurity during the 1996-98 periods to the 8th worst during 2002-2004. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, November 2005)

This all shows Idaho in a real light. Low wages no benefits and the growing class of working poor as I said before it shows some of the true color of a state like Idaho and the close my eyes and it will go away thinking of the state

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by huntman58

Well you always have the right of choice you could work for a union or not but people wanted union pay wages with out having to pay for them so they got what they voted for lower wages.
Idaho teacher’s salaries are 40th in the nation for elementary and secondary education.
California is the only state that has higher State Income Tax.
Idaho dropped from the 5th most livable state in 1991 to 20th in 2003.
Persons living below the poverty level in Idaho have increased 33% from 1990 to 1998. Copied from the Boise weekly from 3-2006
Idaho saw food insecurity increase from 13.0% to 14.6%. The national average was 11.4%, up from 10.4% or 12.6 million households in 1999-01. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, November 2005)

This increase moved Idaho from the state with the 18th worst rate of food insecurity during the 1996-98 periods to the 8th worst during 2002-2004. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, November 2005)

This all shows Idaho in a real light. Low wages no benefits and the growing class of working poor as I said before it shows some of the true color of a state like Idaho and the close my eyes and it will go away thinking of the state

Too bad things didn't work they way you wanted them to huntman58, but for my family all is well. In fact, we even moved my disabled mother here and she's fairing much better financially than she was when she was still living near my brother in California.

Even holding the same careers in CA as we have here, there would be no way we could ever afford both a home and be able to live out there. I saw what did to my mother. Here, we make a decent income and own a nice home. Shoot, we both even set admirable amounts of income aside for retirement

[altaina]

That's the reason most Californians come here. You can make a good living on a lot less money. My cousin in the Bay Area bought an 800 sq ft home with dry rot & termite damage for 450k; here he could have had 5 bdrm + 5 acres along the river for half that.
Wages are lower; don't let it fool you. Buying power is higher.
Not in Boise or SW Idaho.
But in the rest of the state it's still good. No telling how long it'll stay that way; supply & demand of course.

And, huntman, lay off with your diatribe. I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but that doesn't apply to the rest of the state.

[huntman58]

That’s just it!!! If you’re from calif or the east coast things look good. If you’re from the rest, well up to debit. Then again almost any thing would be better then calif that I know have lived there both north and south... I moved to Idaho like a lot of people no home to sell first. Could not afford one in calif . Like my self not every one moving there will have a home to sell before they move, or the extra cash to put away from selling one as some have!

I will not stop for one reason people have a right to know both sides. You give you wonderful view and I will give them the one I got to live threw and hopefully they will not have to... They then can make there chouse.

[tfidguy]

I, too, am sorry Mr. Huntsman had a bad experience. As Mr. Huntsman is fond of giving statistics, here's one for you. The Census Bureau just released 2005 projected populations and Idaho was the second fastest growing state in the nation.
Seems people are deciding for themselves whether or not Idaho is a good place to live. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it getting better. Yes it is!