considering move to Des Moines - need salary info! (apartment, lease)

[OzzychickNJ]

Hello, I am considering moving to Des Moines and need some info on jobs there. My resume consists of 10+ yrs. Web design and database administration (Access, Sql). Can anyone tell me if jobs in that area with my expertise are plentiful? And what can I expect to make as far as salary?
NJ is just getting WAY too expensive for me. I am a single parent and currently pay $1250 + utilities for rent and only make $55k. I just cant do it w/ gas prices, my other bills, etc. plus Im really sick of this state! LOL...

Any advice, help, would be greatly appreciated!

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by OzzychickNJ

Hello, I am considering moving to Des Moines and need some info on jobs there. My resume consists of 10+ yrs. Web design and database administration (Access, Sql). Can anyone tell me if jobs in that area with my expertise are plentiful? And what can I expect to make as far as salary?
NJ is just getting WAY too expensive for me. I am a single parent and currently pay $1250 + utilities for rent and only make $55k. I just cant do it w/ gas prices, my other bills, etc. plus Im really sick of this state! LOL...

Any advice, help, would be greatly appreciated!

I'm sure jobs like that are around in Des Moines. As far as salary goes, my guess is that you would make slightly less than $55k, but I don't know that for sure, I'm a little out of touch with the white collar sector.

$1250 plus utilties would go along away with housing here. A standard one bedroom apartment goes for about $600, I believe. Maybe $700-$800 for a two bedroom.

[DMRyan]

Anything could happen if you land in the right place at the right time, but I would expect to be starting out at less than $55,000. You just won't find as great of salary here as you will out east in most professions.

For $1250 a month, you could easily own a decent home in the Des Moines area.

[DSMGuy]

I don't know about salaries, but you should check AvivaUSA. They are hiring a lot. Also check dice.com. You've probably heard of it. It is a tech job website and it is based in suburban DM.

Good luck!

[Luke9686]

I'd say you probably could make around 55K in Des Moines with that resume. My buddy is a programmer, with 6 years experience and makes around $60K.

You could own a nice house in a nice area for $1250 per month or less.

[OzzychickNJ]

Thank you all! Yes, I figured I could easily OWN a home for 1250$/month! I would probably want to rent first, make sure I have a stable job, then buy something. The cool thing would be if I can make what I am making now (or even close), and rent something for 700-800$/month. Then I could save for a nice downpayment on a house. This is something I could NEVER do in NJ!

[tptvosox]

You can definitely make that kind of money here. I moved here from NYC last summer and was very surprised to see that salary for my qualifications was considerably higher here in DSM, actually. I'm a QA Lead during the day, currently contracting at the top company in DSM, but probably making the move to FTE in the next month. We're (my wife and 2.5 y.o. son) are also renting first before owning, and I'm loving the house prices right now...sure to be favorable for buyers for at least another year.

I'm not sure exactly how much you'd make here, but I can tell you that your ballpark, with 10 yrs experience of web design and as a DBA, is probably in the $60-80+K range, based on what I've seen here. Are you looking for FTE or contracting? Contracting can push your salary up near the top of the range, but even if you want full time employment, there are great paying gigs out here. I can help with getting you contacts if you want them.

Good luck! And it's worth the move here, especially if you have a family. It's beautiful here and the folks are awesome.

[OzzychickNJ]

Originally Posted by tptvosox

You can definitely make that kind of money here. I moved here from NYC last summer and was very surprised to see that salary for my qualifications was considerably higher here in DSM, actually. I'm a QA Lead during the day, currently contracting at the top company in DSM, but probably making the move to FTE in the next month. We're (my wife and 2.5 y.o. son) are also renting first before owning, and I'm loving the house prices right now...sure to be favorable for buyers for at least another year.

I'm not sure exactly how much you'd make here, but I can tell you that your ballpark, with 10 yrs experience of web design and as a DBA, is probably in the $60-80+K range, based on what I've seen here. Are you looking for FTE or contracting? Contracting can push your salary up near the top of the range, but even if you want full time employment, there are great paying gigs out here. I can help with getting you contacts if you want them.

Good luck! And it's worth the move here, especially if you have a family. It's beautiful here and the folks are awesome.

Thank you so much for the info! I would definitely be looking for FTE as I will need health benefits. In looking at some of the various employment websites (ie, career builder, dice, monster), it looks like the salary you are quoting is in that range. Very hard to believe that someone from NY is actually making MORE in Des Moines! So I was a little skeptical when I saw those salary ranges and wondered if it was for "real".
As I stated in my subject line, I am still in the "considering" mode. Unfortunately, I just signed a year lease so I would have to see if I can get out of it without penalties.
I have been to Des Moines several times and totally loved it. You are right in saying the people out there are SO much nicer than on the east coast. One consideration is, I have never been out there in the winter and honestly, I hate cold/snowy weather.
Well, I appreciate everyone's input. TPTVOSOX, I would love some contacts in the industry. Does this thing have private messaging or a way you could email them to me? (without me displaying my email address?)

[JustAnotherIowan]

I've lived in NE Iowa my whole life and I'm about to enter the workforce. As someone who has done A LOT of research/job shadows/etc. on various careers and salaries while trying to decide what to do here, I'm thinking that 50k to 80k is the best ball park anyone could give you.

Good luck with everything!

[tptvosox]

Ozzychick, check your direct mail inbox.

If only we also saw that jump in salary in education, as well. Man, my wife was making more as a teacher in NY than I was. Then we flipflopped when we moved back to Des Moines. Sadly, I don't think DM will ever pay that for teachers...I don't even see it on the top of the pay scales in these school districts. I was definitely floored to see that I could hit upper 60s to upper 70s here. I certainly thought a little less of my NY employer. I was making 50s when we left and was in line for maybe a 5K promotion before we left. My wife with 14 yrs of teaching experience left an upper 60s offer to take a low 40s offer here...so it was a wash, I guess....except with totally affordable housing and daycare suddenly. Rent in NYC was $1600, daycare was $1700+. Ouch. That has changed to $850 (2BR, 2Bath + garage) and $950 (that's a Montessori school, though...you can find good daycare for cheaper). And we haven't had to lay a single rodent trap here either!

One thing I won't miss -- watching "24" in the dark as our son slept, and seeing a mouse dart across the shadows, then our jumping to pause the show, flipping on the lights and not finding him ANYWHERE...until the next morning in the trap...and wondering where it was all night as we slept. Yeah, won't miss that at all! hehe That said, the night life is not the same either, but DM does well enough.