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My wife and I are considering moving to Minnesota or South Dakota and wanted to get some information. We are a young couple looking to start a family and our careers. Things that are deciding factors are as follows:
1) Job Market (Bachelors in Business Adminastration and Bachelors in Nursing also RN with a background in Nutrition and Kinesiology).
2) Cost of living (We are coming from Georgia...Atlanta area)
3) School System (although dont have any kids yet this is important, also for graduate school)
4) Fitness Gyms ( Amateur bodybuilder and aspiring fitness center owner so this is important)
Any information would be great and greatly appreciated. I see Eden Prairie was on top 10 places to live according to money magazine.
You will find what you want pretty much all over the Twin Cities metro area. We are partial to the Southern Suburbs and the Rosemount/Eagan/Apple Valley schools but if you end up working in say, Maple Grove, you don't want to live in the south suburbs. With the exception of a handful of school districts, they are all good in MN.
Cost of living is going to be your biggest eye opener. Depending on where you live in GA now, expect house prices to be double here, give or take.
The job market in MN is better then most parts of the country but it still isn't great given the current state of the economy.
We lived in Sioux Falls for several years and loved it there. The public schools are not very good, especially compared to MN, but the Catholic schools are fantastic there. Sioux Falls is the biggest small town you will live in. Cost of living is similar there, there is no state income tax but property taxes are MUCH higher there then here so it is pretty much a wash. The unemployment rate in SD is about 3% so the job market there is probably better. The medical community in Sioux Falls is fantastic. I would put the Sioux Falls medical community in a tie or a slight edge to that in the Twin Cities.
Thank you so much for your help, this definitely answers some of my questions and the fact that you have lived in both areas i'm considering makes it a little better.
How about North Dakota)? I've heard good things about Fargo (although have no personal experience with that). I love the Twin Cities, but if you just want suburban living with good schools and job opportunities you can find it somewhere else with an even lower cost of living. Fargo/Moorhead (which is MN) seems to be booming these days.
Eden Prairie is definately very suburban. It is not the cheapest part of town either. Many of the western suburburbs have great bike trails and "Mc Mansion" subdivisions if that is what you are looking for, but again, the price is likely going to be another factor. You could compensate by looking for a townhome in the area (many nice townhomes in Eden Prairie and Chanhassen). You would have pretty decent access to the hospitals in the western burbs and Minneapolis.
I know there is an LA fitness in Hopkins and a huge Lifetime fitness on Hwy 5 in Chanhassen, plus many more fitness places in Eden Priaire and the SW burbs. Shopping is pretty good. I really like the Eden Priaire Center and near to that is Costco/Home Depot/Best Buy/Walmart/Bachmans etc.
Your not to far from Southdale, Ridgedale and the MOA/Ikea if you want to venture that way.
I grew up in Sioux Falls and now live in Minneapolis. I guess it depends on what type of area you are hoping to live in (I mean in terms of how big of a metropolitan area, etc.). If you want all of the amenities of the *big city* (e.g. very large metropolitan area), then you'll probably want to stick close to Minneapolis-St. Paul. However, if you're open to (or would prefer) living in a small metro/urban area, then you may not only want to check out Sioux Falls, SD but add Rochester, MN to the list.
The Bachelor's in Nursing/ RN experience will have no hard time finding employment in any of these areas- Sioux Falls has had rapid expansion of medical infrastructure in recent years and is continuing to grow thanks to a huge donation to what is now Sandford Health- my guess is that this would be one of the easiest places to get in as an RN at one of the hospitals. Mayo Clinic is located in Rochester, MN, and an insane amount of people that live in the city work in the medical profession for Mayo in one of their dozens of facilities throughout the city. Mayo is a competitive place to get into as it is generally one of the best employers in the medical field in the nation, but the location of Rochester (upper Midwest, an hour and half away from the cities, etc.) allows a lot of people to get their foot in the door there if just starting out (this used to be the case when I lived there about 6 yrs ago, assume it still is but I might be wrong). There are a lot of hospitals in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and stil likely a lot of nursing openings despite budget strains, but these will be fairly competitive openings and there have been a lot more people graduating from nursing school in the past few years. However, in addition to the hospitals, there is a plethora of nursing care facilities (assisted living, nursing homes, behavioral healthcare, etc.) where you or your wife would likely be able to find employment somewhere.
Regarding desire to open a fitness center- although there's more population in the MSP metro area which is better for business, I think you would be undertaking a more risky venture here unless you really do a lot of research to find areas that are lacking in having fitness centers readily accessible/available (although I think there are probably a number of areas that could use and/or would really welcome a fitness center, albeit these would likely be in the city and/or inner suburban rings). If you were in a place like Sioux Falls or Rochester, you would be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. A bonus for Rochester would be that a lot of the residents, by virtue of working in the medical profession, would be pretty health-conscious; but there are a lot of health conscious young people in Sioux Falls that are new to the area as well.
Regarding having a Business Admin degree and no experience under your belt, I think you would have an easier time in Sioux Falls or Rochester in getting your foot in the door with a company, where a business admin degree is going to likely serve you fairly well. Places like Sioux Falls suffer a lot of "brain drain" of persons that grow up and/or go to school there hopping state lines to work in larger metropolitan areas (I myself would be a part of this group), so you would have a lot less competition for job openings, but there would be a lot less job openings overall than what you would find here in MSP (where a lot of Fortune 500 companies are located that have huge workforces) where you'd also have a lot more competition to deal with.
If it were me in your shoes, I'd likely go with Rochester, MN or Sioux Falls, SD- esp. considering you're wanting a suburban feel, one of you will be working in nursing, and you are just starting off in your careers. If you want to move to the cities after becoming more established in your careers, it will always be here for you to do so at a later date. Or you could just start putting in applications to all 3 cities and move to the place you get the most response/calls for interviews which might be the safest route (note, however, that you're at a big disadvantage by having an outstate address in your job search).
Good luck-
P.S.- Regarding Uptown's comments about Fargo-Moorhead, it does seem like this area is somewhat booming as of late- I don't know much at all about this either, but based on things I've read (and/or heard from some friends that moved there recently) it does seem to have things happening. Fargo-Moorhead would be the coldest of the bunch, however.
I live in South Dakota but am familiar with the Twin Cities, Sioux Falls, and Fargo, so I'll add a few things based on the criteria you are looking at:
--Job Market: Like another poster said, whichever one of you has a degree in the medical field will have no problem in any of the three areas. Sioux Falls has hospitals in both the Sanford and Avera Medical System (general hospitals, heart hospitals, children's hospitals) and also the VA Hospital. Sanford recently merged with Meritcare, which was Fargo's leading health system. As for the BBA, the opportunities will be greatest in the Twin Cities. Sioux Falls is a sizeable financial center so you'll find a lot of banking industry jobs, and I'm not exactly sure what the major white collar sector concentrations are in Fargo.
-- Cost Of Living: Housing costs will be much lower in Sioux Falls and Fargo-Moorhead and those markets weathered the crisis well. I would venture to guess that Twin Cities median home prices were noticeably higher during the peak of the recession than they ever were/are in Sioux Falls and F-M. Taxes are killer in Minnesota, 1/2 as killer in North Dakota, and very low in SD (no state income tax, no corporate income tax, no inheritance tax), but you'll make more money in the Twin Cities area which would offset some of that. I buy most of my clothing and some of my groceries in MN, so I skip the taxes on those items too.
-- School System: Don't have any kids (that I'm aware of ), so no clue.
-- Fitness/Gyms: Seems like there are already a TON of franchised fitness centers, though if you are shrewd and/or differentiate your business, I'm sure you could still be successful.
I know you said you're from the Atlanta area and I'm not sure if you're used to urban/suburban/rural environs, but the metro areas of Sioux Falls and Fargo-Moorhead are quite small compared to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, so there could be some culture shock waiting for you in the Dakotas. Also, the cultural/entertainment offerings will be less. Hope that all helps!
I live in South Dakota but am familiar with the Twin Cities, Sioux Falls, and Fargo, so I'll add a few things based on the criteria you are looking at:
--Job Market: Like another poster said, whichever one of you has a degree in the medical field will have no problem in any of the three areas. Sioux Falls has hospitals in both the Sanford and Avera Medical System (general hospitals, heart hospitals, children's hospitals) and also the VA Hospital. Sanford recently merged with Meritcare, which was Fargo's leading health system. As for the BBA, the opportunities will be greatest in the Twin Cities. Sioux Falls is a sizeable financial center so you'll find a lot of banking industry jobs, and I'm not exactly sure what the major white collar sector concentrations are in Fargo.
-- Cost Of Living: Housing costs will be much lower in Sioux Falls and Fargo-Moorhead and those markets weathered the crisis well. I would venture to guess that Twin Cities median home prices were noticeably higher during the peak of the recession than they ever were/are in Sioux Falls and F-M. Taxes are killer in Minnesota, 1/2 as killer in North Dakota, and very low in SD (no state income tax, no corporate income tax, no inheritance tax), but you'll make more money in the Twin Cities area which would offset some of that. I buy most of my clothing and some of my groceries in MN, so I skip the taxes on those items too.
-- School System: Don't have any kids (that I'm aware of ), so no clue.
-- Fitness/Gyms: Seems like there are already a TON of franchised fitness centers, though if you are shrewd and/or differentiate your business, I'm sure you could still be successful.
I know you said you're from the Atlanta area and I'm not sure if you're used to urban/suburban/rural environs, but the metro areas of Sioux Falls and Fargo-Moorhead are quite small compared to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, so there could be some culture shock waiting for you in the Dakotas. Also, the cultural/entertainment offerings will be less. Hope that all helps!
I have to disagree with pretty much all of this. The housing costs in Sioux Falls are not that much less then it is in the Twin Cities and the property taxes in South Dakota, specifically Sioux Falls, is significantly higher so for your upper middle class person and below, the cost of living is a wash. When you get into the very high salary ranges it is a lower cost of living. There is not inheritance tax anywhere so that is not an issue. MN's overall tax burden is higher then it is in South Dakota but you also get a lot more for that money in MN then you do in SD.
I'll throw in a vote for Rochester, MN, LaCrosse, WI, and Eau Claire, WI. Neither are that far a drive from Minneapolis/St Paul and are nice cities situated in and near some beautiful countryside. I suppose St Cloud would be worth a look too.. but colder then the other ones. Madison, WI is a very nice city and larger then the others I mentioned, and larger then Sioux Falls by about double.
Sioux Falls is nice, it's just farther away from the action and not as pretty.. but no state income tax either.
Because there are jobs in Sioux Falls, house prices are no longer that much lower then areas that have seen increased unemployment, thus you aren't going to find huge home price advantages in Sioux Falls, and the property taxes are on the high side. The banks got bailed out, so Sioux Falls is doing fine.... Brookings, SD is suffering from it even worse... too many jobs, high house prices, housing shortage. If you can find work in your field anywhere in the US, I would not pick Sioux Falls.. why not go somewhere where unemployment is higher overall , house prices will be lower, it's warmer, with more trees, hills, lakes, and all that? If you make a lot of money, not having a state income tax is a large bonus though, but who's to say the increased pay you'll likely get in La Crosse wouldn't make up for it... wages in SD tend to lag eastern MN and WI from what I've seen. Madison, WI would likely net even higher wages yet.
There are so many places I'd like to visit such as Oregon and East Tennessee... beautiful countryside though I think Baraboo WI will probably be my eventual destination because of Lake Wisconsin, the Dells, and the state forest and all the other things I enjoy in the area.
Last edited by sholomar; 10-01-2010 at 06:14 PM..
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), so no clue.
If you make a lot of money, not having a state income tax is a large bonus though, but who's to say the increased pay you'll likely get in La Crosse wouldn't make up for it... wages in SD tend to lag eastern MN and WI from what I've seen. Madison, WI would likely net even higher wages yet. 
