Small Towns with Jobs (Thief River Falls, Crookston: rental, buying a home, tech jobs)

[tlarnla]

Out of curiosity, what small towns in MN an hour or more from the Cities have cheap housing AND good job opportunities?

[slamont61]

What sort of Jobs and how small the town?

I'm in a town of 700 and work out of an office as a Programmer.

Towns like Perham have both industry as well as tech jobs. Healthcare field is everywhere. Low skill labor is everywhere.

[Kamsack]

They often dont go hand in hand.

Thief River Falls has digi-key and it continues to hire with ads everywhere. However, TRF has rather limited housing options for new employees, and thus they offer bus service from Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Crookston to their facility on the southwest side of town. Their bus service is a good deal actually, free travel, free wi-fi, you save on gas. But the smaller towns like TRF and even Crookston have rather limited rental options. They have some....Crookston a bit easier for housing than TRF. As for cheap...well you get what you pay for.

[r_shackleford]

Most towns with more than a few thousand people have at least one major employer that has real jobs. The catch is that "at least one" typically means "exactly one." Like any business, they're subject to market fluctuations. When the business is doing well, it's great. But if it trends downward, they're aren't many other options. It takes some sleuthing, but you can figure out the major employers in most towns. Local newspapers, Google, Wikipedia, and other sources can help you figure that out. Then just check for jobs on their website, by calling, or maybe even mailing your resume. Or just visit the town, get your haircut, go out to lunch, and browse the grocery store.

Housing is another similar tradeoff. Finding a quality rental is next to impossible because buying a home is generally affordable.

[Dakota Gold]

Nice little town.

Bellatoria Pizza in Maple lake.