Would you move to Northern VA if you were a Blue Collar Worker? (Norfolk: fit in, 2015)

[Heavy Investment]

Moving into a new home has put me in contact with lots of skilled blue collar workers. Plumbers, Electricians, people who remodel your home, painters, Air Conditioner repair professionals, etc.

If you read the Washington media, you would believe that nearly everyone in the greater DC area is a college educated professional making significantly more than $100K a year. But that is just not true.

But the high wage workers and tight development rules have created a very high cost of living and harsh culture in the area. To me if you were a skilled blue collar worker, you would do better in a regular town like Richmond or Roanoke, or Norfolk. There would be plenty of work for you but your standard of living would be much higher.

Why would a blue collar worker move to Northern VA?

[Bigfoot424]

Is this a serious topic?


Lived in NOVA from 73 until 2015. Most certainly did not fit in your college-educated professional making more than $100K a year. Plenty of people out in the country where I live now are college-educated and make good money.

[RandomNovaGuy]

From my personal experience, skilled blue collar workers charge a lot more in NoVA when compared with other more moderately priced metro areas.

[Heavy Investment]

Originally Posted by RandomNovaGuy

From my personal experience, skilled blue collar workers charge a lot more in NoVA when compared with other more moderately priced metro areas.

They charge slightly more but the ones I meet tell me it does not cover the increased cost of living.

[tgbwc]

Are you assuming plumbers, electricians, people who remodel your home, painters, air conditioner repair professionals, etc. aren't doing well? I'm not willing to make that assumption. Like RandomNovaGuy mentioned, my guess is the rates they can charge are higher here than other areas. My guess is that there may also be more opportunity for work in this area, but again that's just a guess.

I think people over-exaggerate what it takes to live in this area. Haven't we seen posts that include something like: I'm 24 years old and I just accepted a job making $70k. Will I be able to survive in NoVA? (I roll my eyes.) Now it's true that not everyone in the DC area is a college educated professional making well over $100k. I'm a "college educated professional" who has been at my job for 24 years and I'm not making 6-figures, but guess what? I am doing ok.

[NOVA_guy]

Personally speaking, I wouldn't.

Part of what makes Northern Virginia attractive is the job market and the salaries... or at least for me, that's why after I graduated I came back. If I was in a field that could easily bring me a decent salary in Richmond, Norfolk, Roanoke, etc why come to NoVa and deal with high cost of living and endless traffic when I could make a little less in other parts of the state with much lower CoL and less headache overall.

[Ffxdata]

So many assumptions here.

Blue collar skilled tradesmen and women make good money. A master electrician in the area makes around $68k. Indeed.com lists that as 25% above market average. A residential service electrician makes $81k on average. If someone were to own their own company or have others working for him or her, he could make double that.

These people also aren't trying to pay off $30,000+ in student loans from 4+ years of college.

Tradespeople would also be attracted to a market that is essentially recession-proof. While other projects went up in smoke after 2008, Nova has kept on trucking. Building and building and building. That kind of job security is valuable compared to areas where work can dry up quickly with the closure or downsizing of the primary employer.

If you are living out west or down south, you come across many people with these kinds of jobs. I am friends with a BMW mechanic, an HVAC technician, etc. many of them are also ex-military so their skills transferred well.

[Ffxdata]

Originally Posted by Heavy Investment

They charge slightly more but the ones I meet tell me it does not cover the increased cost of living.

This is called poor mouthing. The contractors you hire are not going to tell you that they are living large. They have an obvious incentive to talk about how they struggle. I'm not saying they are living comfortably, but I've known plenty of blue collar guys who poor mouth no matter if they have $50 or $500,000 in the bank it's almost a cultural thing.

[Heavy Investment]

I have read the replies with interest and agree that there may be more opportunity to make money and stay employed in a booming area like Northern VA if you are a skilled blue collar worker. But where I don't agree is the cost of living and the general hassle of living here is worth it for the blue collar worker.

It might be if you are on the executive track where really great jobs are not always available in smaller metro areas. But for a regular blue collar job, you will do better in a more low key mid sized metro area.

According to the attached link if you were a blue collar worker in Richmond VA (one of those regular but booming towns I talked about in my first post) and made $50,000 a year, you would need to make $85,377.00 to have the same standard of living in Fairfax VA. That is a seventy percent increase. So you are telling me that the wages for skilled blue collar workers are 70% more in Fairfax than Richmond?

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

[Ffxdata]

But why do all the low level office professionals making $50k or less live here? For the same reasons many other people do: great schools, culture, access to other major cities, etc.. Are you assuming they aren't interested in those things? Richmond and Norfolk are cheaper, but they also don't have the same amenities.