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Well it’s been officially one year since we’ve moved to Sioux Falls from Central MO (halfway in between St. Louis and Kansas City on interstate 70) and wanted to let anyone that is interested in moving to Sioux Falls how it went for me and the rest of my family. We decided 3 years ago in 2009 to move to Sioux Falls and visited 8 times for at least 1 Week each trip prior to actually making the move.
Overall
We are very much happier here in Sioux Falls then we use to be in MO and hope to remain here until we retire. It’s safer here and there much more things to do than where we use to live, and the quality of life is better.
Cost of living
The price of a 2 bedroom/2bathroom is the same as it was in MO however you get more amenities here in Sioux Falls for example in MO 2/2 with free basic cable was $765, here in Sioux Falls my 2/2 with free cable, heat and garage is $765, if you want a 3 bedroom/2 bath it costs about $200 more each month depending on the location. The 2 major players in the Sioux Falls area for apartments from what we have saw are Lloyds management and Costello management, we decided with Lloyds after all the different agencies we visited (too many to List) they were the only ones that contacted us in MO after we give out all of our personal information. The only issue I have with apartments in Sioux Falls is there needs to be more ‘NON SMOKING” buildings, the ones we looked at were way over what we could afford to live in. Overall the cost of living is about the same as MO, the only thing we save in is utilities, electricity is about $50 less a Month here in Sioux Falls, other items like Groceries, Gas, etc are exactly the same price.
Crime
Basically in Sioux Falls if you don’t own a Casino or a convenience store you are pretty safe, in MO the gangs have taken over the public parks so you can not even take your kids without being confronted and there are a lot more violent crimes there than here in Sioux Falls. Since moving here we did have someone trying to push our apartment door open (drunk person, wrong apartment) and have a UPS package stolen from our front door, police wasn’t much help, they took the information and that was it so we basically lost our money since UPS wouldn’t pay for the stolen package. Otherwise we feel very safe here, of course there will be crime no matter where you live so always be aware and stay safe..
Grocery Stores
This is a sore area for us here in Sioux Falls, where we lived in MO population is 100,000 there are 4 super Wal-Mart’s, 4 Hy-Vee’s, 3 Gerbes, 1 Schuncks, 2 Mosers and 1 Aldi grocery and those were the large chain grocery stores. Here in Sioux Falls population 200,000+ there are 2 Super Wal-Mart’s, 4 Hy-Vee’s. This is the only area that I think Sioux Falls could largely improve in and benefit from more groceries. Since both cities are in the Midwest, grocery prices are exactly the same in Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee.
Employment
First of all let me tell you that I’m in the same exact position in a hospital here in Sioux Falls that I worked in Central MO and the pay here in Sioux Falls in a lot less, I make $3.25 less per hour here than the same exact job in MO that’s about $600 dollars less per Month. Overall I can spend and do less with money than I use to, the good thing is that I spend a lot of time in Falls Park instead of going out and spending money, there's so much more to do here locally than where I use to live so even with less money We have enjoyed ourselves more.
Job Search
The hospitals, Customer Service, and Banking areas are where I’ve seen much of the employment here and most of the positions are from 10AM to 7PM, they want someone with experience and having a college degree to be frankly honest here in Sioux Falls for those type of jobs isn’t worth much, a lot of the places will not even interview you without 1 or 2 years experience. One person in our household after 1 year is still looking for employment, has a Bachelors degree in Business Management and a Bachelors degree in Human Resource Management has applied for over 200 positions and has had only 12 interviews in that year, from what I’ve seen of most the newer graduates is that if you don’t know someone you are either unemployed or underemployed. I think that’s the case in most areas these days.
We were very disappointed in the local career center, we find the same exact positions that they call us for a day or 2 before they call to inform us of the open position. Overall if you don’t care where you work, what your hours are or a part time job is o.k. there’s plenty of job opportunities in Sioux Falls, however if you want a M-F 8-5 job it’s going to take a while, I’m still looking after a year. Most of the work areas (in an office environment) I saw and interviewed in are dominated by middle age white females, very few minorities and men. This DOESN’T mean that there is discrimination taking place here in Sioux Falls, it just means that their work force is largely composed of middle age white females. So if you are a male looking for office work you now know what to expect.
I would recommend to anyone moving in this day and age to have at least 6 Months living expenses save for the "Just in case" issues. Unless you are going to live and eat on someone elses money.
Interviews
Of all the places I interviewed at this below is how I rate the interviews and the people I talked to at the interview locations. Btw, I do not work for my top rated place. I actively searched for 3 months and did 18+ interviews prior to finally getting a job almost all of my interviews were customer service related, my search criteria was Monday-Friday 8-5, I finally accepted a position Monday-Friday 10-7, most of these places will also require you to work on Saturday. This is how I rate these places so please don’t get upset if you see your employer at the bottom. In most cases I stuck with the local area major employers. Also just a warning, most of these employers have a very high turnover rate, you will see the same positions over and over again. and usually they will have hiring events about every 3 Months.
I do not recommend any of the local job service places, All they did was test me and collect my data, I called them, they never called me back. However the agencies that I’ve contacted out of the local area have called me back and interviewed me over the phone and in person.
As you can see I have been in a lot of interviews here in Sioux Falls and my search is still continuing, my top interview was at Avera and the bottom one was at CitiBank.
If you decide to move to Sioux Falls, SD it’s a great place to live and the people are great also.
If you decide to move here I hope that you enjoy Sioux Falls, SD as much as my family does.
That's interesting to read a perspective that isn't from around here..
on a couple notes:
Grocery- don't forget Sunshine Foods
Career- When you say local career center, do you mean South Dakota Job Service? They aren't the best about calling, so best thing to do is call and register with them, then search here: South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation on your own (you can see the employer names and info once you register, you can only see info without names if you don't)
Other good places to hunt down openings: Jobs & Job Search Advice, Employment & Careers | Careerbuilder.com and Sioux Falls Jobs on KelolandEmployment.com | Jobs in Sioux Falls, SD | Jobs in South DakotaSioux Falls Jobs on KelolandEmployment.com | Jobs in Sioux Falls, SD | Jobs in South Dakota
You can also search jobs here: Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed.com, there's usually more from other sites that you may not think to check out or even know about..
Pay IS less because like you mentioned housing is less, depending though on your career area.
Staffing agencies (like Kelly, Dakota Staffing, etc) are worthless for the most part (in my opinion). They basically play middle man and you have to impress them before you can move on to the company, and then if you do get hired on somewhere you are basically not a full time benefits eligible employee for "x" amount of time (you get paid by the staffing agency).. once in awhile I've seen a permanent job, but not real often.
I hope you hit a jackpot on finding the job you desire.. if you haven't checked those sites I listed, they might be worth a shot.. and glad you like living in Sioux Falls
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