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Old 11-28-2009, 12:03 PM
 
Location: Sun Prairie WI
128 posts, read 281,439 times
Reputation: 73

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Hi, can someone explain this a bit more to me? I'm usually reasonably intelligent but I must have information overload b/c I am just having some trouble here.

Most of the places I am looking at in SD as a potential place to call home have a COL of about 84. Now the salaries I am seeing are also substantially lower than what they pay for same work in MN. I thought ok, I can go lower because it costs less to live there. I just brought up my current city (Rochester, MN) and the COL is 79. It is CHEAPER for me to stay?
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Old 11-28-2009, 12:53 PM
 
27,957 posts, read 39,606,310 times
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ACCRA Cost of Living index Data Interpretation:

This might be helpful in explaining the index number. That being said a 5 point difference isn't a whole lot when comparing two locales.
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Old 11-28-2009, 02:08 PM
 
Location: Sun Prairie WI
128 posts, read 281,439 times
Reputation: 73
Thanks rj! I will try to read that in peace later (I'm at work now and really shouldn't even be here)!

The fact that 5 points isn't significant helps a lot - the pay scale still bothers me tho' since apparently we are about even in COL.
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Old 11-28-2009, 05:21 PM
 
27,957 posts, read 39,606,310 times
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I think in the index income comes into play when coming up with the points. But I would need to study it a bit more.
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Old 11-28-2009, 05:29 PM
 
Location: Sun Prairie WI
128 posts, read 281,439 times
Reputation: 73
We have a VERY high median income but this town is loaded with doctors!
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Old 11-28-2009, 07:22 PM
 
451 posts, read 974,853 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by littlequeenie View Post
Hi, can someone explain this a bit more to me? I'm usually reasonably intelligent but I must have information overload b/c I am just having some trouble here.

Most of the places I am looking at in SD as a potential place to call home have a COL of about 84. Now the salaries I am seeing are also substantially lower than what they pay for same work in MN. I thought ok, I can go lower because it costs less to live there. I just brought up my current city (Rochester, MN) and the COL is 79. It is CHEAPER for me to stay?


Hi LQ - what a great question!!! I am going to have to look at that link. Thanks for thinking about the stuff I haven't!!
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Old 11-28-2009, 11:48 PM
 
Location: South Dakota
1,961 posts, read 6,899,777 times
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I have seen a cost of living index before but on a different site and what sticks out is that our utility expense is high (due to heating in winter and a/c during summer) and our transportation costs are lower than national average. Overall, our cost of living is less than national average and generally trends that way, but the wages are a little lower than Denver and Twin Cities, for example.
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Old 11-29-2009, 08:22 AM
 
Location: Sun Prairie WI
128 posts, read 281,439 times
Reputation: 73
The utilities might be comparable to us here in SE MN since we also need to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. We have been lucky so far this winter - altho at times Oct felt like December! We also got 8 inches of that white stuff in October!
When I visited SD in summer of 2008, the gas prices were a lot higher than here - but then the roads were in much better condition than here, especially I-90.
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Old 11-29-2009, 09:08 AM
 
Location: rapid city sd
819 posts, read 1,737,937 times
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If your not happy where you are now whats it worth staying there?
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Old 11-29-2009, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Sun Prairie WI
128 posts, read 281,439 times
Reputation: 73
Do you mean me, airboat - why am I staying here? Well, I really only recently started thinking about moving to SD. It's a big move and I want to do it right.
I had started putting out "feelers" a few months ago in other parts of this state. In June I started having to go to the western part of this state a couple of times a month (5 hours drive just to GET there; then it could be several more hours driving from town to town) going to local public health departments for a school project. I have left my resume with a couple of places but so far in the last 6 months I have only seen jobs opening in Minneapolis/St Paul greater area. I do NOT want to move to a big city.
I have been here since 1991 and thought I had the dream job as well as the dream home (I live outside the city limits on 3+ acres). But there have been a few episodes lately where I have really been treated like crap at work & the grant money for my job will be gone (I am TRYING to get a straight answer on when but so far no one is answering me). So I thought this was a good time to take stock of my situation and figure out what do I really want to do with the rest of my life
Normally I would rather have a colonoscopy without anesthesia instead of moving again. And of course now that I've decided I somehow could do this, there are no jobs! And from what I am seeing, the COL out there is very similar to here, yet the salaries are much lower. As a single person with no other income, that is a bit scary. Especially since I know I am not going to get as much as I should for my house in the current market.
So almost a month ago I applied for a job in Watertown and already had a phone interview. I have to go out tomorrow to the western part of MN tomorrow and am going to try to at least swing by Watertown on the way home Wed or Thurs. I don't think I can do more than drive thru this time - I do need to get back to my REAL job! I am sending out some letters this week to some places that I think I would like to work, hoping that maybe someone might be retiring from there in a few months or maybe they will be getting some funding at least by summer. I have also sent away from some relocation info from some towns. Meanwhile I am doing some home repairs and starting to de-clutter the house.
Hopefully the "right" job offer will come fairly soon?
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