Why I Left Texas? (Houston, Dallas: rent, home builders, employment)

[TexasHorseLady]

How much more do you make when you figure in cost of living?

[dweej]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

How much more do you make when you figure in cost of living?

Yes, and I'm also curious about what field pays 40% more on the west coast. Maybe something related to entertainment or specific to the topography of the region...i.e. related to beach, mountains, desert, etc.?

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by PanTerra

That struck me as odd, as well. Hasn't it been California that has made it more difficult for businesses to operate there, that they end up leaving?

Exactly. Guess where many of the Californians wind up? Texas and New Mexico, LOL!!

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by dweej

Yes, and I'm also curious about what field pays 40% more on the west coast. Maybe something related to entertainment or specific to the topography of the region...i.e. related to beach, mountains, desert, etc.?

Radiology fields for one, Grocery stores pay about 30 percent more, mattress commissioin sales, Accounting, and nursing. Thats just the fields I know about.

[TexasHorseLady]

Again, what's the cost of living difference between the two places?

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

Radiology fields for one, Grocery stores pay about 30 percent more, mattress commissioin sales, Accounting, and nursing. Thats just the fields I know about.

Once upon a time here in Texas most of our grocery store workers were union. Not anymore. Not that I'm totally against unions as my dad is a Teamster and my husband worked in the grocery industry thru high school and college. He made great money at it as well. Beats flipping burgers with the other 16 year olds. Currently, California and Nevada do still have union workers in the grocery stores. But are they REALLY making enough to buy a house in a nice area in California?

Mattress commission sales. Are you talking at the retail level on all of the mattress stores? Or are you talking about company reps for the big name manufacturers? I happen to know one personally very well. He has lived in Texas, Washington and on the East Coast. They prefer Texas as it has been easier for his travel needs. Their money goes MUCH further here and he gets the SAME commission the guys on the West Coast get.

Nursing. Again this is another job in California that has the HEAVY "nanny state" hand in on it. NO THANKS! I do NOT want a nurse working on me or my family at a hospital that the hospital can NOT fire if they are suspected of ANY wrongdoing. NO THANK YOU!!!

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by dweej

I think people might have this idea that in Texas, because you can fired without your employer jumping through hoops, that people walk around firing people all day as a hobby. Not true! If you have a good employee, you're not going to fire them just so you can spend a bunch of money and time looking for someone who might do as good a job as them. No. You'll keep them around. I never once got fired from a job in Texas because the kind of work I did was worth keeping around. The supposedly "employee friendly" practices of California end up meaning lower pay (because extra funds have to pay unemployment insurance) and hard workers turning into people that just do the bare minimum ("if so-and-so can do this and get away with it, why should I bother busting my butt?"), and then businesses do even worse because their employees are lazy, then they pay even less, then the people work even less......it's such a vicious cycle!

NO KIDDING!!!!!

As a business owner we CRY whenever we lose someone good . I'm guessing these people have not priced the cost of running ads in the local paper, cost of placing a job on one of the career websites, etc. Time spent interviewing all of the losers that apply and are not even close to being qualified. Wading thru resumes. It takes a LOT of time away from running the business and even for the person you assign to look for a new person in a position. We do NOT randomly fire people on a whim. We DO fire those that bog down on the job and just don't "get it", waste time, can't service the customer, cause problems in the work environment, etc. I do NOT need anyone holding my hand and telling me that my other GOOD workers and MY CUSTOMERS MUST tolerate it as the bad employee has rights too.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

My email signature says it all:

Every Texan that has dared to cross the state line in his or her lifetime has returned disappointed and confused. The fact of the matter is there is no other state worth living in, or even traveling to, than the great State of Texas. So why would a Texan ever leave the state?

I respectfully disagree. I lived in Texas as a small child and enjoyed it(my mom hated it). Then again I was little. I moved to Everett,WA, near Seattle. I loved living there and I thought it was lovely(I have a soft spot in my heart for rain). I made a return to Texas in 2001(this time it was Dallas and I was on vacation for a week). I have been living in Georgia since 1994 and after going to Dallas,TX for a week, I felt like Atlanta,GA was crap compared to what I found in Texas. To say that Texas is a good place to live, in many ways this is very true. To say no other state is worth living in other than Texas, I disagree.

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Once upon a time here in Texas most of our grocery store workers were union. Not anymore. Not that I'm totally against unions as my dad is a Teamster and my husband worked in the grocery industry thru high school and college. He made great money at it as well. Beats flipping burgers with the other 16 year olds. Currently, California and Nevada do still have union workers in the grocery stores. But are they REALLY making enough to buy a house in a nice area in California?

Mattress commission sales. Are you talking at the retail level on all of the mattress stores? Or are you talking about company reps for the big name manufacturers? I happen to know one personally very well. He has lived in Texas, Washington and on the East Coast. They prefer Texas as it has been easier for his travel needs. Their money goes MUCH further here and he gets the SAME commission the guys on the West Coast get.

Nursing. Again this is another job in California that has the HEAVY "nanny state" hand in on it. NO THANKS! I do NOT want a nurse working on me or my family at a hospital that the hospital can NOT fire if they are suspected of ANY wrongdoing. NO THANK YOU!!!

Mattress retail level. Much higher pay in Washington/Oregon. Grocery stores in Cali pay 16 dollars an hour, vs texas at 7-10 dollars an hour. 15.99 in Oregon and Wa. Xray Techs in Portland, Seattle average 80k, vs 46K in Dallas/houston. You cant use texas against Wa, as the price isnt that much higher, and both states have no income tax. Texas Prop tax make up for slightly higher cost of living in Wa.

[dweej]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

Mattress retail level. Much higher pay in Washington/Oregon. Grocery stores in Cali pay 16 dollars an hour, vs texas at 7-10 dollars an hour. 15.99 in Oregon and Wa. Xray Techs in Portland, Seattle average 80k, vs 46K in Dallas/houston. You cant use texas against Wa, as the price isnt that much higher, and both states have no income tax. Texas Prop tax make up for slightly higher cost of living in Wa.

I'm just curious if you worked in the San Diego area at all. Something that San Diegans always discuss is the low pay compared to COL in our particular metro area (L.A. pays much better) and was wondering if you'd had specific experience here? Just curious about different experiences. For me, TX and CA have offered similar pay but totally opposite costs of living, which makes me all the more nostalgic for the Lone Star state .