Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband & I are tired of high cost of living and sky-high Real Estate Taxes in NJ and we're looking to escape NJ (lol) and relocate somewhere near a beach - but not sure if we'll be able to find jobs? One place we're seriously considering is Wilmington, NC? but heard its really touristy and no real jobs? I've been an Exec Assist and Sr. Admin here in NJ for over 20 years and my husbad is a truck driver making local deliveries (CDL & Air-break endorsement Class B) - Worried we wont be able to find jobs in Wilmington? and if we can find affordable safe neighborhoods to live where we can hopefully retire one day (of course staying away from homes that are prone to flood easily and away from crime areas)? Can anyone give us some info about Wilmington? the Job Market, and where are the best places to live?
Worried we wont be able to find jobs in Wilmington? and if we can find affordable safe neighborhoods to live where we can hopefully retire one day
The same questions have been asked many times on this board by people wanting to escape NJ, NY, Pittsburgh, Ohio, etc.
Yes there are plenty of safe and affordable places to live. However, the unemployment rate in New Hanover County is 9%, the rate in Pender County is 11.0% and the rate in Brunswick County is 10.3%. Onslow and Carteret Counties are slightly better, at 8.6% and 8.4% respectively.
If you are serious about wanting to move, start with a general jobs board like indeed.com, to get a feel for what's available, and be flexible. For example, I saw a couple of truck driving jobs. If you find something, you are likely to find that it pays a lot less than what you make in NJ. Is it worth it to move? Only you can answer.
BTW, we rarely hear back that someone has successfully found a job in the area, but it does happen.
Last edited by goldenage1; 07-01-2012 at 06:59 PM..
goldenage1- thanks very much for your reply - & yes we've been told salaries will not be nearly as high as they are in NJ - which we're thinking would be fine since the housing/Real Estate is so so much higher in NJ - cause when I was searching home prices, a comparable townhome in NJ that sells for about 250,000 appears to be around $100,000-150,000 in the Wilmington area -
So in that respect we can get something like we currently have but pay so much less for it in NC - and so we wouldn't need to make as much money to maintain our home in NC.
But so we'll take your advice and look online at "indeed.com" to get a feel for the job market in Wilmington. Cause I'm guessing the key is to first see exactly where the jobs would be located to help us figure out where exactly in Wilmington we should look for places to live - then from there we can try to hopefully find nice & safe neighborhood to move to.
If anyone else from the Wilmington area can share some info on jobs &/or best places to live we'd love to get more insight & feedback - thanks.
Well, I don't know much about the truck driver side of things but I do know about the Admin / Clerical / Hospitality kind of jobs. I've lived in the area 4 1/2 years and have kept tabs on the Wilmington job market as I've always been on the look out for something better than what I have in Jacksonville, and something worth the commute.
As Goldenage said, it's NOT easy to find a job here. I'm in my late 20s with an MBA (although I only obtained that a little over a year and a half ago), extremely solid job history, and I've been hard pressed to find a 'decent' job in the area. Although I've had a job, it's hard to find anything that comes even close to $10/hour. Most jobs out there pay slightly above minimum wage ($7.25 in NC) and seem to hover around the $8.00 mark. The reason being is that competition from the 'college kids' and 'military wives (or husbands)' is fierce- as they're all willing to work for the bare minimum, it's brought the expected wages down.
I realize that NC is considerably cheaper than New Jersey, but over the years I've done the math and found that the lower cost of living here doesn't necessarily compensate for the lower wages- because the wages are simply too low.
Personally I find the minimum wage rate of $7.25 for anybody over the age of 21 in NC, entirely unethical as on the coast, minimum wage is well below the reasonable 'living' wage which I worked out to be slightly over $11.
I don't want to discourage you from moving to Wilmington. It is a VERY pretty city, and even though Coastal NC hasn't been my cup of tea (moving back to the much much cheaper Midwest after hubby gets out of the Marines) I can certainly see it's appeal.
I honestly would NOT worry about neighborhoods or such as yet. My suggestion would be to secure a job first; once you have, then you can start looking at neighborhoods. I know that sounds stressful (starting a new job plus simultaneously looking for houses) but it would be your best bet in the long run. I'd hate for you to move here and not be able to find work!
A neighborhood should be the least of your worries right now. Job first, neighborhood second
Good advice. You wouldn't want to be locked into an area that's an impossible distance from work. I've found the coastal area is waaay more spread out than the Maryland suburbs I came from.
In addition, the neighborhood choice is personal. The are no really "bad" areas, just ones some people don't like. For example, if you want nearby urban amenities, stay in Wilmington. If you want 2 acres in the country, look at Burgaw. If you like golf and gated communities, look at Leland or Southport.
I agree with Goldenage about the coastal areas being more spread out. Add to this a lack of interstate connections (I-40 terminates pretty much right before Wilmington and I-140 is yet to be completed but only runs around the outskirts anyhow), getting from A-B isn't as quick and convenient as it is in other cities and areas.
If you want wealth in Wilmington, you have to bring it with you in the form of either cash/investments (retiree), or business owner. Career gigs just aren't there like they are in other areas. That being said, there more than a few law firms that need assistants, PPD is HQ there (major employer). I presume coming from NJ that your husban is union. There is a local there 391 I believe that could probably help out. If he could work his way into the movie business transpo dept., he could probably pull down $40k a year realistically.
I lived in Wilmington, graduated from UNCW long ago. I tried to make it work, but got tired of being broke and unsecure employment feeling. You'll find in NC that Raleigh and Charlottle pretty much dominate the employment sector. I left a decade ago, and haven't a single regret. Love Wilmington, but it's what I call an "appetizer and desert" town. Main course can be tough, and skimpy on certain key elements.
Status:
"48 years in MD, 18 in NC"
(set 13 days ago)
Location: Greenville, NC
2,309 posts, read 6,103,880 times
Reputation: 1430
The truck driver job should be relatively easy, assuming you're not looking to make $50k a year doing it. As far as administrative jobs go.... Medicine and schools seems to be the biggest employers in the whole area. For those two choices you'll have either Wilmington or Greenville with Greenville having the larger selection. They are putting up so many major medical facilities in Greenville, it makes it difficult to keep track of them all. You may hear bad things about crime in Greenville. Just stay out of the bad areas, they're obvious, and stay away from downtown after dark. The huge majority of crime occurs north and west of Greenville Blvd. Find something south and east of Greenville Blvd. and you're golden here. It's almost like they put up an invisible crime barrier at Greenville Blvd. or something.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
