[ayoskillz]

Originally Posted by cynic1

Youre way off base:


20 of the top fifty restaurants in the country are in the South.... none of the top 100 are in CT according to Food and Wine mag and pretty much parroted in Bon Appetit.


In my opinion.. one in CT probably should be on the list.. Thomas Henkelmann in Greenwich ...but alas it wasn't.


Last year alone 3 restaurants in Charleston alone were named best new restaurants in the country... and over the last 5 years 2 restaurants' in the city of Charleston have been named the best in the country's top 50...Husk and the Ordinary..

From my travels over all the states Ct does have some of the best pizza I've ever tasted. mostly other foods that stand out to me though were south and west.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by Stylo

I would be making about 40% of my current salary, if I could find a job at all. Of course it is very industry dependent.

It's very industry dependent. I couldn't make a tenth of what I am making in the state where OP moved, so I'm better off here. But for people with positions in industries that pay modestly, Connecticut is not a good bet because any salary differential will most likely not compensate for the high cost of living here.

[ryanthegoldengod]

With my job I'd make less than half of what I make here in Florida. It's probably similar in Kentucky.

I highly doubt I'd come out ahead even with taxes and cost of living factored in. Probably even at best. The house always wins. You're either going to get squeezed by taxes, or salary, or real estate.... If you want more money in your pocket, don't change zip codes. Win Powerball. Or create an app.

[Scottamemnon]

Just to possibly counter some of the "I would make 1/1000th what I make here" stuff, I have been applying to jobs all over the county of late. I am trying to take advantage of the job upswing and feel like I should look everywhere, including in CT where I currently work. Unless you are in a niche industry, or something that requires NYC, you might be surprised. I am getting a lot more interviews down south, specifically in SC and FL. They are also talking $$$ amounts that truly surprise me.. certainly more than I am making now at one of the big three insurance companies in Hartford, for a similar role.

With enough research you can dig into some of the state projections produced by their various financial departments... job pay growth is exploding in parts of the sunbelt. Especially for college educated workers, which they lack. In fact the environments where college grads are a dime a dozen seem to be offering less and demanding more of applicants. Also the "popular" cities seem to be doing the same.. if the millennials want to be there in large numbers, the pay is being kept down.

I will let people know if I get far enough into any of these interviews where I get a serious offer what the amounts look like. Anecdotally its been interesting though and may reflect a real change happening in an "employee" job market.

[Stylo]

Advertising, finance, and development/tech jobs are not “niche” industries, and they pay a lot more in the tri-state area.

[Scottamemnon]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Advertising, finance, and development/tech jobs are not “niche” industries, and they pay a lot more in the tri-state area.

I work in IT for Insurance... what you would think is a core Hartford, and I am finding more money elsewhere... of course Hartford is loaded with H1B visa workers in IT which might be part of the issue.

Of course if you are in FFC it might be different, although to me living close to NYC is hell on earth, you couldn't pay me enough to be near that place. Also anywhere that requires a $1M house to live with a reasonable commute is silly in my opinion. All it took was one period of time where my wife and I both were laid off in the economic downturn, to tell us never to take on that much financial risk. To each their own though.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by Scottamemnon

I work in IT for Insurance... what you would think is a core Hartford, and I am finding more money elsewhere... of course Hartford is loaded with H1B visa workers in IT which might be part of the issue.

Of course if you are in FFC it might be different, although to me living close to NYC is hell on earth, you couldn't pay me enough to be near that place. Also anywhere that requires a $1M house to live with a reasonable commute is silly in my opinion. All it took was one period of time where my wife and I both were laid off in the economic downturn, to tell us never to take on that much financial risk. To each their own though.

IT in Hartford doesn’t pay like Stamford/NYC unfortunately.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

With my job I'd make less than half of what I make here in Florida. It's probably similar in Kentucky.

I highly doubt I'd come out ahead even with taxes and cost of living factored in. Probably even at best. The house always wins. You're either going to get squeezed by taxes, or salary, or real estate.... If you want more money in your pocket, don't change zip codes. Win Powerball. Or create an app.

One thing to keep in mind when looking at some of the so-called lower priced areas is that to live in the more popular neighborhoods where schools are considered to be very good, you may find that home prices are as high, if not higher than the Hartford area. A friend was seriously considering relocating but after extensive research found that comparable areas were more expensive. And while taxes were less, they would have likely have had to live in a planned community and paid a steep HOA fee. Added to local and county taxes, there was not a lot of difference in what he was paying here. This guy is pretty smart and thorough so I trust what he said. Jay

[DigitalMilford]

Development actually doesn't pay more here than average.

We did a full study as it's related to programs my company runs. The best bet for developers is Bentonville where Walmart developers average $119K and live like kings because, well, it's Bentonville.

In Connecticut developers average $95K-- the national average + $1,000. That's a good salary-- But it's not as far above average as in many places.

[Scottamemnon]

When I look around the country I like to use the following information.

1. Where are the BEST public schools in the state, and how much does a reasonable house in that school district cost. This was you avoid any problem with change in school quality between states.
2. How much does it pay in the city closest to that district.
3. What would be the total cost of living after all taxes (Income, Property, Excise, Gas, Sales, HOA fees, Health Insurance, Auto and House Insurance, etc) minus your reasonable expenses.
4. If the S**t hit the fan and both spouses were out of work, how long would it take to save enough money to cover a full year of expenses when taking into account the region's maximum unemployment benefit amount and time.

So I look for areas with relatively low house costs compared to pay, with great school systems. I have an excel spreadsheet I have created to do all the work for me after just entering in some of the %s and $$s.

Hartford scores fairly well on this chart because of towns like Avon and Simsbury.

There are other areas, like Hartford, that are not "super desirable cities" where you can find similar convergences out there for insurance industry people like myself. Places like Houston, TX, San Antonio, TX, Jacksonville, FL, Columbia, SC, Des Moines, IA, Indianapolis, IN, Charlotte, NC to name a few.

Now in all those instances you will see they are not where millennials want to be:
Houston - most would rather be in Dallas
San Antonio - most want Austin
Columbia - most want either Greenville or Charleston
Des Moines - most would rather head north to Minneapolis
Indianapolis - Probably more would rather head to Atlanta or Nashville
Charlotte - Raleigh Durham

Just like in Hartford, Millennials want Boston or New York

Where the Millennials want to be is where housing is super expensive and pay is being kept down for demand.

This is more important for a late Gen X'er like myself who is looking for a permanent spot to take advantage of the upswing in the economy, giving my family the greatest chance to have the quality of life and schools I had growing up. If you are later in your career making tons of money(the 1%), then I can understand why you wouldn't see value in moving... I probably wouldn't either in another 15 years or so. Its hard to get your equivalent value at another company if you have 10+ years into a single company.