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Florida is a RTW state with a highly transient, service based economy. So, some jobs may have comparable salaries to the rest of the country, but those jobs are too much of a minority for the size of the population. Sustainability. The majority of FL jobs available to the people who move there are no-pay, no-bene service McJobs. If you come to FL from the NE corridor, you will be shocked at what passes for business and corporate culture. There is no matrix you can find/use that will say FL attracts the best and brightest in business and tech. If you love Florida, thats great. Good for you, you found your place, but saying the job culture is good is like saying come to Mexico for the skiing.
RTW only means u cannot be forced to join a union as a preresiquit to get the job.
FL has the same jobs as anywhere else unless u are in some very specific field that is in only a couple of states. Nobody is saying FL attracts the best and brightest in business in tech. Frankly, those folks do nothing to make my day. Dont be comparing FL to the NE. Compare it to middle America because that is what it is. Your statement about no pay, no-bene mcjobs is not backed by any study of the wages in FL
The median income for FL is $26,451 according to the US Census and other reliable sources.
The national median is $28,051. Not much different.
Your life is based on two factors. STEM jobs and money. If u like chasing the buck, go for it. That way you can die with a big bank account and leave it your heirs.
You also fail to realize that the "good ole days" are gone. We are back to the 1920's now except the numbers are bigger.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by THX 1138
Your lucky or fortunate, there are a lot of lucky people here who lucked out finding a good job here and/or work in the right field. As I said in my post, some careers are lucrative here and some are not. Baby Boomers in general had it made or if you moved here back in the good ole days and could land a high paying job with no college degree or experience required. I know plenty here and elsewhere who are retiring in their 50's with quite a nice nest egg.
Case in point IBM who once was a big employer in Boca Raton, I know a couple, husband who is retired, wife still works but is nearing retirement, both lost their jobs at IBM when they pulled out of Boca but have not taken a hit afterwards, IBM took care of them. Back in the early 90's, the husband was making $85K/year, he was educated and had some experience, the wife was making $40K, she walked into the job with no experience and no education. Now in retrospect, $85K is around the median salary for an Engineer in Palm Beach County and but on average you will see new job postings with less than this and knowing several STEM related Engineers who are here and/or left, salaries in general are very flat and declined the past few years. That being said, there are people now who have 15 years or more experience who are barely hitting $85K here in the same field, due in fact there limited opportunity which also creates no competition between employers who needs high skilled workers, supply and demand 101.
Problems with incomes are hardest for those attempting to live in South Florida, where $12/hour just does not cut it anymore, reasons you see people up into their early 30's living with their parents or just have recently moved back in, they cannot afford housing with what typical unskilled jobs pay and do not have the same luck as their parents in landing jobs that they got 20 or 30 years ago with the same level of education and skillset...
For those who "busted their ass going to school" pissed away the time and money on degrees that arent worth the paper they are printed on.
Have u compared the COL in Philly to any same sized city in FL? Do the same for Denver, Boston and D.C.
Have you ever actually lived in any of those cities? Life in the big city is not all you think it is.
Enjoy Alaska.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonAnc
No, they absolutely are not. At the bottom, yes there isn't much difference. But for everyone else, who actually busted their ass going to school and working hard to be successful, Florida pays absolute s*** in a lot of professions.
In my personal circle of friends, all of whom grew up here, finished college, started their careers here, realized the pay sucks and they moved somewhere else. It has happened several times in fact.
My old roommate here was a manager in medical billing. Pay here, $60k. His pay after transferring to Philly, over $100k.
Another friend was a structural engineer here. Pay, $75k. Pay in Denver doing the same exact work, over $100k.
Another friend was a transportation planner here. Pay, around $60k a year. His pay in DC started at $80 something, now 2 years later he's making over $100k.
My best friend was an in-house psychologist for a locally headquartered company and made $70k. He's in Boston now doing basically the same work for a different firm making well over $100k.
I myself work as a PM/Estimator for GCs and suppliers for large scale municipal projects (like water plants, power plants, reservoirs, etc). I also have structural design experience, civil design experience and experience actually building commercial and community projects as general superintendent. I have degrees in architecture and construction management. The job here I just quit, I was making just over $50k a year, busting my ass 60+hrs a week (worked out to less than $13 an hr if looked at as an hourly job, not salaried). And I had been there almost 3 years and long since "proven" myself. Bottom line profits were up literally 30% from when I started, and had taken it upon myself to completely revamp the firm's estimating processes.
Anyways, my current girlfriend, her mother is HR Director for a headhunting firm in Alaska that places people in O&G jobs in Alaska, and govt contracting jobs all over the place. My gf sent her my resume without my knowledge, and they came to me a few months ago with an array of leads on jobs starting around $100k. In DC, Seattle, Chicago and Alaska. Their point to me was, you're selling yourself short by staying in Florida.
So now we're moving to Alaska after the holidays. My job is starting me at $87k with paid company vehicle, 12 free airline vouchers a year (they pay for your work flights, these are above that, so I can fly back to FL for free). I also will be working just a half schedule, two weeks on, two weeks off (140hrs a month is what's in my contract). I could have worked full time for much more pay, but we have a baby, so I don't want to be working constantly right now. Plus I'm burned out from being worked like a dog for so many years in Florida (haven't had a vacation since 2011. My last employer heavily frowned on the management level people actually taking the days they're given. They expected you to cash them in at Christmas when the company shuts down for the week).
RTW only means u cannot be forced to join a union as a preresiquit to get the job.
FL has the same jobs as anywhere else unless u are in some very specific field that is in only a couple of states. Nobody is saying FL attracts the best and brightest in business in tech. Frankly, those folks do nothing to make my day. Dont be comparing FL to the NE. Compare it to middle America because that is what it is. Your statement about no pay, no-bene mcjobs is not backed by any study of the wages in FL
The median income for FL is $26,451 according to the US Census and other reliable sources.
The national median is $28,051. Not much different.
Your looking at Per Capita Incomes, which typically is skewed by high wage earners. Just like when you see a company moving into an area, they say they will be hiring 100 employees at an average salary of $60K, well thing they fail to mention is that average is high based on 10 or 20 higher pay management or VP level salaries and that most will probably earn $30K.
In terms of Median Household Incomes:
Florida is ranked 36th in terms of the Median Household Incomes and actually it dropped 2 places from 2000 in this category.
Your life is based on two factors. STEM jobs and money. If u like chasing the buck, go for it. That way you can die with a big bank account and leave it your heirs.
You also fail to realize that the "good ole days" are gone. We are back to the 1920's now except the numbers are bigger.
\\
Why do you keep living in denial? STEM is where I invest in heavily, though my portfolio is diverse I own stock in Google, Apple and Tesla and I got in early with all. So I keep abreast on the markets and jobs. My line of work also has me in this business so it's just my thing.
Florida lags in the creation of high skilled/high paying jobs, though Gov. Skeletor said that was his mission, he has failed at doing much of anything. Though we need those $11/hour Amazon jobs, for those who did not decide to further their education and go into a high skilled profession, it's not going to help in the long haul.
It's funny you say we are back in the 1920's now...yet keep saying how great the jobs are in Florida and that salaries are just fine, don't complain life is good.
Your looking at Per Capita Incomes, which typically is skewed by high wage earners. Just like when you see a company moving into an area, they say they will be hiring 100 employees at an average salary of $60K, well thing they fail to mention is that average is high based on 10 or 20 higher pay management or VP level salaries and that most will probably earn $30K.
In terms of Median Household Incomes:
Florida is ranked 36th in terms of the Median Household Incomes and actually it dropped 2 places from 2000 in this category.
For those who "busted their ass going to school" pissed away the time and money on degrees that arent worth the paper they are printed on.
Have u compared the COL in Philly to any same sized city in FL? Do the same for Denver, Boston and D.C.
Have you ever actually lived in any of those cities? Life in the big city is not all you think it is.
Enjoy Alaska.
You sound very bitter...I do not agree with you, I went to UPenn and my degree has worked wonders, but also has hard work and determination, I'm very lucky and I got to this point not with a silver spoon in my mouth like many kids in my area have hanging out of their mouths. I did not go to a private school which cost $25K/year, nope good old public school system outside of Philly. I happen to be in a field that works well here, because money is plentiful here and people need means to manage it and make proper investments.
I could have easily stayed in the Northeast and made more money than here, I took a pay cut moving to Palm Beach County back in the 90's. PA has the lowest State Income Tax rate of all the states that have a tax, aside from property taxes it's easy to live in and around Philly and earn more money than here for some professions
The job market is much stronger, also more to fall back on for many. Here you may relocate and have no other options but to leave the state if your job does not last.
Also to the OP who was spot on, other areas have better job markets and higher salaries, yes though the COL may be higher it's all relative to the income which you would have a snowballs chance in hell getting in Florida...
36. Kinda in the middle. Slightly lower than middle. What are you expecting? FL cant be everything to everybody.
For a state with the 4th highest population, probably will be ranked 3rd in the next go around, it's quite bad...not a fan of Texas but it's a better state for jobs and incomes than here.
Why do you keep living in denial? STEM is where I invest in heavily, though my portfolio is diverse I own stock in Google, Apple and Tesla and I got in early with all. So I keep abreast on the markets and jobs. My line of work also has me in this business so it's just my thing.
Florida lags in the creation of high skilled/high paying jobs, though Gov. Skeletor said that was his mission, he has failed at doing much of anything. Though we need those $11/hour Amazon jobs, for those who did not decide to further their education and go into a high skilled profession, it's not going to help in the long haul.
It's funny you say we are back in the 1920's now...yet keep saying how great the jobs are in Florida and that salaries are just fine, don't complain life is good.
Like I said in an earlier post: U can feel comfortable that you will die with a huge estate.
Yes, FL lags in creation of high skilled/high paying jobs. That is a known fact. For those who need those high skilled/high paying jobs they need to be in metro areas that can meet those requirements. What is so hard about that? No state can have everything. Then they can use their high pay to pay $40k a year in rent, let the city/state take a cut of their high pay, let the utilities take a cut, the insurance companies and everyone else while they are busy making those big bucks.
For a state with the 4th highest population, probably will be ranked 3rd in the next go around, it's quite bad...not a fan of Texas but it's a better state for jobs and incomes than here.
Why are u not there then? Or any where else that u feel is more conducive to your desires??
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