[CampingMom]

Good morning,

The hubby and I were talking and decided to also put FL on the list of places to look to relocate in the fall of 2016. All our kids will be out-youngest starting college. So we are looking to start over somewhere new. Both of us will be in our early 50's and won't move until jobs are firmly in hand.

That being said, I am a school bus dispatcher. I do have a CDL B , but prefer to stay in the office side of the industry now. In NY, I am also a 19-A examiner/driver trainer. That means I do drivers behind the wheel testing and written tests to meet safety guidelines. I'd like to stick with it if possible, if not I guess I go back to being a driver.

Hubby was a concrete dispatcher for 21 years. He's been doing odd jobs since 2008 as his company sold and let everyone go. There are just no jobs here in the Hudson Valley of NYS that pay a living wage. So he's thinking of going back into it or go work for a durable medical goods place like he did part time here for the last 4 years as a certified tech handling liquid oxygen.

We are hoping to find a nice town, not into big cities, yet jobs probably are better near them. Looking for a 2000 Sqft home, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, hoping for a pool. $250K or less. We have no mortgage as our home is paid off so we'll be in good shape when we leave here. Hubby is a big fishing guy-salt and freshwater. Hunting too. We do a lot of camping in our camper-we've always gone to Fort Desoto in St. Petersburg, KOA in Maderia Beach or Fort Wilderness at Disney. Not looking for rural at all, but near enough to get to stores and such but not bogged down with major traffic either.

His family has lived in FL since the late 60's-his grandparents lived on Key West for 30+ years. One of our kids lives in St. Pete. One lives in SC-Myrtle Beach. So kind of looking to be near enough for a one day drive to either.

So give me some ideas. Where the best chances of jobs might be since that'll be dictating our move. Thanks very much!

[kyle19125]

As a FL native and someone residing in the state again currently I would urge looking elsewhere if wanting to relocate someplace where living wage jobs are plentiful. Over 60% of available jobs don't pay a living wage here and among those that do 10-15 applicants exist for that one job, and nearly 10 for those that do not. Given your work experience, desire for access to the beaches/fishing and housing budget I would highly recommend checking out SE Georgia (Savannah, Brunswick, St Simon's) or even around Charleston SC where the cost of living is more in tune with wages and job opportunities are more available/less competitive.

[CampingMom]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

As a FL native and someone residing in the state again currently I would urge looking elsewhere if wanting to relocate someplace where living wage jobs are plentiful. Over 60% of available jobs don't pay a living wage here and among those that do 10-15 applicants exist for that one job, and nearly 10 for those that do not. Given your work experience, desire for access to the beaches/fishing and housing budget I would highly recommend checking out SE Georgia (Savannah, Brunswick, St Simon's) or even around Charleston SC where the cost of living is more in tune with wages and job opportunities are more available/less competitive.

Those are some of the other areas we've been looking. Youngest looks to be headed to Savannah College of Art. We've been looking around there too for ideas.

So FL is much like NY in terms of low wages huh? Here the median income to have a family of 4(we are 5) is 93K. I don't even make 40K and hubby has been out of work again since June when the other place he worked at moved and let him go.

It's getting depressing not being able to find a new place that has jobs we can feed/house ourselves. I have no more hope for getting better either.

[snowtired14]

Originally Posted by CampingMom

Good morning,

The hubby and I were talking and decided to also put FL on the list of places to look to relocate in the fall of 2016. All our kids will be out-youngest starting college. So we are looking to start over somewhere new. Both of us will be in our early 50's and won't move until jobs are firmly in hand.

That being said, I am a school bus dispatcher. I do have a CDL B , but prefer to stay in the office side of the industry now. In NY, I am also a 19-A examiner/driver trainer. That means I do drivers behind the wheel testing and written tests to meet safety guidelines. I'd like to stick with it if possible, if not I guess I go back to being a driver.

Hubby was a concrete dispatcher for 21 years. He's been doing odd jobs since 2008 as his company sold and let everyone go. There are just no jobs here in the Hudson Valley of NYS that pay a living wage. So he's thinking of going back into it or go work for a durable medical goods place like he did part time here for the last 4 years as a certified tech handling liquid oxygen.

We are hoping to find a nice town, not into big cities, yet jobs probably are better near them. Looking for a 2000 Sqft home, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, hoping for a pool. $250K or less. We have no mortgage as our home is paid off so we'll be in good shape when we leave here. Hubby is a big fishing guy-salt and freshwater. Hunting too. We do a lot of camping in our camper-we've always gone to Fort Desoto in St. Petersburg, KOA in Maderia Beach or Fort Wilderness at Disney. Not looking for rural at all, but near enough to get to stores and such but not bogged down with major traffic either.

His family has lived in FL since the late 60's-his grandparents lived on Key West for 30+ years. One of our kids lives in St. Pete. One lives in SC-Myrtle Beach. So kind of looking to be near enough for a one day drive to either.

So give me some ideas. Where the best chances of jobs might be since that'll be dictating our move. Thanks very much!

So you're probably talking about the Jacksonville area to be in between kids, is that the Florida you're thinking of? Or are you thinking palm trees and beaches and tiki bars further south? I don't live in FL, we're waiting for retirement (about two years), one reason being pay levels, so I'd heed kyle's advice. The only thing I'd differ with kyle on is YOU'RE definition of living wage. If you're living in Dutchess, Westchester, or Putnam county NY, you know FL is cheaper to live in and you might make it on a lot less than what some people may consider a minimum acceptable paycheck. Another caution, we have friends who live down there, jobs like bus drivers are county and municipal jobs and they're usually snatched up pretty quickly by locals, just something to keep in mind. Good luck.

[froglipz]

Florida pay is not NY pay. Lots of work but not good pay