Where should I move after I graduate?

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by jetgraphics

Just stay away from Dixie, where folks are living very well on far less.
A "Starter" home (3 bed, 2 ba, 2 car garage) in our area runs $90k - $150K. ($770 month mortgage payment)

You can actually find that or something similar in parts of the Interior/Inland Northeast as well, but in regards to the OP, it depends on what he is looking for.

[snoopygirlmi]

You really should research the type of job (and the salary range) beforehand, which will help you determine where you want to live.

A lot of regional cities pay well and offer a decent lifestyle at a less expensive price tag. A lot will also depend on the size of the company that you end up working for.

When my husband was a IT hiring manager, one of his biggest pet peeves was interviewing candidates who expected a bigger salary than his company could offer for an entry-level position. Their salary demands were just unreasonable given the skill set needed for the job (and the fact that a lot of candidates often didn't have any or all of the asked for skills in the first place). There's a range which you can expect for any given job and it will vary based on location (but the range won't vary too much w/in a specific location.....when you start interviewing, then you'll get a feel for what that range is because the same numbers will pop up all the time.)

All I'm saying is be realistic about what your skills are actually worth in the marketplace and be open/trainable.

For comparison purposes, I've looked up salaries for Detroit and NYC (I'm in the Detroit area, so it was just on the top of my mind)

https://www.payscale.com/research/US...vel-Detroit-MI

https://www.payscale.com/research/US...b0/New-York-NY

https://www.payscale.com/research/US...el-Portland-OR

It sounds like 100K is at the higher end and that $70K is more realistic in NYC

But it looks like 55K is on the higher end here in Detroit and about 45K is average/more realistic.

Portland looks like 60K is average and $130K is on the higher end.

These are just data points to get you thinking. But until you can prove to yourself that you can look at more pie in the sky places to live, I'd caution you to error with being more conservative. Everyone thinks that they are going to want the job that pays the most, but the thing is that job that makes you happy may not be the job that pays the most.

So, in the end, I really don't know where you should live, but I think you should live somewhere and do something that brings joy and happiness to your life. Good luck!

[citylove101]

Aside from NYC, which I would always recommend to someone in your situation, I’d give strong consideration to metro DC, which has a wealth of employment opportunities in IT (both public and private sector), a (somewhat) lower COL, a decent mass transit system, proximity to family, and amenities and entertainment options amenable to twenty somethings. I’d give DC serious consideration.