Summarize Huntsville’s job market for a Northerner (Madison, York: buying, salaries)

[LoveXinfinity]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

Just to throw some numbers out for the OP, jobs that I know of in HR or typical office jobs in this area pay a salary in the 40's for the most part. Management level jobs are sort of all over the place in salary ranges depending on the company and industry. So basically if you are currently making say 80k and you are hoping to find a job in an office setting that is not management level making 70k, it probably isn't going to happen around here. They can hire people all day long from a list of hundreds in the 40k range.

Office jobs here in NJ typically start in the mid 40’s to low 50s. Over the last couple of years companies here are quick to lowball salaries

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by LoveXinfinity

I’m aware of the vast difference in the COL between the 2 areas and either way moving South for less pay is a win-win. I do not live in NYC nor do I work in NYC - I am in the suburbs of upstate NY and I work in NJ. Make no mistake where I live and work are expensive, but not nearly as expensive in NYC and the jobs in NJ do not pay as much as a job in NYC. The reason for my post to gain realistic expectations is what to expect with this job search. My fiancé has lived in the Madison County area over 20+ years but because he works at Redstone Arsenal and has for over 20+ years he tell me what to expect with the job market in corporation America. As far as making limitations for myself I am in a position that I can be and not lose out on anything.

The pay difference in NYC is because it’s ridiculously expensive to live there. The COL in NYC is driving out people left & right to move to Texas and NC.

High costs of doing business also drives corportations out of New York, and the farther you go west and east out of NYC, the more the winter weather sucks. At least here winter weather is not a huge concern ... ice and snow happen some but it's not a constant.

It's hard to say what an "office worker" gets paid. It depends on what that worker does. I'm retired, but all of our office workers were engineers, so were paid quite well. Secretaries typically made $30-40K, and that was 10 years ago. I would think an HR specialist, even not a manager, would make considerably more than that. But I honestly have no true knowledge of those fields.

I read an article a few days ago that the average "tech worker" (whatever that is) in Huntsville is paid more than those in North Carolina and Austin. https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-...n-tech-in-2016

[LoveXinfinity]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

High costs of doing business also drives corportations out of New York, and the farther you go west and east out of NYC, the more the winter weather sucks. At least here winter weather is not a huge concern ... ice and snow happen some but it's not a constant.

It's hard to say what an "office worker" gets paid. It depends on what that worker does. I'm retired, but all of our office workers were engineers, so were paid quite well. Secretaries typically made $30-40K, and that was 10 years ago. I would think an HR specialist, even not a manager, would make considerably more than that. But I honestly have no true knowledge of those fields.

I read an article a few days ago that the average "tech worker" (whatever that is) in Huntsville is paid more than those in North Carolina and Austin. https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-...n-tech-in-2016

Yes, over the last 10 years a lot of major corporations have left the NY/NJ area to move South. About 4 years ago Mercedes Benz moved their headquarters from NJ to Georgia, about 14 years ago Verizon Wireless moves their headquarters from NY to SC. I mention those two because they were huge losses for NY/NJ and both states offered both companies huge tax breaks to stick around. The winters here are AWFUL. Now that I’m “older” I ask myself what on Gods green earth made me stay here so long. Aside from the snow there’s the single digit weather for weeks on end. This past winter for 2 weeks straight the temperatures were in single digits and it’s not uncommon for the high of the day to be 8 degrees. When the weather is bad unless there’s a state of emergency be prepared for the job to be open. As I mentioned before, the salaries are good, but not good enough to cover the cost of living. A fixer upper home here in NY 1200 sq ft starts at $450k and to rent a 1 bedroom apt, zero amenities expect to shell out $1500 a month and it won’t be luxury living.

I was born & raised here, my parents still live in NY as well as a lot of my other family members, but I am over the NY experience. I’m sure making less money will be a shock to my system once I relocate, but the trade off which is a bette quality of life is priceless.

[Reactionary]

OP = "I love the slower pace..."

What does that mean? Do you plan to slack off at work

[LoveXinfinity]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

OP = "I love the slower pace..."

What does that mean? Do you plan to slack off at work

Hmmm, one never knows.....I just might😉

[Reactionary]

Fair enough. The question really wasn't directed solely at you - it's something that we hear a good bit (slower pace). I traveled to NJ (Picatinny and Fort Monmouth) for work and spent months and months in the area. People work about the same hours and at the same pace. People sleep about the same amount of time. So something must be happening in the non-work / sleep hours.

It seems to me that the South is (generally) more convenient, so people gain a little extra time that gets generalized as "slower pace". However, maybe it's that Southerners generally like to socialize when conducting business. Even if it's just chatting about someone's college sports team or talking about fishing, there seems to be a 'ritual' that must be observed.

[LoveXinfinity]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

Fair enough. The question really wasn't directed solely at you - it's something that we hear a good bit (slower pace). I traveled to NJ (Picatinny and Fort Monmouth) for work and spent months and months in the area. People work about the same hours and at the same pace. People sleep about the same amount of time. So something must be happening in the non-work / sleep hours.

It seems to me that the South is (generally) more convenient, so people gain a little extra time that gets generalized as "slower pace". However, maybe it's that Southerners generally like to socialize when conducting business. Even if it's just chatting about someone's college sports team or talking about fishing, there seems to be a 'ritual' that must be observed.

Please, here in NY/NJ area where I’m located everything is rush, rush, rush, rudeness and aggressive behaviors. Us Northerners are programmed that way. As much as I don’t want to be that way it’s so hard when that’s the environment you’ve been exposed to your entire life. I never had anything to compare and contrast to until I started visiting Alabama. People who know I’m relocating ask me all the time if I think I will be able to adapt to a “slower pace”. I welcome it at this stage of my life

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by LoveXinfinity

Please, here in NY/NJ area where I’m located everything is rush, rush, rush, rudeness and aggressive behaviors. Us Northerners are programmed that way. As much as I don’t want to be that way it’s so hard when that’s the environment you’ve been exposed to your entire life. I never had anything to compare and contrast to until I started visiting Alabama. People who know I’m relocating ask me all the time if I think I will be able to adapt to a “slower pace”. I welcome it at this stage of my life

I think it's as much size of the place as it is the "Southerness". Several of us went to play golf in Cullman a few days ago, and the friendliness and "laid backness" of the folks there is night and day higher than in the Huntsville area. I'm sure the NYC area is a complete zoo (I haven't spent much time there), but other comparable sized towns to Huntsville probably have about the same pace of living. Or at least that's my experience working with and visiting other cities in the northeast. I've never experienced "rude northerners" outside the large cities, and even there, NYC is by far the rudest of those.

[Reactionary]

Dawg - the times I've visited NYC have been very pleasant (although as a tourist). People were polite and friendly, even helpful :O Don't get me started on Boston...

OP - I'm sure you'll be fine here once you find a job you like. I enjoyed my time in NJ.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

Dawg - the times I've visited NYC have been very pleasant (although as a tourist). People were polite and friendly, even helpful :O Don't get me started on Boston...

OP - I'm sure you'll be fine here once you find a job you like. I enjoyed my time in NJ.

The one thing I remember most about visiting NYC (I've been there twice) was buying a subway ticket. There was a concave metal dish where you placed your money on the bottom of a glass window, and the attendant would take it and give you a ticket. Apparently the ticket office was somewhat pressurized, because when I put my bills in, they blew up and back in my direction. The "helpful" ticket agent yells, "You've got to push the f'in money through!". That one incident left a bad taste and he was neither helpful nor friendly. On the other hand, we went to the USO and the people there couldn't have been nicer. But it's all relative ... people in Boston are friendlier than in NYC.