Is $100K/year salary comfortable for family of 3 in Johnson County? (Kansas City: mortgage, credit card)

[East Coast RN]

Thank you for the information! We are looking all over Overland Park and Olathe. I don't want to be too far away from everything but at the same time trying to stay within our budget and wherever the good school districts are.

Thanks

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by TinaMcG

The roads aren't just cleared quickly. They're repaved quickly. WOW. Last week, my husband left for work at 7am and workers were just setting up cones on a one-mile stretch of road on his way to the highway. When he came home at 6pm, the job was done: completely resurfaced and striped. Gorgeous.

We moved here from Chicago in 2007. That job would have taken several days minimum to do. Probably a week.

Then again...I live in Mission. I left in October 2013 to go on military orders with my husband. Johnson Drive beginning to be ripped out. Husband finished orders, we returned last week, one year later. Johnson Drive? Still ripped up, LOL!

In all fairness, it is a MASSIVE infrastructure project. But still, yeah...one solid calendar year on a main thoroughfare.

[East Coast RN]

That's not too bad considering some projects out here take forever to finish. At least the rest of the roads are nice.

Here you still have to deal with bad roads while waiting on construction to finish and end up being trapped in never ending traffic due to the construction. lol

I'm counting down the months until we can settle up here and sell our house and get the hell out of this state and move to KS.

[Reynardine]

We live in the southern part of Olathe (near 151st and MurLen) and like it. It's not as pricey as Overland Park and the traffic is less congested. It is not exciting by any means but has plenty of parks, churches, good schools and not much crime. Housing prices vary a great deal, but honestly most of them look very similar (except maybe for the downtown area, which is older and run down. I don't recommend it.) We moved here about 2 years ago and have found the people here to be very friendly and helpful as we've settled in.

A few downsides: There is a big highway project going on (Johnson County Gateway Project) that affects commute times and that might be something to look at when choosing where you want to live. But even "bad" traffic here isn't that awful. Public transportation out this way is not very good, so having a car is a must. The mall (Great Mall of the Great Plains) is half-deserted and kinda spooky. Lots of other shopping, though--almost anything you would need, and if you can't find it in Olathe, Overland Park is just minutes away.

[cardsneedoffense]

Where in MO are their jobs that pay 50k a year? Most places low balling here in stl.

[cardsneedoffense]

Originally Posted by cardsneedoffense

Where in MO are their jobs that pay 50k a year? Most places low balling here in stl.

I should mention I don't mean highly skilled professions like lawyer, pharmacist etc that pays 6 figures and such, but jobs that require a college education or technical degree.

Jobs that are barely even 30k a year I'm amazed on how much stuff they want you to know and prior work experience. I didn't see this even 4 years ago.

Is the economy really this bad? Even $13 an hour jobs I see want a BS or BA degree.

[East Coast RN]

Originally Posted by Reynardine

We live in the southern part of Olathe (near 151st and MurLen) and like it. It's not as pricey as Overland Park and the traffic is less congested. It is not exciting by any means but has plenty of parks, churches, good schools and not much crime. Housing prices vary a great deal, but honestly most of them look very similar (except maybe for the downtown area, which is older and run down. I don't recommend it.) We moved here about 2 years ago and have found the people here to be very friendly and helpful as we've settled in.

A few downsides: There is a big highway project going on (Johnson County Gateway Project) that affects commute times and that might be something to look at when choosing where you want to live. But even "bad" traffic here isn't that awful. Public transportation out this way is not very good, so having a car is a must. The mall (Great Mall of the Great Plains) is half-deserted and kinda spooky. Lots of other shopping, though--almost anything you would need, and if you can't find it in Olathe, Overland Park is just minutes away.

That's good to know. A lot of the affordable housing we saw was around that area in Olathe. We saw a few affordable ones in Overland Park but not much.

Where did you move from if you don't mind me asking? I'm afraid of having a hard time adjusting to life in the Midwest.

@cardsneedoffense, I'm not sure about jobs in the MO side. We are looking in Johnson County, KS.. pretty much Overland Park or Olathe. I'm a registered nurse with experience and I was quoted at a decent rate but I also have 3 degrees under my belt so I don't know if that is factored in.

I suppose the cost of living in MO makes regular jobs that require a degree pay less?
The cost of living is astronomical where I am right now and the pay isn't much better.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by East Coast RN

That's good to know. A lot of the affordable housing we saw was around that area in Olathe. We saw a few affordable ones in Overland Park but not much.

Where did you move from if you don't mind me asking? I'm afraid of having a hard time adjusting to life in the Midwest.

@cardsneedoffense, I'm not sure about jobs in the MO side. We are looking in Johnson County, KS.. pretty much Overland Park or Olathe. I'm a registered nurse with experience and I was quoted at a decent rate but I also have 3 degrees under my belt so I don't know if that is factored in.

I suppose the cost of living in MO makes regular jobs that require a degree pay less?
The cost of living is astronomical where I am right now and the pay isn't much better.

The quality of most houses built in the "newer" areas of Olathe within the last 20 years is highly questionable at best and quite mediocre to bad at the worst. You generally have to go up to a much higher price point in JOCO to get houses with high quality materials and high quality construction. If you are coming from the eastern US you will generally prefer the more established areas of the KC metro inside 435. The newer areas of SW JOCO will be a bit too much of a stark contrast IMO.

[East Coast RN]

@ Granite Thank you for the advice

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

The quality of most houses built in the "newer" areas of Olathe within the last 20 years is highly questionable at best and quite mediocre to bad at the worst. You generally have to go up to a much higher price point in JOCO to get houses with high quality materials and high quality construction. If you are coming from the eastern US you will generally prefer the more established areas of the KC metro inside 435. The newer areas of SW JOCO will be a bit too much of a stark contrast IMO.

I'm not one to defend JoCo haha, but crap housing in outer suburbia is not limited to JoCo. It's the same deal everywhere. If you want a quality new construction home, you will need to pay at least 50% more than the normal going rate for the size of the home you want.