[aamor1987]

My SO has the opportunity to transfer jobs to LV. Other than coming to Vegas for fun times, I have no idea what about the cost of living and general quality of life there... I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me:

I would be relocating from Austin, Texas. I would be renting (can't buy right now due to credit score). I have three kids in elementary school. I work in the legal field so I would be looking for a job in a law office.

How much can I expect to pay to rent a 3 bedroom house?
How competitive is the job market?
Decent place to raise a family?
Cost of child care (would be after school only)
How bad is traffic? (I've lived in LA so I've experienced some pretty bad traffic)
Any other stuff I should take into consideration?

[airics]

Originally Posted by aamor1987

My SO has the opportunity to transfer jobs to LV. Other than coming to Vegas for fun times, I have no idea what about the cost of living and general quality of life there... I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me:

I would be relocating from Austin, Texas. I would be renting (can't buy right now due to credit score). I have three kids in elementary school. I work in the legal field so I would be looking for a job in a law office.

How much can I expect to pay to rent a 3 bedroom house? $1200-$1500
How competitive is the job market? Very
Decent place to raise a family? Absolutely not! Unless you can afford private schools
Cost of child care (would be after school only) unknown
How bad is traffic? (I've lived in LA so I've experienced some pretty bad traffic). Not as bad as LA
Any other stuff I should take into consideration?

. Don't do it because of the schools

[PinkString]

Or move here and send the kids to private schools like so many other people do. The public schools are not so great.

[Camaro5]

I work in the legal group of a large corporation. Before I took this job I interviewed with a firm in Austin and almost ended up relocating there. I have friends in Austin and really like the town. As for legal jobs in Vegas, the pay is a little less than you would make in Austin, but not by much. Maybe 5% or so.

Vegas has a lot of smaller firms that seem to do a lot of personal injury work. There are also some jobs in corporate law and real estate. I work in intellectual property and there isn't much of that kind of work done in Vegas. If you have a lot of experience it will be easier to find something as there aren't a lot of qualified people there to fill a lot of positions.

I would suggest contacting some of the legal recruiters in town. Send them a resume and let them know what you're looking for.

[aamor1987]

Originally Posted by airics

. Don't do it because of the schools

I looked at a couple of property management websites in Las Vegas and I found houses for rent in the $900-$1100 range... Should I assume that those are in really bad neighborhoods?

What's so bad about the schools?

[aamor1987]

Originally Posted by Camaro5

I work in the legal group of a large corporation. Before I took this job I interviewed with a firm in Austin and almost ended up relocating there. I have friends in Austin and really like the town. As for legal jobs in Vegas, the pay is a little less than you would make in Austin, but not by much. Maybe 5% or so.

Vegas has a lot of smaller firms that seem to do a lot of personal injury work. There are also some jobs in corporate law and real estate. I work in intellectual property and there isn't much of that kind of work done in Vegas. If you have a lot of experience it will be easier to find something as there aren't a lot of qualified people there to fill a lot of positions.

I would suggest contacting some of the legal recruiters in town. Send them a resume and let them know what you're looking for.

I work for a small law firm in Austin that does personal injury and family law. Ideally I would be looking to stay in the personal injury field so it's good to know that is prevalent in Vegas. I have 5 years' experience. Here in Austin, I'm making about $32k a year and that seems to be pretty standard for paralegals in my area, which I'm pretty sure is considered "poverty level" for my family size. I looking at a few of the job postings in Vegas I see several firms offering $40-45k for paralegal salary and then of course there's tons of postings that don't list a salary at all.

[aamor1987]

Originally Posted by airics

. Don't do it because of the schools

Total Property Management | Las Vegas, Summerlin, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Paradise Total Property Management | View Our Available Rentals

These are all incredibly cheap but I have no idea if this is the ghetto or what.

[Camaro5]

Originally Posted by aamor1987

I work for a small law firm in Austin that does personal injury and family law. Ideally I would be looking to stay in the personal injury field so it's good to know that is prevalent in Vegas. I have 5 years' experience. Here in Austin, I'm making about $32k a year and that seems to be pretty standard for paralegals in my area, which I'm pretty sure is considered "poverty level" for my family size. I looking at a few of the job postings in Vegas I see several firms offering $40-45k for paralegal salary and then of course there's tons of postings that don't list a salary at all.

I think you could get $40-45K in Vegas. $32K seems a little low to me. A lot of it is just being at the right place at the right time and being a good fit for the position.

[SportyandMisty]

Plan on a budget of $1500/mo for rent and you'll be OK. You can certainly pay less, but for planning purposes, figure 1500. I suggest staying above $1100. Less than that and you risk being in a neighborhood you wouldn't want your kids to grow up in.

In addition to a safe neighborhood with access to good schools, I assume you would not want to be too far from where your SO would live - say within 10 or 20 minutes drive would be great while 45 minutes would not. Where would your SO work - on the Strip? Summerlin? Henderson? Downtown? Nellis? or would you & your SO live together?

[kcoliver]

Check on Zillow for "rough" prices for houses. Anywhere near Summerlin 89129 and Henderson should be o.k. That will also give you rating for schools. 3 bedroom house renting for about $1200 a month. Good Luck!