What area is best for healthcare jobs?

[Tyryztoll]

OP, you and I share some similarities! I'm also an RT, but a different one (Radiologic Technologist). We also came here from TX (DFW) a year and a half ago.

We lived in Lakeville in the southern burbs of the cities the first year and loved it. I worked in Edina on the border of Minneapolis and the commute was a breeze, even at rush hour (compared to to other big cities I've lived in). In the southern burbs (i.e. Lakeville, Eagan, Burnsville, Rosemount, Apple Valley) you have a great vantage point to get to a wide variety of medical facilities, hospital or otherwise, and the access to stuff such as the airport, MOA, and both of the Twin Cities is excellent. We paid $1700 for a nice 3BR duplex in Lakeville, but wanted to buy after a year and wound up getting a place in the far, FAR north metro because home prices are so much cheaper up here....then I transferred jobs to be up here concurrently. The house is great, but after being here 3 months I have to admit I miss living in Lakeville and the southern burbs badly. It's very remote out here and a long way from a lot of the stuff we enjoyed doing and being close to, plus the north side of town is much less scenic than the south side IMO, unless you're sitting on one of the many lakes. There are only a handful of medical facilities to work at up here also, so if you become dissatisfied with your job you're looking at a long commute should a change be warranted.

Rochester's a nice town, but has nowhere near as much to offer as the cities on any level (aside from the medical care provided at Mayo) and is kind of isolated. I came very close to working for Mayo before deciding on the TC metro instead and I'm glad I didn't take that job for many reasons. Too much of an "all eggs in one basket" scenario for me.

Duluth is beautiful, but again isolated, and is a big union town. Not my cup of tea.

We are from northern Michigan originally, which has snows similar to upstate NY. If you handled that, you will have no problem here......just keep in mind there'll be a lot more people on those winter roads to contend with in a major metro. Common sense and patience is most of the battle where that's concerned.

Let us know where you wind up!

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by Ambubaggins

Thanks for all the info! Are there new construction homes or neighborhoods going up in Rochester or other areas? I’d heard Duluth is nice but slow for housing and not many options.

New construction is booming in all the MPLS/St. Paul 2nd and 3rd tier suburbs (i.e. anywhere there is open land).

[Ambubaggins]

I’ve heard great things about working in the twin cities. That being my only concern is finding job availability since coming from out of state can make it hard to compete with the locals for the jobs. Rent seems so high but I’m hearing that income actually helps with that, whereas Austin, rent is high and income is very low! I will definitely look at the south side for living!

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by Ambubaggins

I’ve heard great things about working in the twin cities. That being my only concern is finding job availability since coming from out of state can make it hard to compete with the locals for the jobs. Rent seems so high but I’m hearing that income actually helps with that, whereas Austin, rent is high and income is very low! I will definitely look at the south side for living!

The MPLS/St. Paul metro has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. That should translate to having an easier time in finding a job.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by Ambubaggins

I’ve heard great things about working in the twin cities. That being my only concern is finding job availability since coming from out of state can make it hard to compete with the locals for the jobs. Rent seems so high but I’m hearing that income actually helps with that, whereas Austin, rent is high and income is very low! I will definitely look at the south side for living!

You're right, it's highly competitive. You have to be persistent and you have to have a plan. I bugged the living **** out of my current employer before I finally got the gig, but once they saw I was serious about coming here and that I had everything ready to go they didn't hesitate to reel me in, although they didn't give me any relocation bonus. That was tough to overcome because as we all know moving is not cheap, especially moving out of state......but we wanted to be here, so we made it happen. A year and a half later we don't regret our decision.