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My family and I are considering moving to Hamilton Montana from Northern California. My main concern is financial stability. We’ve both had a couple job inquiries which is exiting but with the wages being so much lower there than in ca. I’m concerned about costs of living. We just want a comfortable life for our family, nothing crazy. Also I’m starting in my bachelors hopefully to be a high school agriculture teacher where I know in ca there’s loads of job vacancies for. How is it raising a family there, we have a toddler and we just want know that we will be able to support ourselves especially with child care and health insurance prices taken into consideration. Do you guys live well off $13-18 an hour? Also I should mention we visited close friends out there recently and we absolutely love the area and the people. Thanks so much, any insight on raising your kids or experiences moving there are greatly appreciated.
My family and I are considering moving to Hamilton Montana from Northern California. My main concern is financial stability. We’ve both had a couple job inquiries which is exiting but with the wages being so much lower there than in ca. I’m concerned about costs of living. We just want a comfortable life for our family, nothing crazy. Also I’m starting in my bachelors hopefully to be a high school agriculture teacher where I know in ca there’s loads of job vacancies for. How is it raising a family there, we have a toddler and we just want know that we will be able to support ourselves especially with child care and health insurance prices taken into consideration. Do you guys live well off $13-18 an hour? Also I should mention we visited close friends out there recently and we absolutely love the area and the people. Thanks so much, any insight on raising your kids or experiences moving there are greatly appreciated.
Cost of living should definitely be a concern. I don't know how Hamilton is specifically but western Montana is expensive. $13 to $18 an hour is **** poor pay everywhere, especially with a child and that area is no exception. Teachers in Montana have some of the lowest salaries in the nation and job competition in that area is fierce.
You fell in love with the area because you were on vacation. Every vacation destination is relaxing because you aren't doing housework or going to work. You were probably having leisurely days and taking part in various activities. That will just be a weekend thing if you have a decent job. If you're making the wages you mentioned you will likely be working on the weekends as well. People who live in the area don't live like they're on vacation and they have jobs just like everyone else does. The scenery there will become a backdrop just like it is in your home state because you will see it every day. If you do think you want to live there visit in the winter and don't do many tourist activities. Do your research on cost of things like groceries, utilities, housing, etc. Get a vacation rental and live as if you would during the week.
A special note on being from California. That area has been flooded with Californians for the last 30+ years. Cost of living has gone up dramatically. California has become a dirty word in Montana. It is MUCH more conservative politically than California is. Many lifelong residents of the area see their way of life as being threatened by people moving in. This is not to say that you wouldn't make friends with other transplants or with people who live there, but be careful what you say about things like politics (liberal is also a dirty word) or even remotely come across as saying the way you did things in California is better. If you make a visit in the winter spend some time talking to locals in places like the bars. See how different it is from summer when those that own second properties have moved on. See how they respond to someone from out of the area.
* the best things you can be prepared for are the ferocity of the winters (so start shopping for winter clothes)....& Put aside money to make sure your vehicles can be winterized properly. Depending where you are going to have a home you might want to consider studded tires or all season tires. & Reading about winter driving.
* For what it's worth quite a few people in Montana and nearby states keep their families in the rural state & keep jobs on the West Coast, or work on the road (railroad, airline, oil field, etc.) If one spouse is willing to travel for work a great standard of living can be had.
* Montana is great for kids who like outdoors, extreme sports, and hunting.
Living in a luxurious manner can be costly. The lower taxes can offset annual cost of living, but if you want a "McMansion" type house set up, brand new everything, and fancy cars, you'll need to make sure there are at least 2 incomes coming in. IMO the advertising images the rest of the country sees of Montana tend to be geared towards pushing tourism (which is awesome) but the local Montanan can live modestly and is happy about it. It's not like other regions where the neighbors give you the stink eye because you're drinking Coors and doing carpentry work in your front yard.
There are a lot of eccentric people in Montana. Be warned. Even the city police want everyone to do the "live and let live" thing.
edit to add- have you considered Utah as well? It has a lot of the pluses of life in Montana without the higher price tag & some regions have more mild winter. I've been to Vernal and it's really nice. For what it's worth Idaho and Montana have been "the coolest/most hyped" in terms of states people want to retire to so that is reflected in the pricing of housing, goods and services.
Last edited by SkyLark2019; 08-29-2020 at 05:07 PM..
You can't live comfortably in the NW/Western region on $13-$18/hr for 1 income. The cost of living here, especially housing, is getting higher and higher. a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom "normal" home on 1 acre of land in a subdivision just sold for $425k right behind me.
My family and I are considering moving to Hamilton Montana from Northern California. My main concern is financial stability. We’ve both had a couple job inquiries which is exiting but with the wages being so much lower there than in ca. I’m concerned about costs of living. We just want a comfortable life for our family, nothing crazy. Also I’m starting in my bachelors hopefully to be a high school agriculture teacher where I know in ca there’s loads of job vacancies for. How is it raising a family there, we have a toddler and we just want know that we will be able to support ourselves especially with child care and health insurance prices taken into consideration. Do you guys live well off $13-18 an hour? Also I should mention we visited close friends out there recently and we absolutely love the area and the people. Thanks so much, any insight on raising your kids or experiences moving there are greatly appreciated.
From one Californian looking at moving to Montana to another Californian looking at moving to Montana: if you lean way left then just stay out of Montana, it will be best for you and for the rest of us who aren't lefties looking to leave this politically psychotic state, OR, move to Missoula where your lefty tendencies will fit in better. If you're not a left leaning nut, I found one of the best ways to get a Montanan or Wyomingite on your side when they ask where you're from, is to say: yes, we're from California but don't worry, we're not all liberal snowflakes.
I got more chuckles from people with that phrase and I could tell it put them at ease.
Understand that only 6 Montana counties voted blue in 2016.
If you're a lefty and you like your California wages, then just stay here. Good luck.
For what it's worth plenty of old hippies call Montana home. I don't think there's a huge problem with intolerance of world views.
I've personally seen native Montanans defuse public arguments about politics, because honestly, everyone has better things to do than have that sort of dispute.
Back on topic, it is not that odd to see households in MT with the main breadwinner working out of state and coming home on weekends or every other month. That's normal for oil field jobs, and transportation jobs, and so on. If you really really want to have a place in Western Montana, you can work out of state and return home during time off. Not everyone can adjust to that lifestyle, but many make it work out.
I've been doing a lot of research about CoL where I am at in San Antonio vs Helena MT where my company has a site at. I can tell you this, San Antonio CoL is lower than Helena, MT by about $2-3K a year in expenses. In essence, if you make $60K in San Antonio, you can expect to make $62-63K for the same job in Helena; in essence. One of the biggest differences too between where you're at CA vs MT, is networking hubs. You've got a LOT of businesses in CA on the west coast between bigger and smaller cities that DO NOT shut down during winter. While I am not a MT native; I've got family friends that live out near Conrad, and just recently found out I have some family living near the North Eastern border in Montana that once winter comes, they "shut-up-shop".
I don't know what your current profession is, but I've got my MBA in Supply Chain and working on my 2nd Master via Project Management right now; you've got some big shipping hubs if you're in the Supply Chain field that can give you a lot of what you want without losing too much on your income, but you've got to get in and "in my opinion", they're more willing to gamble a job on a local than an out of stater if you don't already work for the company.
^^ Could part of the "shut up shop" aspect be seasonal businesses that rely on tourism? I knew plenty of people who lived off of tourist industry $$$ all year, and enjoyed that. So for some seasonal business isn't a hardship. (Covid 19 year not counting towards this observation, it's thrown everything out of whack.)
OP you might want to read local to Montana Facebook groups to get more personal observations on relocating there.
^^ Could part of the "shut up shop" aspect be seasonal businesses that rely on tourism? I knew plenty of people who lived off of tourist industry $$$ all year, and enjoyed that. So for some seasonal business isn't a hardship. (Covid 19 year not counting towards this observation, it's thrown everything out of whack.)
OP you might want to read local to Montana Facebook groups to get more personal observations on relocating there.
That's a real good question there SkyLark; I haven't a clue and didn't think of that. The family friend out in/near Conrad works for county and his wife is in the medical field so they don't really "slow-down" as much as just "change-gears" for what their jobs need. The one out in NE MT though; I think its near Westby from what my dad was telling me yesterday. He was a bit surprised to hear that we had any family out there as well so we're not really sure. Maybe a 3rd/4th cousin type of deal; he's still trying to make contact.
We are also considering this move to Hamilton as well and maybe i'm just being ridiculous but we work at home, can work anywhere in america and earn almost 4x the avg montana income, but once we move to hamilton, i might not have my job for more than another year, so at that stage we may only have my wife's $90k salary and that actually freaks me out a little. I dont think even $20 p/h (roughly $40k) is enough for one family practically anywhere in America, nvm a place i assume with much higher heating bills 2/3 of the year due to the cold.
Not trying to talk you out of it, but for sure you'll need two incomes or one at least $30 p/h, you could prob survive on $40k maybe, but that would be it, surviving you would have zero safety net and i don't know about you, but every single month for me something comes up without fail, its just life.
Also right now covid has skewed everything, from the jobs on offer to the cost of homes and living, nothing is the norm, so even basing any current facts on a future move would be really dangerous in my opinion.
One thing you could look at is doing your own business, even if it brings in only $10k a yr. its another source of revenue.
Let me share something i've come to know is true, you cannot only have one source of income, always have as many as possible, so that means maybe working for someone else, but also working for yourself. You'll feel safer and be financially safer.
As for moving to Hamilton specifically, i know the highschool it rated really high, which is a very good indicator for the entire town.
And lastly, everyone always uses phrases like, "they are all republicans they hate libs" or "locals hate out of staters"... blah blah.... i've lived in multiple places in america and the world and visited more. Most people couldn't give two ****s. As long as you are nice, helpful and kind, most people just couldn't care less what your beliefs are or where you are from.
Last edited by firetraq; 09-07-2020 at 06:32 PM..
Reason: spelling
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