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I am absolutely loving reading all these responses. Thank you all for taking the time.
Quick status update - we are planning on traveling to Anchorage in January. See it at the worst of the worst. Also, we are super concerned about the job factor there vs what we're used to in Colorado. The plan is if we don't have jobs before we leave or don't have a ridiculous amount of money saved this summer, we wait a year and save more.
Although, a lot of Alaska can be hard to get to, that’s what makes Alaska Alaska. We don’t have roads going everywhere and, yes, you will have to spend money on either buying “toys” to get you way out or chartering someone to get you out and back. I’d rather spend money on a boat or snowmachine than an overpriced car or a giant house just to impress the neighbors.
That said, there is plenty of Alaska you can reach by muscle power at much lower cost. The southcentral area has trails galore and plenty of wilderness just on the other side of the first set of mountains. I could walk out of my house in Anchorage, cross 2 roads and hike for hundreds of miles – to Canada and beyond – and crossexactly one other road (Richardson Hwy). A 500,000 acre state park is within minutes of anywhere in Anchorage. Like the water? Canoeing, kayaking, rafting, and sea kayaking areall options in this area.
As for employment, take what pitts says with a grain of salt. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything positive written by him. Yes, the oil industry is down but it ain’t gone. Theyare pumping more oil now than a few years ago. Other jobs are less plentiful but there are still plenty around. You guys sound flexible and my advice would be to move up even if you don’t have jobs lined up – with an escape plan. It is easier to find a job living here than living elsewhere. You just simply hear about more opportunities being here. Live frugally and don’t be quick to snub your nose at availableopenings.
I’d suggest maybe coming to visit near the end of February when Fur Rondy is going on. It will still be winter and you’ll have some activities/attractions to check out. Just be warned, spending a week or two here will not give you a full appreciation for the weather. It won’tbe like Colorado and it won’t be quite what you expect either.
Not in medical, oil, or engineering. My husband and I both work in fields that apply anywhere there are moderate sized cities. He works in retail, warehousing, or manufacturing. I work in office administration, education, or real estate. We both have years of management experience also. Not looking to make $100K, we don't make that here.
Real estate is doing surprisingly well in Anchorage, my guess is it is being indirectly propped up by the drug trade. I am not sure what else people are doing that give them enough money to buy a house, you cant exactly be working at mcdonalds to get a loan these days. BUT it does seem to be doing well.
I am absolutely loving reading all these responses. Thank you all for taking the time.
Quick status update - we are planning on traveling to Anchorage in January. See it at the worst of the worst. Also, we are super concerned about the job factor there vs what we're used to in Colorado. The plan is if we don't have jobs before we leave or don't have a ridiculous amount of money saved this summer, we wait a year and save more.
January is not always worst of the worst, I have seen many Januarys where we get strange weather patterns that actually raise the temps to above freezing, sometimes in the low 40's. Granted the roads get horrible and then refreeze at night so driving conditions in Jan are probably the worst but worst low temps are probably February.
Although, a lot of Alaska can be hard to get to, that’s what makes Alaska Alaska. We don’t have roads going everywhere and, yes, you will have to spend money on either buying “toys” to get you way out or chartering someone to get you out and back. I’d rather spend money on a boat or snowmachine than an overpriced car or a giant house just to impress the neighbors.
That said, there is plenty of Alaska you can reach by muscle power at much lower cost. The southcentral area has trails galore and plenty of wilderness just on the other side of the first set of mountains. I could walk out of my house in Anchorage, cross 2 roads and hike for hundreds of miles – to Canada and beyond – and crossexactly one other road (Richardson Hwy). A 500,000 acre state park is within minutes of anywhere in Anchorage. Like the water? Canoeing, kayaking, rafting, and sea kayaking areall options in this area.
As for employment, take what pitts says with a grain of salt. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything positive written by him. Yes, the oil industry is down but it ain’t gone. Theyare pumping more oil now than a few years ago. Other jobs are less plentiful but there are still plenty around. You guys sound flexible and my advice would be to move up even if you don’t have jobs lined up – with an escape plan. It is easier to find a job living here than living elsewhere. You just simply hear about more opportunities being here. Live frugally and don’t be quick to snub your nose at availableopenings.
I’d suggest maybe coming to visit near the end of February when Fur Rondy is going on. It will still be winter and you’ll have some activities/attractions to check out. Just be warned, spending a week or two here will not give you a full appreciation for the weather. It won’tbe like Colorado and it won’t be quite what you expect either.
I think minimizing how bad oil has been hit does everyone a dis-service. That is true, it is easier to find a job while you are here but I think its wrong to tell people that the oil lay offs and lack of hiring is some kind of minor event. The lay offs were extensive and they are not re-hiring other than a few token positions where they over shot with the mass lay offs. No the oil pipeline is not shut down but they are producing oil with FAR fewer people and they are doing almost no drilling or major projects.
I am probably more negative than nessicary but what has been happening in Alaska is very serious and people need to be smart about what they are doing, it is not unrealistic to assume that it will take someone out of state with no network up here at least 6 months to find a GOOD job.
We have not seen the trickle down effects yet of a huge glut of 6 figure jobs disappearing (and the spending those jobs provided in the local economy), it may never happen if the drug trade and the other mystery industries that keep producing people that can qualify for a home loan on a 300k + home.
If you have veteran status there are federal jobs and those have iron clad job security and decent pay, they could be helping the economy as they are almost completely insulated from lay offs so they can take on loans and maintain spending, that may be part of why we are not seeing boarded up buildings yet.
If you have veteran status there are federal jobs and those have iron clad job security and decent pay, they could be helping the economy as they are almost completely insulated from lay offs so they can take on loans and maintain spending, that may be part of why we are not seeing boarded up buildings yet.
Being a long term federal employee I say to be very cautious about this expectation. The "federal jobs" available are typically military...or military supportive. You will not find much in the civilian agency arena. Some public health service and VA positions, but not many. For federal job listings, you really need to search on USAJOBS and you'll see what I mean. Lots of the listings are long standing ones that create registers of qualified applicants, not actual vacancies. The salaries may be modest but many people take them because of more stable benefits.
I am probably more negative than nessicary but what has been happening in Alaska is very serious and people need to be smart about what they are doing, it is not unrealistic to assume that it will take someone out of state with no network up here at least 6 months to find a GOOD job.
We have not seen the trickle down effects yet of a huge glut of 6 figure jobs disappearing (and the spending those jobs provided in the local economy), it may never happen if the drug trade and the other mystery industries that keep producing people that can qualify for a home loan on a 300k + home.
I think a big part of our differing advice is what you consider a good job. Based on your posts it seems that anything less than $100,000/yr is a bad job. When we moved up it took me two weeks to find A job. And, a month to find a second job. After about a year I found what I considered a good job (and quit the other 2) but it didn't pay anywhere near $100K. It was a good job because it had an upward track I could see.
What's the percentage of outside workers the oil companies claim 25-30%? In my experience it seemed more like 50%. Regardless, every 6 figure outside worker that got laid off had zero effect on the economy in Alaska. They did not have a house here, they did not shop here, they sure didn't pay any taxes here. At most, they bought coffee in the Anchorage airport.
The mystery industry isn't that mysterious. It's called the Federal government. No matter what you think about the ACA and Medicaid expansion, they are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars per year into the state. Alaska has the highest health care costs in the country, by more than double, and all that money is going somewhere. I bet for every 6 figure oil worker moving out, a doctor is moving in.
We also have a fairly high ratio of military to general population up here. At least for now, military spending in the state is steady or rising. Just between F-35s and missile defense, a few hundred more millions will be coming into the economy in the next few years.
Fishing, tourism, and mining are little effected by oil prices and are still doing what they do.
Don't get me wrong, the picture ain't rosy, but we are far from a Puerto Rico or Venezuela. If you are competent, persistent, and realistic, I believe you can still come up here and make a go of it.
I think a big part of our differing advice is what you consider a good job. Based on your posts it seems that anything less than $100,000/yr is a bad job. When we moved up it took me two weeks to find A job. And, a month to find a second job. After about a year I found what I considered a good job (and quit the other 2) but it didn't pay anywhere near $100K. It was a good job because it had an upward track I could see.
What's the percentage of outside workers the oil companies claim 25-30%? In my experience it seemed more like 50%. Regardless, every 6 figure outside worker that got laid off had zero effect on the economy in Alaska. They did not have a house here, they did not shop here, they sure didn't pay any taxes here. At most, they bought coffee in the Anchorage airport.
The mystery industry isn't that mysterious. It's called the Federal government. No matter what you think about the ACA and Medicaid expansion, they are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars per year into the state. Alaska has the highest health care costs in the country, by more than double, and all that money is going somewhere. I bet for every 6 figure oil worker moving out, a doctor is moving in.
We also have a fairly high ratio of military to general population up here. At least for now, military spending in the state is steady or rising. Just between F-35s and missile defense, a few hundred more millions will be coming into the economy in the next few years.
Fishing, tourism, and mining are little effected by oil prices and are still doing what they do.
Don't get me wrong, the picture ain't rosy, but we are far from a Puerto Rico or Venezuela. If you are competent, persistent, and realistic, I believe you can still come up here and make a go of it.
That's a good point, I suspect a lot of the fed govt jobs are contractors because trying to get a direct federal job in Anchorage is a nightmare (if you don't have vet status), I have been trying since 2015. I agree medical in Anchorage is doing well (which I stated) as well as the military but unless you are uniformed military it still seems to be quite difficult to get a federal job, I also have not seen a ton of govt contract jobs pop up either.
So while the feds are pumping money in it does not seem to be resulting in mass hiring.
You can get 2 not so good jobs but that sucks, why leave good jobs in Colorado to take 2 not so good jobs in Anchorage and HOPE to find a good job? I suppose there are all walks of life moving all different places but there is no way around the fact that Alaska is expensive, from the real estate to the toys, if you want to enjoy this state it takes MONEY. It does not have to be 100k but it needs to be pretty close if its not. If you are only making 50-60k you might as well stay in Colorado because you wont be buying a super cub or an ocean boat with that income in addition to the 300k+ house costs, that's just the reality of Alaska.
I just don't see any reason to come up here and suffer, because if you don't have the income/money to actually have the Alaska experience then what's the point (unless you have ALOT of family here)?
Its cold and dark up here with few roads and amenities and if you don't have the means to keep yourself entertained the cabin fever will set in quick. Sitting around budgeting and scrimping in the cold and dark will get old fast.
My daughter moved to Eagle River from Wisconsin in May. They love it. She is a nurse, so her company paid their air fare, gave them relocation money, paid for their car to be shipped up. Her husband and older boy, 12, drove a truck and hauled a trailer. Left Wisconsin the end of April. No problems hauling everything up. Maggie and the 2 youngest (3 and 4) now flew up in May. The oldest girl, who is 14 came up in June after school let out.
Her hubby is home with the kids and Maggie works full time. They are renting a house and bough land near Soldotna. They are in the process of putting up a cabin and will eventually move that way. The adjustment has been easy. We miss them but went to see them in August. Older 2 kids adjusted well to their new schools. Everyone has made a lot of friends.
It is beautiful and we are thrilled for them.
My daughter moved to Eagle River from Wisconsin in May. They love it. She is a nurse, so her company paid their air fare, gave them relocation money, paid for their car to be shipped up. Her husband and older boy, 12, drove a truck and hauled a trailer. Left Wisconsin the end of April. No problems hauling everything up. Maggie and the 2 youngest (3 and 4) now flew up in May. The oldest girl, who is 14 came up in June after school let out.
Her hubby is home with the kids and Maggie works full time. They are renting a house and bough land near Soldotna. They are in the process of putting up a cabin and will eventually move that way. The adjustment has been easy. We miss them but went to see them in August. Older 2 kids adjusted well to their new schools. Everyone has made a lot of friends.
It is beautiful and we are thrilled for them.
Yep, that's the only way to go, job lined up and all expenses paid. NOT come up and work 2-3 part time jobs and empty your bank account to make the move and then HOPE to find a real job in a timely manner so you can dump the 3 crap jobs.
Alaska is a nice place if you have the right opportunity and circumstances as well as making good money relative to the COL. Kenai area is much lower COL so your dollar goes a lot further.
As soon as you are not making good money, Alaska becomes a nightmare in pretty short order.
With both of them working professional jobs in a fairly low COL area they will soon be on their way to buying a nice boat, motor home or if either of them are pilots a super cub. You wont be experiencing Alaska the same way working at a coffee hut for $8/hr
Being a long term federal employee I say to be very cautious about this expectation. The "federal jobs" available are typically military...or military supportive. You will not find much in the civilian agency arena. Some public health service and VA positions, but not many. For federal job listings, you really need to search on USAJOBS and you'll see what I mean. Lots of the listings are long standing ones that create registers of qualified applicants, not actual vacancies. The salaries may be modest but many people take them because of more stable benefits.
Yep, USA jobs is pretty much a dead end, that's why I say oil and medical is pretty much it in AK (with some state and muni jobs sprinkled in). As north stated the feds pump money into the state but it does not translate into mass hiring. If you are uniformed military then I suppose its ok (although being in the military sucks for a lot of people), but then you are also a transient and not really an Alaskan and uniformed military don't really have "Alaska" jobs, they are in the military and were simply stationed here.
The GS rolls are real jobs, but as you said are far and few between. I have been applying for GS positions since 2015, I suspect I will die of old age before I am offered a GS position lol.
So then the question again becomes what are all these people doing that is keeping the housing market propped up, it has to be medical (maybe contractors that saved their money?).
I don't know what it is but when you go on Alexsys there is not a ton out there.
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