Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Plentiful jobs in engineering (electrical in manufacturing environment, NOT software)
Plentiful jobs in healthcare
Highish salaries
Dirt cheap, beautiful housing (ex. 4BR, 2000 sq ft in 200-300's)
Great in-state university system
You may actually be able to do certain parts of Upstate NY, as such jobs are available and the overall COL is around the national average, give or take. Here's a place in my area that comes to mind: Young & Franklin / Tactair Careers
Healthcare has been growing up here as well and the SUNY system is one of the best in the country.
Plentiful jobs in engineering (electrical in manufacturing environment, NOT software)
Plentiful jobs in healthcare
Highish salaries
Dirt cheap, beautiful housing (ex. 4BR, 2000 sq ft in 200-300's)
Great in-state university system
What are our options?
I wouldn't say Nashville is a perfect fit by any means, but it does fit some of those categories pretty well.
I'm not sure about 'plentiful' engineering jobs, but there isn't a shortage of them.
There are plentiful healthcare jobs. Many healthcare companies are based here.
Healthcare salaries are pretty high, but in general salaries are probably just average.
You can find plenty of houses for around $100-150 per square foot. $200,000 is actually slightly below the median house value, but it will vary depending on the desirability of the area. 'Beautiful housing' is in the eye of the beholder. You'd have to be more specific there.
Our in-state university system is OK, not great. But there are plenty of good universities in the Nashville area. Vanderbilt (private) tops the list, and schools like Belmont and Lipscomb are good smaller private universities. MTSU is a public institution on the rise, but it does not carry a big national reputation. The best public universities are UT (2.5 hours away in Knoxville) and Tennessee Tech (1 hour away in Cookeville).
all sound perfect for you. If you need a bigger city, try Minneapolis or look to the Sun Belt, but know that you'll probably sacrifice some of what you're looking for.
Oklahoma City and Tulsa both would fit and are cheaper than NC. The state university systems are decent but the K-12 in many cities is mediocre at best. In Tulsa, we're trying to change that, OKC, not so much. I would recommend Tulsa. We have better scenery, want decent public schools and have an upper tier engineering school in the city limits at University of Tulsa. Living in OKC requires you to go to Norman (OU) or Stillwater (OSU) for an upper tier engineering school. I'm a chemical engineer so if you want specific wage and employer info, PM me. We're better than Nashville, particularly in depth of positions, but worse than Raleigh.
My wife is an RN at one of the major hospitals here and they are constantly hiring new people. We live in Midtown Tulsa (basically between the Arkansas River, I-244 and I-44) and you can find homes you are looking for in that price range. There's actually some great homes around St. Johns and Hillcrest Hospitals that would be a good fit and you could walk to work. Tulsa's median price is about 150k and you get a lot of home for that, particularly if you look at Broken Arrow or Owasso, two of the suburbs.
2,500 sq ft for 200K is pretty much the average price range for Metro Detroit. Though it's mostly mid-century to 1970s colonials and ranches. Nothing terribly fancy but not bad quality either. You can also find most new construction in that price range. For something really "beautiful" or stand-outish, it's usually above 300K-400K. Though that's mostly due to prices having gone up in the last year.
The Big 3 have plenty of openings for electrical engineers, though they tend to hire in-state residents over out-of-state residents. Applying before moving might be a little iffy.
Healthcare is definitely growing. There's several hospital systems in the Metro Detroit area that are constantly expanding.
The most popular state colleges are Wayne State, Michigan State, and University of Michigan. They're all often very well regarded (though I wouldn't know their rankings or anything). WSU is especially integrated with the Detroit Medical Center and a lot of investment is made to make the area between them favorable for student and medical worker housing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
