Where to relocate? Young, broke, single, in IT

DoubleNNs

I'm thinking about relocating in the beginning of 2014. Just attempting to do some research now.

Where are some good cities to relocate to for a young (early-mid 20s) man in the infancy of his IT career?
I'd want something with a great social scene as well as good IT job prospects. (I'm thinking of completing my CCNA by the end of the year and possibly going down the networking route.) Also, since I'm in the early stages of my career, cost of living must be relatively low.

idr0p

Depends on the type of person you are:

If you have a clean record and can pass clearance there are a ton of jobs in the DC area in IT

If you are a hacker type you might want to choose a city like Boston or Chicago they have a good IT base getting a job there and growing would be relatively easy

If you are looking for a easy IT job that you can coast in i would go to places like Houston or Phoenix where you maintain your social life but the region is not so IT competitive


---I am a Info Sec Consultant and i travel around a lot, so my advise is based off of this---

BTW - By hacker type i mean you are a self learner who is personally driven to solve problems on their own type IT person.

Iristheangel

Depends on what you're doing. Portland, Oregon and Texas are IT hotspots with a relatively low cost of living but they might not be so hot for some parts of IT.

ptilsen

If you can handle the cold for 5-6 months each year...
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But really. Good for IT, low unemployment, good wages and cost of living, high quality of life, fun (...uh, sure?).

Another list more specific to IT jobs. Seattle metro is probably the only place I would relocate to at this point.

Bokeh

+1 for Twin Cities

If you like the outdoors, centrally located for travel, etc its not a bad area except for winters.

MrAgent

I'd suggest the DC area.

FloOz

I wouldn't really say the cost of living in DC is cheap though.

dehgrah

Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware(Very Cheap and no sales TAX!), North New Jersey(Cost of living isn't really that cheap but you can find IT Jobs all over the place and the pay is usually very high of course, or you can live in North Jersey and work in New York!),Virginia has plenty of IT jobs but VA isn't as cheap as some people think. These are only a few off the top of my head but you do have other options like SD and ND but there's not much city life in either state.

jamthat

FloOz wrote: »

I wouldn't really say the cost of living in DC is cheap though.

There are lots of places around DC/NOVA that have lower cost of living but provide relatively easy access to the city. Also, north of DC in places like Gaithersburg, Rockville, Germantown, etc you can find very good jobs and live north in lower cost of living areas such as Frederick. Living in a place like Frederick also opens you up to a TON of IT/info sec jobs to the east towards Baltimore, all within 30-45 minutes.

Pseudo_node

Come on down to Austin...reasonable cost of living, no state income taxes, great social scene and jobs a plenty!

DoubleNNs

Pseudo_node wrote: »

Come on down to Austin...reasonable cost of living, no state income taxes, great social scene and jobs a plenty!

I'm actually heavily considering Austin. I've seen it on lists for young and single, as well as lists calling it a booming tech hub. It's supposed to be cheap, however I've heard a lot of varying opinions about that fact. Additionally, although it's considered a tech hub, whenever I do searches online for jobs there (craigslist, dice, careerbuilder, etc) I don't get many hits in Austin as comparable to other cities.

dehgrah wrote: »

North New Jersey(Cost of living isn't really that cheap but you can find IT Jobs all over the place and the pay is usually very high of course, or you can live in North Jersey and work in New York!)

I'm actually in North NJ now! But I hate the social scene here. I really don't consider NJ a state for young or broke - the cost of living is almost comparable to NYC in many parts of the state. The entire state is pretty much a commuter state as well - attracting older people looking to settle in the suburbs but commute into Pennsylvania, Connecticut, or New York for work.

I think I want to live inside a city, in order to experience the social scene better and easily participate in the night life, instead of having to plan out my trips to and from the city. I think a young demographic is the most important part for me at the moment, but at the same time I want to be able to actually get a job there and afford rent.

Bryan0530

I would says DC area also. Jamthat is right about the commute, there are tons of openings in north bethesda or dc and you can take the metro to both of them. Night life/bars/lounges are great too

ptilsen

No offense to people in that area, but Pennsylvania and the extended NYC metro (ie, half of NJ) are definitely not good answers to this request. High unemployment, high cost of living without commensurately high salaries, relatively high pollution, crime, and so on. I wouldn't call them IT hotspots or logical places for a twentysomething who isn't tied down. TX, MN, CO, WA, DC and even CA are looking like better options, for sure. Austin and Seattle look particularly nice for IT.

Claymoore

DC could work. It can be expensive, but using the Metro can offset the cost of a car or at least parking. If you want cheaper locations with better weather you will need to look further south, perhaps Charlotte or Jacksonville.

Charlotte is a few hours from mountains or beaches to give you some outdoor options, it has local professional sports and is near to several quality college sports programs. It was a large banking center (BofA HQ), but I'm not sure how well it has rebounded from the banking recession.

I have only passed through Charlotte and vacationed in DC. I have spent several weeks working projects in Jacksonville over the years. I have had a good time while I was working there, there are beaches and the river if you are a water person, plus you are easy road trip distance to Daytona or Orlando. Traffic can be a pain at times and the airport is too far away from the city. There are several large companies based there and the housing collapse in Florida should have driven down the cost of living.

Akaricloud

I honestly would drop your cost of living requirement. Areas with higher costs of living generally have higher salaries which offset the cost.

With that said: Seattle. Great social life, fairly affordable and a very vast IT market with tons of openings currently.

ptilsen

I wouldn't drop it, per se, but you have to look at the overall picture. Salaries on their own mean nothing without considering cost of living, and cost of living means nothing on its own without salaries. Same with taxes, although those are already largely reflected in cost of living. To Akaricloud's point, however, you wouldn't want to discount a certain metro just because prices look ridiculous. If salaries are commensurate — and they usually are in this field — it can still be the right fit.

the_Grinch

Texas is where it's at if you're going for IT and you are young.

Everyone

Chicago.

DoubleNNs

Akaricloud wrote: »

I honestly would drop your cost of living requirement. Areas with higher costs of living generally have higher salaries which offset the cost.

The main reason why the cost of living requirement is important is because I'm saving up to move. I'm not attempting to rely on an employer for relocation. And since I'm so early in my career and my skillset isn't yet established, I'm not too sure if I'd get a good job right on the outset - especially since networking (who I know) won't be a factor in my job search away from home.

I'm not trying to move to Cali and struggle for 2 years, just barely getting by. Not when I'm already struggling now in order to make the move even happen.

MiikeB

Austin, TX and Phoenix, AZ I think both have a ton of technical helpdesks that have room for growth past just password resets.

Akaricloud

DoubleNNs wrote: »

The main reason why the cost of living requirement is important is because I'm saving up to move. I'm not attempting to rely on an employer for relocation. And since I'm so early in my career and my skillset isn't yet established, I'm not too sure if I'd get a good job right on the outset - especially since networking (who I know) won't be a factor in my job search away from home.

I'm not trying to move to Cali and struggle for 2 years, just barely getting by. Not when I'm already struggling now in order to make the move even happen.

You're right, that is the safer more conservative route but definitely not your only option.

The upfront cost of moving to a higher cost of living area isn't that much usually and as long as you take a job quick you'll be on your feet. I personally ended up moving near Seattle, renting a house(that was 4x my previous rent), quickly finding a job and doing everything possible to make it work.

If you're willing to do what it takes then you can really move into any area that you want.

neo9006

Texas is great, low cost of living, hot though during the summer, if I wasn't in Houston, I be going to Austin. I think you would like it down here.

Hypntick

I'll go with Claymoore on the Charlotte recommendation, then again I am a little biased.

SteveLord

The North Jersey suggestion had me laughing. Then the OP's response that he is actually in North Jersey had me laughing more. Getting out of Jersey was best move I ever made. Although I really miss the pizza and diners.

cknapp78

If I could get out of Jersey now I would do it. I have a family of 4 and the cost of living here is insane. High rent, high health insurance, high car insurance, high everything. Even IT is taking a hit now since most of the government/military work relocated to Aberdeen, Maryland about 3-4 years ago. All the large federal contractors left the state and most of the small subs are leaving now as well. Part of the reason why I have worked mostly remote or traveled the past 5 years. As much as I like NJ and my extended family is here, my wife and I are looking to jump as soon as possible especially since my kids just started school and I don't want them to switch schools much after the next two years.

If you need help finding work in NJ, let me know as I still have a ton of contacts looking for general IT or system admin work. However, if you are specialized like I am as a messaging architect, good luck finding work here.

Corey

wes allen

I think you can find entry-mid level IT jobs in just about any city as long as you have some experience and degree / certs. So, trying to pick a city you would *want* to live in should probably be at the top of the list. There are many cities with a pretty active social scene, reasonable housing near the hot areas, etc. Pick a few places and start checking cragslist, job boards, local newspaper sites, etc - not just for jobs, but for housing and what is going on in the area.

wes allen

And, as a PS - you might check out some small to mid sized collage towns as well. They will probably have the social scene you are looking for, plenty of reasonable housing, and usually an OK job market.

ptilsen

I have to add agreement to Wes's point. While there are some clear hotspots where you are likely to make relatively more in IT, ultimately it's a good field to be in almost anywhere, and where you want to live should be the priority. Culture, climate, and quality of life should probably be bigger factors than hot IT markets, given your goals. On that note, going from North Jersey to pretty much anywhere will be a bit of a culture shock, but almost undoubtedly a positive one. (Again, no offense East-coasters, but this has been the consistent opinion of every ex-Jersian I've ever spoken to, which is more than a few.)

cknapp78

Agreeing with ptilsen here...

I am from San Diego originally and when I met my wife here in NJ 16 years ago so was all "How Yooou Doooing" with the whole North Jersey/Bayonne/New York accent and I was all like "Surf's Up!!!" Talk about a difference in cultures. My first christmas dinner with her family was all about me finding out what "real" italian food was. First time I ever had calimari. That was an experience.

Bottom line...Northeast US in general is more fast paced and up-tight. And by up-tight I don't mean snobbish. I mean reserved. I have lived in 6 states and been to all but two others. If you want a more relaxed atmosphere escape the northeast. Just be prepared to have some people say where the heLL are you from?

Corey

Nutsacjac

Austin area or DMV.

lawrence_of_arabia

Columbia, MD.. Tons of IT jobs and a relatively short commute from areas where the cost of living is not high at all.. It's also kind of close to DC, so if an opportunity arose with excellent pay, it could be worth it to increase your commute a bit..