Thinking about moving to American where are the best places for IT jobs

Hi guys

In three times I thinking about leaving England and moving to America. The three main places i was thinking where San Francisco, LA, or New York. I was wondering where the best places are in America are for IT jobs

By that time I will have the following under my belt

Bcs Open Degree
HNC in Computing Information Systems
MCITP/MCSA
CCNA,S AND CCNP
Ability to program in c#, PHP and write scripts(powershell and Bash)
nearly 8 years working in IT.

I probably have around $45,000 to take over as well and just wondering what sort of pay scale should I be looking at in American for a decent life style nothing other the top. Either a nice apartment or house.

Thanks for any input.

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Comments

Iristheangel

What kind of work were you doing for those 8 years in IT? If it was networking or system admin work, I would say in California you'd easily be worth 80K with that kind of experience and education under your belt. I'm just shooting out a vague number but I would recommend using payscale.com to come up with some averages based on job title and location. You would definitely be able to make a decent living out here.

Krunchi

thomas130 wrote: »

The three main places i was thinking where San Francisco, LA, or New York.

If you are moving just for an IT job I would not pick any of the cities you listed due to the state governments and taxes have pretty much chased off the companies from those locations.

I would pick Austin or Raleigh,NC they are turning into the IT capitals of the US.

m3zilla

I'm not sure how long 45k would last in the 3 cities you mentioned...especially since you'll have to find a place, furniture, etc. I think you're better off starting out in a city with a lower cost of living, then move to those places once you have a stable income and can save up a little.

Iristheangel

Krunchi wrote: »

If you are moving just for an IT job I would not pick any of the cities you listed due to the state governments and taxes have pretty much chased off the companies from those locations.

I would strongly disagree with this. As someone who lives in California, I'm constantly getting calls from companies in Los Angeles and the bay area begging for me to come in for an interview. At this point, a lot of bay area employers are trying to throw money at people to relocate and work for them. If you have a decent blend of soft skills, education and experience, you'll thrive in these locations.

Portland and Seattle are great places for IT as well.

OP, check these links out: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/Tech-Jobs-Flourish-in-Silicon-Valley-but-Other-Regions-Offer-Opportunities-Dice-Report-383163/
http://www.californiaforecast.com/newsletter/May%202012.pdf

kgb

Krunchi wrote: »

...
I would pick Austin or Raleigh,NC they are turning into the IT capitals of the US.

The cost of living is a lot lower at those locations as well.

vCole

Krunchi wrote: »

If you are moving just for an IT job I would not pick any of the cities you listed due to the state governments and taxes have pretty much chased off the companies from those locations.

I would pick Austin or Raleigh,NC they are turning into the IT capitals of the US.

Seattle, and Boston are great areas as well.

Akaricloud

+1 for Seattle. There are plenty of jobs, cost of living isn't bad if you get out of the city and it's an awesome place to live.

Santa_

+1 to Boston. Just by posting my A+ in my resume I've gotten numerous calls and emails from Boston and/or outside area. Most positions are offering $14-$17 that I've been offered.

I was even offered a SR Desktop Support position. Another offered me $13 + paid certifications.

That's just me, I could only imagine what you would get. I like Massachusetts, but that's my opinion. And I live on the border to NH, which is sales-tax free.

thomas130

Thanks for your feedback so far. What the average price for a house in the places you recommend. was looking for around 2/3 detatched house, or a decent apartment if needed

Thanks

neilperry

Do you have a work visa or would you need an employer to sponser you? Pretty important point as not every employer is going to be willing to sponsor someone.

thomas130

neilperry wrote: »

Do you have a work visa or would you need an employer to sponser you? Pretty important point as not every employer is going to be willing to sponsor someone.

I would try and get a work visa that would be important decision in deciding if I move or not.

vCole

thomas130 wrote: »

Thanks for your feedback so far. What the average price for a house in the places you recommend. was looking for around 2/3 detatched house, or a decent apartment if needed

Thanks

I can only speak for the Boston area. In Boston, and roughly anywhere ~30 minutes outside will cost you roughly $1400-$1900 for a decent 1 bedroom apartment.

Iristheangel

My current 750 sq ft apartment in Anaheim, CA is $795. In SF Bay Area, you would be spending $1100-1400 a month. Check out zillow.com for house/condo prices and padmapper.com for apartment prices. Those are the two best resources for finding rental/property prices

Akaricloud

About 30 minutes out of Seattle I'm renting a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with oversized 2 car garage, fenced yard and hot tub for $1,400/month. In Seattle it's much more pricey though.

vCole

Do you work in Seattle? I'm thinking about relocating to Seattle next year. $1400/month for all that is a steal compared to Boston!

demonfurbie

atlanta isnt bad for IT work, it has a fairly low cost of living

darkerz

Woah, 1400$ 30 min outside of Seattle??

Either I've been living in the Eastside far too long, or you are performing miracles here.

Hint on the city or location?? (As long as It's not south of Redmond, of course).

~

SteveLord

I would do Texas. It's cities are at the top of "best areas to work" type of lists year after year.

Santa_

vCole wrote: »

I can only speak for the Boston area. In Boston, and roughly anywhere ~30 minutes outside will cost you roughly $1400-$1900 for a decent 1 bedroom apartment.

woah! I must say over priced. I'm aware that apartments in Boston are that much, but where I live I was paying for 2 bedroom condominium for $900 a month. Im about half hour away, Salem nh

veritas_libertas

Atlanta and the Carolinas (North Carolina and South Carolina) are not bad.

vCole

Santa_ wrote: »

woah! I must say over priced. I'm aware that apartments in Boston are that much, but where I live I was paying for 2 bedroom condominium for $900 a month. Im about half hour away, Salem nh

Well I'm talking ~30 minute proximity around Boston (Waltham/Brookline/Lexington/etc). I currently live on the RI/CT/MA lines, and will be commuting to Waltham, MA. So good to know you're only paying $900 - perhaps I should look in the Andover area.

matt333

I live in Boston and the job market for you would be pretty good, I've noticed a lot of Senior level positions that maybe something you could fit into. any of the other cities listed would be good too.

Akaricloud

darkerz wrote: »

Woah, 1400$ 30 min outside of Seattle??

Either I've been living in the Eastside far too long, or you are performing miracles here.

Hint on the city or location?? (As long as It's not south of Redmond, of course).

~

Currently in Covington and working in Bellevue. I can quite easily do 30minutes to Bellevue, Seattle, or Tacoma.

CLEMENTE21

Wow, nobody mentions Md, Va, and DC? I was told that these states are top states for IT jobs. I tried locate the source, but can't find it.

MrBishop

CLEMENTE21 wrote: »

Wow, nobody mentions Md, Va, and DC? I was told that these states are top states for IT jobs. I tried locate the source, but can't find it.

There areas are great if you have a security clearance. Everything in that area is usually government related jobs and if you have no no clearance, you're probably gonna have a tough time finding work.

I would have to say that social life and environment is just as important as job availability. Do you like living in hot areas (Texas, Arizona, Florida etc) cold areas(Chicago etc), religious communities (Utah) blah blah blah! If you don't chose the correct environment then you probably will want to pickup and leave.

Nytrocide

Iristheangel wrote: »

...I'm constantly getting calls from companies in Los Angeles and the bay area begging for me to come in for an interview.

How are companies finding you? LinkedIn? Just wondering!

Iristheangel

I have my resume on all the major sites. I assume my resume sets off most keyword filters since its usually network engineer or security positions that i get calls about

neilperry

thomas130 wrote: »

I would try and get a work visa that would be important decision in deciding if I move or not.

If I were you, since you have no work visa, I would not move to an area that has a high cost of living without a job lined up first. I have a feeling getting a work visa is going to be your biggest challenge.

MrBishop

I pretty much will do the same thing when posting on job websites and I will usually get hit with a lot of emails about opportunities. Once I see a job come in from a recruiter I will go out and search job boards to try to gather information from all sources to find out salary ranges.

swild

I like this site for comparing cities: Cost of Living comparison calculator

I haven't looked at where they get their info, but from other places I have been reading similar data, the numbers are spot on. It doesn't really help you from moving internationally, but you could probably find a comparable US city to your location in England on another website and use that as your reference point.

Just comparing metro San Fran to metro Seattle shows that you can make 28% less is Seattle and have the same standard of living.