Moving to Little Rock, Arkansas?

Why have you picked there and not somewhere a bit closer – but still cheaper than NJ to move to? What kind of work do you do?

Where ever you go, have a job before you land at the new spot or have a year’s worth of expenses in the bank.

Janbb- I currently do housekeeping at an assisted living place. I want to move south cause it’s cheaper. My first choice was San Francisco but that’s even more expensive than where I live now.
Tropical_Willie-I have about $6000 saved up.

If you don’t want to move so far, think about Delaware or rural Pennsylvania or Maryland .

@janbb Has a good “baby steps” suggestion.

I throw in with everyone above, and if you can take the winters, suggest upstate New York, even Maine. San Francisco is pricey indeed, but if you are young, without dependents, the Postal Service is constantly short of personnel here.

YOu’l probably be in culture shock from NJ, totally different mindset. Good luck.

No clue if this would interest you at all. But Medford Oregon is like the Florida of the PNW. It is pretty much all assisted living facilities. Super cheap rent and no sales tax.

For example. https://medford.craigslist.org/apa/4651174044.html Not great But with 6K you could live there a while while looking for work.

I can’t imagine you’d ever have difficulty finding a job anywhere.

Housekeeping is a widely transferable skill if for some reason there arent any openings in assisted living facilities. There’s always plenty of hotels, motels as well as hospitals, etc

But with the population of aging folks numbers rising
(baby boomers will be swelling
the ranks in all sectors
involving care.) I honestly can’t imagine any shortage of opportunities at assisted living facilities if that is your first choice.

If your job experience is in a different field that might change the picture but I’d be amazed if you went more than a week or two lacking work. Really.

Little Rock is a small city that you might possibly be bored in depending on how much you like to go out and how much you value good food. However, it has a cute downtown area and the people are very nice. Arkansas is definitely still the bible belt, but it also has a nice mix of people who are open minded. How much does it matter to you if people tend to be church going, liberal, conservative, does any of that matter? San Fran is full of gay people, and very liberal people, and your next choice, Arkansas, is a fairly conservative part of the country. I have no idea how large the assisted living industry is there, but your skills probably always can find some employment. I lived outside of Memphis for several years and liked it, I am from the northeast, but it was a different culture. Those older southerners will expect you to use Ma’am and Sir (which isn’t really a big deal) and little things you will learn as you go.

You might think about North Carolina near Ashville, that is a large retirement area. NC is the half back state. Northerners go to Florida, don’t like it, and go halfway back to NC. NC has income tax though, and property tax not only on your house, but your car too, but living there is still fairly reasonable.

Speaking of FL, why not FL? Less culture shock, depending what part of FL you go to. Some parts of FL are very expensive, but others not so much. I love FL myself, and am back again living here. I like the warmer weather, basically I am on vacation every day, and it feels more normal to me. No income tax. By the way Arkansas summer will be extremely hot, often hotter than FL, and they get a cold (not ridiculously cold) winter for a few months.

Also, Virginia must have a lot of retires near the military bases, I am not sure how expensive it is in that part of the state. Virginia has income tax and car tax also like NC. Areas with big military installations will have people from all over the country near them. Also, there will be a lot of people in their 20’s around.

I don’t think you have to take baby steps if you have visited the city and like it and have some money to float you through for a few months while you look for a job. It is easier to move to a city if you can stay with someone for a few weeks, a friend or relative, and see how the job situation works out, but it isn’t a must. I’m going to assume you can always go home if it doesn’t work out. Have you visited Little Rock? Don’t just go to the city if you haven’t been there. Make sure you get a good vibe when you’re there.

Also, check the pay scale. In southern states, your job might get paid less.

Why Arkansas? Most boring state in the country – aside from maybe West Virginia.

@livelaughlove21 Not necessarily true. The Cinton Library is fantastic, the Ozarks are beautiful, and Hot Springs is a fun town to vist. Plus, from what I hear the local performing arts are quite good. Little Rock has Southwest airlines so you can fly reasonable to several locations nonstop and being in the center of the country all points in the lower 48 are not very long distances.

I also said he might be bored there, but I don’t think it is the most boring state or the worst place in the country. It depends what one wants.

Welcome to Fluther!

Since not being able to find a job is your greatest fear, I’m in the camp with those saying, “Find a job first.” Even with $6K in the bank, it can go quickly, depending upon where you end up living and how long it takes to find a job.

The desire to move to a different, albeit cheaper, location is admirable. I did this at your age, and it was an adventure that will never be regretted, despite the culture shock.

Please, do some research before moving. In the US, cost-of-living varies drastically by not only state, but by city and county. The laws do as well. One example is that overtime varies. In one area, it may be considered as such for anything over eight hours. In another, it is after 40 hours in a week. These factors may sway where you decide to live.

I haven’t lived in Little Rock, but have been there several times on business. It seems like a nice city. The people I met were friendly; the stereotype of southern hospitality.

Please keep us posted on how the search is going.

I’ve lived in Memphis and visited Little Rock and Hot Springs. No disrespect to the good people of the south, but northerners are tolerated as visitors but not genuinely wanted there. The whole concept of “southern hospitality” is more accurately translated into “southern politeness”. Religion is worn on their sleeve, but honestly I came away feeling there was more professing religion than practicing it.

We met a couple from NY and the woman could not find a job for two years. She had plenty of interviews and was capable but her NY accent was noticeable and I believe it hindered her in finding work. A recruiter friend finally helped her find temporary work and she’s been doing that for the last 2 years.

Consider the major cities in NC – Raleigh-Durham, or Charlotte. Florida is another option as is Nashville, TN (FL and TN have no State income tax). Good luck.

@BosM Just to add my own spin on your answer, TN does have state tax on dividends, and on interest earned in banks that are out of state, but you have to earn a lot to reach the threshold of being taxed. It is worth mentioning that in the Memphis area sales tax is 9.25% and might be going up because of the school situation there. Sales tax is brutal on low wage earners. They tax grceries in that state as well. However, I did liked living in the Memphis area, so I don’t want it to sound all negative.

I lived in Raleigh, NC for just under 2 years and even though there are many people from other states, because of research triangle and Duke Univeristy, that place felt much more southern, bible belt, and I was a little bored there. I enjoyed Memphis more, although crime was more of a concern for me in Memphis. I hear Charlotte is great though. More liberal than Memphis, and people from everywhere. Everyone I know who has lived there has liked it.

I think what you said about southern hospitality is spot on. Of course there are many people who are genuinely wonderful in the south, there are a lot of people just being polite…to your face.

@JLeslie. I did like Memphis overall but wouldn’t recommend it because of the high crime/high unemployment. There is still very much a racial divide in Memphis as well. Many parts of Charlotte have a northern vibe to it. I also mentioned Raleigh Durham as it’s closer to the ocean and has good education, industry, and transportation options. As you’ve said, it does have a bit more of a southern feel to it though. If you want to get away from the bad winters on the east coast, Florida is the best option.

@BosM There is definitely a racial economic and cultural divide in Memphis, but in Raleigh and just outside it is a weird old south vibe. I was in Pinehurst again a couple years ago and the lovely club there where I had a delicious brunch had all white people, except for one black couple, and oh yeah, all the waiters were adult black males ages 30–50ish. It was a picture of the old south if you snapped a quick photo. That always feels so bazaar to me. Just after I was there the whole Paula Dean fiasco hit the news about her thinking black waiters dressed in white looked so sharp. Bazarro land for me. However, those waiters probably make great money at the club, and if anything there could be a complaint they won’t hire white people for the job. LOL. Ironic. I preferred Memphis myself. It felt less south, but probably Chapel Hill would feel more liberal and normal to a northerner. I do know black people who moved to Memphis from NY and really liked Memphis. I was surprised. I don’t know what race, ethnicity, or religion the OP is. Memphis had more Catholics than Raleigh, or it seemed that way anyway, which made it feel more nornal to me also I think. I like living in places that are a little more diverse also.

This is my third time living in FL, and I think pretty much everyone should live here, it changes your life! Unless the person hates the heat and sun. Memphis is hotter than FL when it is at its hottest in the summer.