I'm often curious why more people aren’t moving to low cost of living areas. I don’t know if I’ve just been fortunate, but I’m a college drop out who honestly hasn’t tried very hard in my “career”, but I moved out to Cincinnati which has a low cost of living at 23 (8 hours from my family) and I’ve managed to do very well for myself with a modest paying job (20ish an hour). I have 40k saved up and plan to buy a house this year. I wonder if other people who have went or started on a similar route are doing well for themselves.
And if you are in a high cost of living area, would you ever consider moving somewhere significantly cheaper?
I am in a unique situation in that I moved to the sticks and bought what most folks probably would have called a teardown with cash for next to nothing. I have been able to work from home though, and my partner and I have been able to do most of the renovation ourselves. So that's been our only substantial expense for the last few years. This is the sort of place where if you aren't working remotely there is very little decent work available though. Former logging town, then former gas town. Now mostly just a place where people hunt, fish, and do opioids. Or just drive through on their way to regional resort communities. Has worked out well for us, since we are outdoorsy types, and trying to set up a little homestead, but without remote work it would be a very different story.
Man I don't know why but it just clicked for me that remote work would potentially mean the revitalization of a lot of small town communities which I'll be honest is where I'd like to be if it was feasible for someone like me. Which I know they get a lot of hate, but I grew up in a small appalachian town and I'll always deeply love them.
Yeah, there's a lot that's really nice about them. But it's sad to think about how much more alive they were when there was an actual economic base. Ours in particular doesn't even really have a downtown anymore. Main street is basically a highway. I'm sure more remote work would help, but it's hard to imagine any significant revitalization happening when the only reason this place existed in the first place is because of industries that are long gone. Obviously not every small town is like that, but I feel like the demographic trends are toward most of these populations getting, smaller, older, and poorer.
Pretty much describes me. Live in a tiny town close to my family. I work remotely for a pretty solid wage. My wife is a teacher and also genuinely makes pretty good money for the area, despite teachers being underpaid.
It's also a town hollowed out by lack of industry. Drug use very high. Sad seeing what's become of my home, but I've always liked living in a small town. Don't have a single traffic light for miles, lol.