Most valuable State License to hold?

?ÿNot the answer you are looking for, but I have decided to let my MI OH KY & IL licenses go & only keep IN going.?ÿ

New Jersey pays well in the private sector. Most folks in NJ also get PA and NY licenses to work in the bigger towns along the bordering areas.

First; you need to consider what is valuable to you:

• Money?
• Work environment?
• Who are you working with?
• What is the climate?
• Family?
• What kind of Surveys you will be working on?

The best place to work will be a good mix of those. It won't be easy to figure out; but then nobody ever told me it would be...

I hope you have a great day! I know I will.

California has been very good to me. I could make more but like my job just how it is.

@dougie

Well if I could live anywhere it would probably be Northern California, for the climate, outdoor activities, wine, quality of life in general. But the cost of living in California is just mind blowing. I just can't imagine how anyone can afford to buy a house out there - unless the salary is adjusted?

Redding, California would be just about the right spot. But Park City, Utah would do in a pinch.

But a quick Google on Redding shows that while the location may be good - crime and bad guys seem to be running the place.

Ah...just like good 'ol St. Louis.

@stlsurveyor

Redding = HOT

It does have a dramatic setting with Mt Shasta in the background.

Many years ago I lived over 700 miles from my home area and had the chance to stay there or relocate almost anywhere in the US.?ÿ Found a spot about a half hour from my roots and dug in.?ÿ What I was missing when I was so far from my roots was the opportunity to invest back home.?ÿ That was something I had wanted to do since I was knee high to a tadpole.?ÿ Being able to connect with other family members was a plus, especially as my parents aged.?ÿ Today I am so dug in you couldn't drag me out of here with a $500,000 per year job offer.?ÿ It's not the money, it's spending the extra where you want to spend it.

That was my situation.?ÿ Your hopes and dreams may be the exact opposite.?ÿ Decide what they are and go for them.

@stlsurveyor

Unlike your home state of Kentucky, I have heard California has county roads that are actually wide enough to allow two vehicles to pass on the road without one of them needing to pull off halfway into the ditch first.  Some are even straight for more than 800 feet at a time.

Most impotent lice sense is a fishing lice sense. Unless you are native American, or go "Tom Sawyer".?ÿ

?ÿ

@holy-cow

Thats pretty good. And so very true, not many straight roads in Central Kentucky. Not uncommon to back up for a bit to let the other truck pass by - or have the awkward standoff to see who gives in first.  

Texas has to be up there as well. Indeed has 97 positions for a RPLS.?ÿ

Sometimes, I think that thing 007 has going on would be pretty handy....

@holy-cow

I’m sure you’ve probably heard the story about the  big shot Texas rancher bragging about his spread to his Ky cousin. Told him he could drive all day and still not get to the far side of his ranch. Cousin says “yeah, I had a pos truck like that one time.”

Sure as hell is not South Carolina. lol?ÿ

Several years ago while taking a break from a conference in Lexington, KY my co-worker and I decided to go to Richmond, KY via the route where you cross the Kentucky River on the Valley View Ferry.?ÿ On the way back we took some side roads, or you might say we attempted to do so.?ÿ One time I swear I looked ahead and saw tail lights, then realized they were our own.?ÿ Arkysaw is the only other place where I had witnessed such a thing.

@stlsurveyor

What is the typical or standard right of way width (not the street width) for Kentucky county roads? 

@stlsurveyor

of those 97, i'm sure 96 promise a "competitive" salary.  too bad they're talking in 2003 dollars.  something will be giving soon in that regard- it has to.  i've been getting 3-5 recruiting calls/emails/letters a week since at least 2012, and have spoken to a handful of people at times over the years.  and been offered a job at the conclusion of just about every one of those conversations.  then the offer letter comes and it'll be 50¢ on the dollar, at best.  like, you're supposed to run an office of 60+ people on the same salary i was pulling down in 2007. 

i don't know how this works itself out, to be honest.  i just recently talked to an outfit about running their state/regional operations, mainly because it was the first legitimate feeler i'd gotten for a position on that level.  told them it'd take a LOT for me to give up what i have now running solo and go back to glad handing and babysitting all day.  i was surprised when they didn't choke on the number i spit out.  which... you know what that means: i shoulda asked for more.  (probably would have still turned it down.)

texas is definitely going to be a good place to have a license for quite a while- demand is only going to increase.  but unless you're self employed, some major paradigm shift will need to occur with employers if you want to see return on that.  right now it's like a whole gaggle of companies throwing out a bread crumb or two, hoping that it's good shark bait.

@flyin-solo

I hear ya and I couldn't agree more. Not sure how the problem will correct itself but it will somehow. There are firms willing to pay the correct salary and charge the correct fee - but there are far more that are not.