Thinking of leaving CA…

Median house price in the Portland, Oregon area is in the $500,000 -$550,000 range. That's pretty high, IMO, but better than California. 

I spent time in Norman, Oklahoma a few years ago. You can get something really nice in the $300,000 range within a short bike ride of the university. But the climate is nothing like Cali.  Norman is the jewel of OK. I wouldn't really look anywhere else there. Except, perhaps, Stillwater.  The wages were comparable to what I had been getting in Oregon.

@surveylife Dont look at New Zealand or Australia. Average survey tech wages downunder are less than 6 figures, with median house prices around 750k and big cities significantly more

Boise's real estate market is similar to Salem, Oregon (which is considerably better than Portland) but it gets better the further you get away from the center of Boise. We live about halfway between Boise and Ontario, Oregon. The prices are a little bit lower than Boise but you also get more for your money. For example, a $500,000 house in Boise is probably a fairly small house with a small lot and 5 ft side yards. Our house was a little less than that but we have 12.5 ft side yards and about 35 ft from the back door to the fence and a huge side yard on one side (behind the garage, it's our garden area). Plus we bought a premium lot next to a green area at the end of a cul-de-sac.

The prices are going up fast though so you'd have to jump quickly. The summertime weather here is probably about the same as Southern California (not counting San Diego). But in the winter time we get decent amounts of snow.

There doesn't seem to be any shortage of construction activity going on anywhere here in Southern Idaho. However, I'm not directly involved with construction anymore so I can't speak from actual experience. I'm just going by what I see you when I drive around, and I can't go anywhere without seeing construction of some sort somewhere. 

I should also point out that the cost of living here is considerably less than it was for us in Oregon. The utilities are all about half of what we used to pay over there plus we get irrigation water to water our yards for 40 bucks a year between April and October. Eating out is probably about the same maybe a little bit cheaper in most cases but not enough to say that it's a big difference. Our health insurance went down about $200 a month and more stuff is covered. I haven't paid for a single prescription since we moved here in December. My wife just had major surgery for a tiny fraction of the overall cost for something that was repeatedly refused in Oregon for decades.

Another benefit is that literally everyone is really nice. It has a certain Midwest sort of charm to it. Everyone seemed angry in Oregon all the time and it's completely the opposite here. It's amazing how nice and happy everyone seems to be for the most part. 

Wherever you might end up going, don’t advertise you’re moving from California. I’ll never forget years ago when I was bouncing around Oregon with Cali plates on my car and getting the one finger salute by passing cars.

Do some research on where people in the US are moving to and where they're moving from, then look at the average age of the populace. If economics is your number one rating metric, you'll also want a more balanced ratio of children and adults in a city and state that people are moving to. Oregon may be doing well now, but the lack of children will have negative consequences in the future. Same goes for New England and the Northeast in general.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-share-of-children-in-each-u-s-state-in-2024/

I'm in Boise also and it's nice here but I can't afford a house here either.  You can expect to pay 400k+ for new or old.  Californians have been moving here for a number of years now and in my opinion they've destroyed the housing market.

If I left Idaho for some reason I'd probably to go Texas.

As far as what you could expect to make in the Boise area I think your experience would get you 60-80k a year.

We're full up here, California-Colorado-Texas has filled us up. During COVID it was a stampede. 

Had an old co-worker good friend do the same thing you are thinking of doing. He was in California made a good 6 figure salary and was playing the rental game for he and his wife and kids. He took a job where I worked at the government at the time. Starting pay was less than half of what he made. Got a rental and worked hard kept his head down and was back up to 6 figures in a couple years. Got a house and is loving life. Here in VA it depends on where you are in the state. NOVA which I would not live but I am a country rural area type person. You should be able to get 6 figures easily with LSIT. Go south to central or further would take the right company. But you can find affordable housing within a half hour commute outside the cities. Does your wife work what does she do. That can help as well. If you decide to possibly head this way let me know. I have a small old house that if timing is right could get you into it until you get your feet under you. We are about to build one down the road. Also I can aid you in some great companies here hiring etc. But let me tell you as someone who has been all around it will be a shock culture and just geographically. Out west you can see for miles here it will take a bit to get use to only seeing a couple thousand feet at most. But no doubt in my mind you can adapt what you already know to colonial surveying. I know many good owners throughout VA that are from mom n pop to larger firms that would probably give you an opportunity. I imagine the rent I would ask for would be peanuts to what you are paying now. But plenty of other places here as well. If you like the city then NOVA would maybe be up your alley. We have everything from beach towns to mountain towns. If you decide on GA MS TN MS etc I know some folks there as well. 

I bought my house for $139,500 in 1995. I was a PC/Office tech at the time. That equates to about $292,000 of todays dollars. Houses in the neighborhood today are selling for $500k-$550k. But in 1995 I had an 8.5% mortgage rate, which made the payments about $1000 per month, which equates to about $2100 today. If I could get a 5% mortgage on that $500k house the payments would be right around $2100 month.   

Posted by: @norman-oklahoma

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If I could get a 5% mortgage on that $500k house the payments would be right around $2100 month.   

That math seems suspicious to me.  How much of a down payment does that include?  Because I've been messing with mortgage calculators off and on and I'm well into the $3000 range for monthly payments on 400-440k loans.

@norman-oklahoma $500,000 amortized over 30 years at 5% would be payments of $2486.11

Posted by: @norman-oklahoma

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I bought my house for $139,500 in 1995. I was a PC/Office tech at the time. That equates to about $292,000 of todays dollars. Houses in the neighborhood today are selling for $500k-$550k. But in 1995 I had an 8.5% mortgage rate, which made the payments about $1000 per month, which equates to about $2100 today. If I could get a 5% mortgage on that $500k house the payments would be right around $2100 month.   

In California it's not just the home prices but insurance and property taxes that will eat your lunch. I bailed out of California in 1995 for much of the same reason as the OP and I have zero regrets about doing so. For me quality of life and recreational opportunities were more of a incentive on where I chose to end up and the money followed. I'd encourage the OP regardless of what destination he has in mind, to focus on getting licensed first. That might open up more options for him. 

Posted by: @williwaw

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I'd encourage the OP regardless of what destination he has in mind, to focus on getting licensed first. That might open up more options for him. 

That's solid advice right there. Had I obtained my license before leaving California, I think my options would have been a LOT better. Instead, I had to essentially start over in Oregon (I mean, I did have a head start) before getting my license there. Suddenly, I had many options to choose from when my employer at the time changed their minds as to what they had promised about putting me into the PLS role when I got my license.

@lurker Yeah, and that's before mortgage insurance and taxes.  Unless you have some huge down payment I think even $2400 is pie in the sky...

You really have to look at the income possibilities. Lower cost of living often means lower pay for the same work. I don't know how accurate these numbers are, but the relative pay between states might be a good indicator.

https://www.zippia.com/land-surveyor-jobs/best-states/

I moved from El Dorado County, CA to the Idaho panhandle a little over 4 years ago.  Had I moved even 1 year earlier, real estate may have been affordable.  But it started skyrocketing shortly after.  Even between the time I had accepted a position and the time I moved, the prices in the foothills east of Sacramento and the Idaho panhandle flipped from CA being slightly more expensive to Idaho being slightly more expensive.  By early 2023, real estate prices in the Placerville, CA area were about 80% of those for comparable properties here.

I haven't checked that comparison in the past year or so but a decent small home in town or on small acreage out of town will cost a minimum of $550,000.  Real estate prices just across the line in WA, northeast of Spokane have been, as long as I've been here, and still are about 30% less than comparable properties in Idaho.

That said, almost everything else is significantly cheaper in northern Idaho than in CA.  Wages for surveyors here are typically 70% to 80% of those in the Sacramento area and they haven't significantly increased even as real estate skyrocketed.