Location is king for quality of life, family, work-life balance, and happiness.
How much is that location costing you?
Living in Miami, I have access to the beach. Today I woke up and decided to go for a stroll on the beach. Thirty minutes later, I was on a white sand beach, soaking up the sun rays. Even though I’ve been back in Miami for the past 16 months, this is only my third time going to the beach.
I’m not much of a beach person, but knowing that I have access to it is kind of cool.
When you look at it from a finance point of view, that location can be negatively impacting you.
It is well known in medicine, the closer you are to a metropolitan city like Miami, the less your salary is as more people are offering your services, and it’s just overall more competitive. The more rural your work location, the higher your pay.
Rural does not mean four hours in the middle of nowhere. Rural could be as simple as a 45-minute drive from downtown.
Let’s look at some average salary in family medicine:
Miami-Dade County, FL (Miami, FL): $247K. Take a six-hour drive to Madison County, FL (Tallahassee, FL): $264K.
Harris County, TX (Houston, TX): $218K. Take a 3hr drive to Tyler County, TX (Tyler, TX): $276K.
Nurse Practitioner Salaries: Houston, TX $100K. Miami, FL $80K.
Keep in mind, the farther away you go from the city, the less the cost of living is, and usually, it is significantly less. Making the right move will potentially increase your salary and decrease your cost of living. That is what I call winning at life.
These types of vast differences in salaries exist throughout all industries.
In my first job out of undergrad, I worked as a quality assurance engineer in Miami, FL, which paid $35K. That same job in Houston, TX, was offering $55-$60K. In San Francisco, California, $70-80K. Looking back now, I should have made that move. However, Miami is home. All of my family and friends are here. I chose with my heart and not necessarily the math.
At the time, being young and single, I could have taken it as an opportunity to explore a new city and made an adventure out of it. However, I think the unknown and the naiveté kept me loyal to Miami for a third of the salary.
Unfortunately, we tend to follow our hearts and not math. The math says move, make your money, pay off debt, save, and invest. When you are secure financially, you can come back to an area you call home and be less stressed.
These same principles apply to our homes. We’ve all seen the memes – 10 bedrooms 8-bathroom house in Georgia for $300K vs. 1 bedroom/1 bath condos in New York for $1.5 Million. Yet, people will pay that $1.5 M in New York like it’s nothing, instead of making a move.
If you are trying to optimize your income, and save while paying off debt, have you thought about your location?
Would moving 2-3 hours away or to another state help you optimize your finances and your career?
If so, do your research, and don’t be afraid to take the plunge. It’s understandable when you have family, kids, etc., it’s a lot harder to move. However, it’s not impossible.
The right move could have a significant impact on your loved ones and your future self.
