Move to North Carolina?

[Drvngcrzy]

I have been thinking about going into law enforcement after I graduate in August this summer and I have been considering moving to North Carolina. Can anyone help me with the cost of living?

I make about 38k while still in school in Ohio and live fine, vacation where and when I want. How much is needed to have a decent sized condo or house in North Carolina? Seems most police depts only make low to mid 30's throughout the state. Is that enough or will I struggle with such low pay?

Any other info would be great.

Thanks!

 

[detsgtdavis]

Stay out of Law Enforcement if you are looking to make lots of money. If I can make it anyone should be able to make but I am not buying a $3000.00 drysuit or flying out of country for my vacations.

You can do ok in LE but you will not get rich. I think Raleigh PD starts their pay around the mid thirties or close to forty thousand per year. There's also lots of overtime to work.

You could stay up north where the money is more and then moved south when you retire.

I live in Raleigh (don't work for Raleigh PD). My wife is also a police officer. We do ok. We just have to stay on a very tight budget.

 

[fireflock]

You need to decide where in NC you want to go. The state is really wide (it can take 7+hrs to drive from the coast to the TN border) and the cost of living varies a lot based on where you are.

Realtor.com can give you prices quickly if you have a specific area in mind.

 

[scubapolly]

I know I'm coming to this late. I moved to NC from Ohio (cincinnati) back in June '07. Where in Ohio are you coming from?

I live in Apex here, and houses are more expensive than what they were in Cincinnati. For my job here I travel throughout the state. As Rich mentioned, a lot depends on where you are moving to in NC. Obviously near the coast is expensive. Cary keeps getting named one of the best towns to live in in the US (don't see it myself, but that's neither here nor there). Cary is pretty price. They don't really have "condos" here like we think of them in ohio. Most of what I see here along those lines are referred to as "town homes" aka 2 story condos with a tiny yard that is taken care of by a maintenance crew. Most of them are interwoven into a subdivision. The ones in our subdivision start at $140 I believe.

There are areas in north east nc (camden, northampton, gates bertie, herford counties) that have really low cost of living, but not sure how their police are paid. I do know those areas can't get teachers to save their lives, and end up with 1 year teach for america teachers.

 

[El Tiburon]

Stay out of Law Enforcement if you are looking to make lots of money. If I can make it anyone should be able to make but I am not buying a $3000.00 drysuit or flying out of country for my vacations.

You can do ok in LE but you will not get rich. I think Raleigh PD starts their pay around the mid thirties or close to forty thousand per year. There's also lots of overtime to work.

You could stay up north where the money is more and then moved south when you retire.

I live in Raleigh (don't work for Raleigh PD). My wife is also a police officer. We do ok. We just have to stay on a very tight budget.

I'll be retiring in 3 years with a New York City Dets., 30 year pension. I want to leave the city and one of the locations I've been looking out is North Carolina. I would like to be within an hours drive of the ocean, so I can go diving at will. Any suggestions on communities I should start looking at? It'll just be the wife and I as the kid's will be out of college by then. If you need more info on my status to help make suggestions, pm me. Thanks in advance.

El Tiburon.

 

[fireflock]

How big or small of a community are you looking for? The only place with 100k or more in NC that is within an hour from a dive boat is Wilmington. Other popular relocation cities (you're not the only one with that plan) within an hour of dive boats are Morehead City, Beaufort, and New Bern. All the beaches along Brunswick county (just S of Wilmington) are popular retirement places too.

There are also dive boats along the northern outer banks. For that area, you're looking at towns like Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and Manteo.

NC is a great place to live, and retirement places are popping up everywhere. Enjoy the search.

Rich