After over a year of trying to move to Oregon and getting sick informing me about the high cost of living ive made a spreadsheet that has the minimum,living, and thriving wages of cities in and out of Oregon. Honestly not as bad as one would expect especially if you're not in Portland.
Yeah, it's not as bad as Seattle, Cali, NYC I think. I should have added, though, that health care here is frustrating. In TX I could call a specialist and make an appointment. In OR I have to pay money to see Some Doctor to get them to refer me to the specialist I already know I need to see.
I live one of the most "affordable" places to live in the country what this actually means is I live in a place with decent rent but also folks paying ungodly amounts on energy. My coworker paid an entire paycheck worth for his power bill last month.
Also, being the one the most "affordable" places means wages are low af. Applying for the job i have now but in Oregon made me realize im vastly underpaid by like like $25k to $30k a year. Kind of hard to keep giving it my all when im being robbed.
Noted I made the spreadsheet so I know what I need to make to actually improve my family's lives beyond getting to a more queer friendly and less toxic environment. But honestly those two factors play a huge roll too.