You can give away all the free tickets to a free outdoor concert or unlimited mimosas on center court of the EC, doesn’t matter, if young people want to move back to Sioux Falls to continue their career that decision depends on something else very important;
“There’s other things that hold people back from moving back. Like pay and benefits,†she said.
She expects her husband will take a pay cut when they return.
“He’ll most likely get paid less than in Alaska,†she said.
We can talk all we want about the cost-of-living differential, but it’s still important to note the perception here is that financially they feel they will be less-well-off.
WAGES! WAGES! WAGES! So often we like to talk about low unemployment or affordable housing, but let’s face it, over 40% of the full-time jobs in Sioux Falls don’t pay a living wage. Though we have two of the largest industrial hospital complexes in the region, our pay for healthcare workers is still some of the lowest in the nation, so yes, her husband would have to take a pay cut, a big one.
While there is lots of things to do in SF, some of them free, like recreation in our parks, it still costs money for entertainment. I’m sorry, but the 700 lb. gorilla in the room is still the lack of good living wage jobs in Sioux Falls, not entertainment and recreation.
Dollar Loan is reopening 2 stores. They need employees. You can borrow more than you make and pay it back at 35% interest. When wages are this low, why work? Welfare pays more and you can sell drugs for a 2nd income. My point is you can make it here but you have to be criminal.
The wage collusion in this town needs end! Employers need to start listing their pay rates with their employment ads!….. Like they used to…….
What is a living wage for SF?
I remember getting that no-income-tax, low-cost-of-living pitch when I moved to Sioux Falls in 2007.
Ten years later, I happily pay more taxes and higher cost of living in the Twin Cities because I also make twice as much and that means, even in spite of the aforementioned items, I can actually afford to do things that are also important like, you know, save for my retirement.
The best way to make Sioux Falls work financially is to retire there, the same way that retiring to Mexico or, I don’t know, Poland would also help to stretch those retirement dollars further.
LJL-
IMO it would be between $18-20 an hour ($40K before taxes, etc). Nationally they say about $16-$20. Locally, I heard them go as low as $14 an hour which is $29K before taxes. Not sure how anybody could support anyone but themselves on that wage, you certainly couldn’t afford both a car payment and mortgage on that let alone a child, a non working spouse, heck you would have trouble feeding a gold fish. I really believe that is why the food banks, the banquet and free school lunches are used so much, after people pay rent they have no money for food.
I wish SD would do what Colorado did, and instituted FREE birth control (actually I wish they would do it nationwide). After they did it, unintended pregnancies dropped 42%.
Hornguy has a point. I’ve lived here 20 years but my business was national, not local. I lived well and made 2 exwives wealthy. I didn’t pay sales tax on professional services because I was paid from out of state. My corporation was here. There’s no corporate nor personal state tax. I’ve stayed because I need the VA hospital, the cost of living is not so bad if you buy cheap and tax free from the internet, and everything’s convenient. I worry about crime, infrastructure, and congestion now. The mayor wants concerts, spas, and tennis but he’s sacrificed our quality of life and safety misappropriating city budget. The city/developers corrupt cartel took the boom away from us. My future approach might be living in Minneapolis. Retirement here is not so attractive anymore. Yes, there’s state income tax there but it doesn’t kick in till after 30k. I miss the company of free thinking common sense democrats. Republicans ruined this state.
What if you can’t attract people back and there’s a mass migration away? When it’s mansions and vacant slums, there’s gonna be million dollar homes selling for a dollar on the courthouse steps.
Median income in SF hovers around $15 an hour. That would be somewhere around $13 an hour if median income were readjusted without Avera and sioux valley employeees. Nothing to be very proud of.
I’m a teacher in SF, and I make DOUBLE what I did working at Sanford. Let that sink in for a moment.
ska – Careful, don’t give Sanford any ideas, we will be paying more in sales taxes soon to subsidize nurse’s pay.
i’d bet that not once did any of the brunch’s organizers brought up wages when making their presentation. i hope the attendees enjoyed their free meal, because it’s the last one they’ll get once they move here.
The Sioux Falls School District pays hundreds of their support staff from $12-14 an hour—Not a living wage and they are 1 of Sioux Falls largest employers.
That was one of many beefs I had with the sales tax increase for teacher pay increases. While administrators are 26th in the nation, and now teachers are tied for last, we still pay the support staff poverty wages.
South Dakotans have been brainwashed into believing the myth of “the low cost of living” in South Dakota. In exchange for our supposed “low costs” we have to put up with poverty wages. Can’t pay your bills at the end of the month? Get another job or take out a loan from a payday lender. And remember, if you fail it is your fault for not working hard enough!