Corpus Christi question.......

That would be me...

You will live very, very well in CC on 80K per annum. Life is very affordable down here. BTW, I used to work in South Philly, so I know what you're talking about. Housing in CC is a lot cheaper than up there.

I don't actually live in CC. I live about 20 miles north, in a little beach town called Port Aransas (pop.3500 or so). Great place to live and very affordable. I live just over the dunes from the Gulf of Mexico. I can look out my window and see the waves pounding the beach. You can rent a small apartment for less than a thousand a month around here and walk to the beach on your day off. They can be a little hard to find, but not impossible. It's a bit of a trek to go to CC sometimes for necessaries, and all the oilfield trucking companies are at least forty miles away, but it's a quality of life thing for me.

There are lots of other small towns around here where you can live and not pay through the nose for it. If you have an RV, there are parks right in the middle of the oilfield that will rent you a slab with water, electric and sewage for as little as $350/month. I have a friend that owns a little park in Three Rivers that charges exactly that. Three Rivers isn't exactly the center of the universe or anything, but there are a lot worse places to live.

 

Down here, I would think that 1K a month would be fairly high-end. IIRC a waterfront high-rise in downtown CC recently advertised 2BR apartments at around 1200 a month, but you had a pool and all the other stuff, plus a great view of CC Bay. I thought they were well worth the price myself, but that's just me. In town, you could probably rent in a nice complex for 6-800/mo.

 

Ya we look and our prob is the schools. Wife is picky. If she was not, there are good deals south west and southeast are cheaper and some parts nice, if I was single is where I would move especially the proximity to most oil company cities; Pleasanton/Jourdanton, a bit further to Kenedy/Karnes City. Downtown towards south side good location, not a fan of area but is close to downtown and exiting city towards most oil areas. If one is lucky to get job in Northeast like Seguin or cibolo there are good deals and family friendly areas.

 

Been to Port Aranas love it. Went fishing while back when lived in Beeville. CC is great. Almost took job out of Goerge West and was excited to be closer to CC. People are friendly. Area around downtown beach area saw some good deals on smaller apartments. Not overcrowded in that area too. More crowded in that south padre drive or whatever is called.

 

You can still live in Port A fairly cheap, but you have to do a little legwork to find the deals. For the OP though, it would be tough. A 3-4 br house rental in PA would probably be 2-2500 a month. Corpus Christi is by far a better bet for him. If he wants to buy, he may be able to find something on North Padre Island in the 200K range, but over here, probably double that.

 

I live in George West off 37 just a hop skip & jump from SA & Corpus..housing depends on net working some are trying to grab all the boom bucks they can others are happy making a lil profit..Dec I will be here 2 yrs & I've been a Company Driver but I'm looking to leap into O/O..lots of Oil & work here & lots of companies wiiling to take newbies but of course pay is less but gotta start some where

 

I used to live in Corpus, and yes, you can live VERY comfortably on $80K in Corpus.

 

Sound like you made the right move from ND to TX. Did it take you very long to get used to the heat and humidity?

 

Hey Mike well I'm still not used to it but its only about 2 1/2 to 3 months & its a trade off...I have 9 to 10 months good saddle weather verse 2 maybe 3 in ND or MT