Brain Drain, In-State Job Opportunity, and... Jackson...

[Maroon Eagle]

We've discussed all of the above in separate threads.

But here's the question: If you are a native Mississippian who has the opportunity to come back to work in the state, would you do it even if it means being in the Jackson area?

 

[Mafiadawg]

That question has already been answered being that the Jackson metro area is by far and away the most heavily populated area in the state. Pretty dumb question.

 

[Cooterpoot]

Nope. Mississippi is so far behind it's impossible to catch up in my lifetime. And Jackson? LOL that's a huge HELL NO!

 

[Bill Shankly]

I chose to stay in Mississippi to begin with. Jackson? NO WAY ON EARTH.

 

[aTotal360]

Definitely not Jackson. I would move to the coast or maaaaaybe Starkville.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

That question has already been answered being that the Jackson metro area is by far and away the most heavily populated area in the state. Pretty dumb question.

I'll disagree as it relates to brain drain which has been discussed in past threads. We complain and state and local leaders complain about Mississippians leaving the state for better opportunities.

But what if there's an in-state opportunity for a native Mississippian to return & smarten up the place but in - to put it kindly - an often-disparaged area?

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Northeast Mississippi is a good place to live

 

[The Maroon Pug]

Not a native Mississippian, but lived in MS for ~11 years. It would take a complete 180 for me to move back, and if I did, it would be to North Mississippi (either Tupelo or Starkville). 0% chance to ever move to the Jackson area. There are no job opportunities that align with my career, little to no amenities or things to do on the weekends, and seems to be no urgency from the current leaders of the state to do anything about it.

 

[LocalBeachBum]

Work or live in downtown or within the city limits of Jackson? No.


Work or live outside the city of Jackson? Yes, but I would not sacrifice pay to do so.

 

[DogStuckAtUM.sixpack]

View attachment 24452

 

[Xenomorph]

What are my other choices?

 

[turkish]

“Jackson area.” Does that include Madison, Brandon, etc?

 

[johnson86-1]

We've discussed all of the above in separate threads.

But here's the question: If you are a native Mississippian who has the opportunity to come back to work in the state, would you do it even if it means being in the Jackson area?

I personally would be hesitant to do so. If I were starting over, the only place in Mississippi that I would actually classify as desirable would be the Coast and while it's great, I'm not sure how good the career opportunities are there; certainly good for Mississippi, but not sure about compared to other small or medium sized metro areas in the SOutheast. Hattiesburg or Starkville would be ok, and while "South Memphis" and Tupelo might be nice enough places to live, they aren't anything particularly unique that would attract anybody.

That said, it seems like our main competition to stop "brain drain" are mainly Birmingham and Memphis and then probably Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston. Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston are just different animals than Jackson. Nobody is going to choose Jackson over those unless it's because of proximity to family, a preference for small city/suburban living, or just a much better job opportunity. But there's not quite the gap between Memphis and Birmingham. So for people looking for that want to stick within driving distance of home, it's not quite the impossible sale to get them to choose Jackson.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Working in Jackson.

Not limited to living in Jackson-- so Madison, Brandon, and other area communities are options for places to live.

 

[Bill Shankly]

I personally would be hesitant to do so. If I were starting over, the only place in Mississippi that I would actually classify as desirable would be the Coast and while it's great, I'm not sure how good the career opportunities are there; certainly good for Mississippi, but not sure about compared to other small or medium sized metro areas in the SOutheast. Hattiesburg or Starkville would be ok, and while "South Memphis" and Tupelo might be nice enough places to live, they aren't anything particularly unique that would attract anybody.

That said, it seems like our main competition to stop "brain drain" are mainly Birmingham and Memphis and then probably Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston. Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston are just different animals than Jackson. Nobody is going to choose Jackson over those unless it's because of proximity to family, a preference for small city/suburban living, or just a much better job opportunity. But there's not quite the gap between Memphis and Birmingham. So for people looking for that want to stick within driving distance of home, it's not quite the impossible sale to get them to choose Jackson.

You left out Huntsville.

 

[RotorHead]

Native Mississippian. Military took me away for a bit here and there, did about 2 years in Huntsville (which I regret leaving...but little thing called life happens). Moved back to Jackson and swore I'd get my family out ASAP. Found a job on the coast about 6 months ago and do not intend on looking back. Life on the coast is just better overall.

 

[johnson86-1]

You left out Huntsville.

Yup. THat's another one. I was picking places mainly off where I had friends leave for, so I'm probably missing some more, but that's another obvious one. I guess maybe New Orleans also? Baton Rouge and Mobile? I don't remember really anybody my age going to those places, but I would assume there are people that New Orleans is a draw for. Not sure Baton Rouge or Mobile offer things that different from Jackson.

 

[ZombieKissinger]

I don’t see it happening. I went to plenty of sketchy places in Jackson when I was single but now that I have a family there’s no way. Plus there aren’t any jobs there doing what I do. I work remotely right now, but I wouldn’t move to Jackson by choice for a remote job.

Edit: if I found there perfect job there (which won’t happen), then I’d have no problem with regard to safety/family if drove there during the day for work and came home later. I wouldn’t live in Jackson proper. Would have to look closer at the school situation in the suburbs. Not relative to other MS schools but relative to other schools nationally

 

[Duke Humphrey]

Chatanooga, Little Rock, NW Arkansas....

 

[GloryDawg]

I live in Brandon and work in Jackson. I am very happy. Brandon is a nice safe place to live and you can buy a nice house. The only time I go to Jackson is to go work. Other than that I never get into the city limits of Jackson. You can find anything you want living in Ranking County without ever going into another county but if I do want to go to Madison county, I do not have to cross into Hinds county.

 

[stateu1]

You left out Huntsville.

https://www.waff.com/2022/05/17/huntsville-named-best-place-live-america-by-us-news-world-report/

Recently named the best place to live.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

That said, it seems like our main competition to stop "brain drain" are mainly Birmingham and Memphis and then probably Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston.

Good points. I'm disagreeing slightly. I think Mississippi's main competition is... Mississippi.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Although Madison/Flowood/Brandon are good places to live, I think the Coast or Desoto County are better places to live (and possibility the Hattiesburg area).

The old "work in Jxn, live in the burbs" is really not applicable any more. Many professional firms have move out of Jxn to Highland Colony Parkway or Madison or Flowood. I've worked downtown since 1995, even before the plandemic, the amount of people downtown was much less than 25 years earlier. The Landmark Center has been padlocked shut for years, Regions Plaza has entire floors that are empty (and kind of creepy if you end up one one). The traffic downtown is almost down to nothing. Only a few restaurants left, it is sad. It happened long before the current inept leadership, starting the decline (in downtown) in the 90s. Decades of incompetent and corrupt leadership.

 

[kired]

I live in NEMS now - spent ~1.5 years in Jackson in early 2000s. Had no desire to live there long term, and no desire to go back. It would have to be a significant job opportunity for me to move. I used to visit about once per year for one reason or another, but I prefer to avoid that whole area now - I can't see myself or my wife agreeing to move there.

 

[Mafiadawg]

About 600,000 people disagree with about everyone on here but to each their own. I think the term is very vocal minority.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

"area", yes. I did that. Worked out of state. Now in Madison County. Ridgeland is my DMZ. Kinda joking...not really.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Huntsville has the largest MSU Alum chapter outside of Jackson.

 

[aTotal360]

Bunch of worthless arrowspace nerds.

 

[ckDOG]

Nope.

We've discussed all of the above in separate threads.

But here's the question: If you are a native Mississippian who has the opportunity to come back to work in the state, would you do it even if it means being in the Jackson area?

My family is in metro-Jackson, and I love them very much, but I'd put Jackson after, in no particular order, MS Coast, MS Memphis Metro, and Tupelo. Big gap between those and Jackson as well.

In the SE, I'm going Memphis, B'ham, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Fayetteville/Bentonville, Raleigh/Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, handful of others in NC, North Shore, AL gulf coast/FL panhandle, and I'm sure some smaller GA/SC cities (Rock Hill comes to mind) would be fine places to live.

Leaving off Nashville and Atlanta not to be a hater. I enjoy those cities and there's plenty of opportunity. Ask me earlier in life and those cities are even more appealing, but I think I'm priced out living near where we would would likely work - and I'm probably closer to having Fishwater money than I am to the rest of you poors. I hate the idea of being house rich and cash poor. We'd end up with an hour plus commute to work each way - which is a miserable existence. Or buying a house that eats into our retirement approach. Don't want that either. All of those other areas offer better combo of opportunity and how far your dollar can go. Especially in the family raising years.

 

[msstatelp1]

We've discussed all of the above in separate threads.

But here's the question: If you are a native Mississippian who has the opportunity to come back to work in the state, would you do it even if it means being in the Jackson area?

The only reason I'd do it is to be closer to older parents or other family members. As I've gotten older, the need to be closer to family has become more important. A significant pay increase might sway me to do it but without family it would have to be very significant.

 

[johnson86-1]

About 600,000 people disagree with about everyone on here but to each their own. I think the term is very vocal minority.

Well, just to put it in perspective:

MOntgomery MSA - 386k
Gulfport MSA - 417k
Mobile MSA - 430k (Note this excludes everything east of the bay as that's the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley MSA, and west of the state line as that's the Gulfport, Biloxi, Pascagoula MSA, so it's a relatively narrow North/South strip for a MSA).
Lafayette MSA - 478k (note this is up from 273k in 2010, where as Jackson had 586K in 2010)
Huntsville MSA - 491k
Jackson MSA - 600k (Note this includes not just Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County but also Copiah and Simpson and Yazoo)
Baton Rouge MSA - 870k
Birmingham MSA - 1M
New Orleans MSA - 1.27M
Memphis MSA - 1.3M
Nashville MSA - 2M

So yes, lots of people live in the Jackson MSA, but it's been pretty stagnant over the last ten years. Of course, so have Birmingham and Memphis over that period. The areas that it just isn't competing with are the fast growing places smaller than Jackson (Lafayette & Huntsville). It's basically doing the same thing as Birmingham and Memphis.

 

[Cooterpoot]

I've lived here my entire life, from rural MS to Jackson, to Hattiesburg and now the coast. I work for a company with about 25,000 employees. If I live in MS, my pay is $15,000 less than out of state for same position. MS is a cesspool professionally. But, family has kept me here. Now, I'm looking at moving out of state to better prepare for retirement in 20 years. There's just nothing here other than family.

 

[PartTimeGenius]

It really depends on profession and exactly what "Jackson Metro" is defined as. If I'm in the medical field, Jackson (job-wise) is a rich target area. Especially if we're talking pediatric hospital. Would I choose to LIVE in Jackson? No. I'd live live North, East, or West somewhere (Madison, Brandon, Clinton).

If I'm a school teacher, unless my spouse was some top-notch bread winner, there's not a chance I'm moving to and working in JXN.

 

[ll Martain ll]

In my life, Mississippi has two big things going for it. It's not crowded, and most of my family is there (Coast now, I grew up in South Jackson but only parents and a couple of friends are left there).

Living in Texas for 8 years, I REALLY appreciate the not crowded part. Rarely having to sit in traffic anymore sounds glorious. It's also so easy to embed yourself in the community in MS...everyone is generally very welcoming and happy to have more people participating. There's a very high probability I retire on the coast, closer to wife's family and my brother/his family in Hattiesburg.

I don't even like visiting the Jackson area much anymore. You'd probably have to triple my salary to move there permanently, and even then I'd only stay short term.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I've lived here my entire life, from rural MS to Jackson, to Hattiesburg and now the coast. I work for a company with about 25,000 employees. If I live in MS, my pay is $15,000 less than out of state for same position. MS is a cesspool professionally. But, family has kept me here. Now, I'm looking at moving out of state to better prepare for retirement in 20 years. There's just nothing here other than family.

If you have to choose between doing what is best for your parents or your kids, pick your kids errytime. It may sound harsh, but you have to put your emphasis on the future, not the past. I know people living in the delta and struggling to pay for private school because, "that's were momma is."

 

[Smoked Toag]

I lived all over, and moved back to Jackson. The answer was - job. That's how you change things, provide more and more jobs, and people will come. Wealth will follow, and QOL things will follow that. It's already happening.

You aren't bringing mountains or a pretty beach to MS. Have to live with what we got. Tourism won't get it done outside of small things like hunting and golf and lake/river recreation.

 

[PartTimeGenius]

I get what you're saying, BUT, what is the cost of living increase at the out-of-state position(s). Sure, I could go to Ft Collins, CO and make 2X as much as I do here, but I'm also looking at a 1/2 Million Dollar home vs 200K. So you're really no better off with that increased pay (aside from the terrain and geography of course).

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I'm certain that I'm earning more in MS than if I had stayed in Huntsville my whole career. I may be a outlier, but I wouldn't describe my MS career opportunities as a cesspool.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I personally would be hesitant to do so. If I were starting over, the only place in Mississippi that I would actually classify as desirable would be the Coast and while it's great, I'm not sure how good the career opportunities are there; certainly good for Mississippi, but not sure about compared to other small or medium sized metro areas in the SOutheast. Hattiesburg or Starkville would be ok, and while "South Memphis" and Tupelo might be nice enough places to live, they aren't anything particularly unique that would attract anybody.

That said, it seems like our main competition to stop "brain drain" are mainly Birmingham and Memphis and then probably Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston. Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston are just different animals than Jackson. Nobody is going to choose Jackson over those unless it's because of proximity to family, a preference for small city/suburban living, or just a much better job opportunity. But there's not quite the gap between Memphis and Birmingham. So for people looking for that want to stick within driving distance of home, it's not quite the impossible sale to get them to choose Jackson.

I look at it as "what is the best thing for MSU". Well, obviously the success of Mississippi helps. But if Mississippi is not the place for some people, I would rather our alumni have decent places to go within reasonable driving distances of Starkville. Huntsville, Birmingham, Memphis fit this bill nicely. Obviously a lot of MSU influence in those metro areas. Memphis is a bigger Jackson, and directly affects MS as NW MS is part of that metro. Birmingham is about the same without the direct influence. Huntsville gives you a place with a TON of employment opportunities.

What we don't want, is all our alumni going elsewhere, becoming fans of other places, and then their kids are not fans of MSU at all. SO MANY sheep parents I know in Alabama let their kids go elsewhere because of "friends" or some other awful excuse like that. But at least there is a bigger chance of them remaining State fans while in that close proximity.

I guess the next ring is New Orleans, Mobile, Atlanta, Nashville, Little Rock.

 

[johnson86-1]

I get what you're saying, BUT, what is the cost of living increase at the out-of-state position(s). Sure, I could go to Ft Collins, CO and make 2X as much as I do here, but I'm also looking at a 1/2 Million Dollar home vs 200K. So you're really no better off with that increased pay (aside from the terrain and geography of course).

Yup. An extra $250k on a house note at 3% is over $12k a year by itself. That's already going to offset $15k a year in extra pretax salary.

Public school is another big one. You have two kids, and even assuming they can go to public school through elementary, you're still looking at $100k+ in after tax money. Housing costs at least can act as forced savings, although it doesn't really help you unless you're eventually willing to relocate somewhere lower cost. But the school costs is just down the drain.