Kaleb
How much does living away from a city affect job opportunities?
I am interested in living in a suburban or rural area while working in computer science. My concern is that intuition leads me to think that most of these jobs would be in large cities. Is that accurate? How much is pay affected? #computer-science
3 answers
Karthik SP
Karthik’s Answer
Rural Areas offer very less scope for software engineers. You will not find many software companies but you still have opportunities if there are other industries and companies which use software related applications like Automotive and textile industries
Joanne Mammarelli
Joanne’s Answer
Aim your living location based on where the jobs (and good schools if you're not a fan of moving too often) are.
Odds are you'll be in the vicinity of a city; however, the type of city will vary greatly (i.e. NYC vs. Raleigh, NC)
Eric Willisson
Eric’s Answer
You're right that there are more opportunities, and frequently higher pay, in big cities. Of course, it costs more to live there as well, so it's not simply that you always have more money available if you're in a big city.
In addition to the other responses, some companies, especially software companies, allow people to telecommute, which means working from outside of the company's office. After all, most programming can be done with a computer that has an Internet connection, anywhere in the world. This is definitely not the norm and you can't assume it, and in some ways it can be harder than working in a standard office, but I have known some people to be very successful with it.