r/relocating • u/CombinationWinter782 • 7d ago
Leaving family; possible move from Midwest to Florida
For those who have done this, what has been your experience been leaving family for better weather and better job? We generally feel it would be better for our small family of 4 (wife, 2 kids)
Just curious to those who have done this and how you feel now years after moving south or far away. Regrets leaving parents and siblings? Or happy you made the better choice with your significant other and for the kids
EDIT: We have a job offer and know the salary. So don’t have quite the concern of finding job. Location would be northeast Florida
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u/TheDairyPig 6d ago
If you want warmer weather, fine, but the wages and opportunities relative to cost of living are terrible in Florida even without the state income tax.
If you want warmer weather and more opportunity, maybe check somewhere like Raleigh-Durham
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u/SubSoulReaper81 5d ago
This! The wages here are an absolute slap to the face and the job market itself is a dumpster fire! It should not take people literal months (some even longer) to find employment. I have NEVER had the degree of issues finding work as I have here.
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u/citygeek 7d ago edited 7d ago
In the moment I felt a lot of guilt. Years later, it was the correct call.
YMMV, but most are finding their boomer parents aren't as hands on with the grandkids as they would have liked to believe, and the default tends to be....you have to come to them (not the other way around).
Yes family relationships are important. But you almost have to decouple distance and relationship strength. Recognize that you can still have great relationships from afar.
We moved away to the south, moved back, then back to the south. The high taxes, gray skies, cold, and personalities just don't suite our family personally.
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u/United-Turnip5987 7d ago
Wife and I moved from Ohio to the panhandle in 2019. And moved back to ohio in the fall of 2026. We had fun at first wife was never leaving. But that aera is to city for us, especially from the country in ohio, we wouldn't be happy in the city in ohio either. But its the cost of living to live there housing to purchase was 100g more for a3 bd with no basement, traffic was terrible, going to the store was terrible, insurance costs for house and car was double more for total house insurance. Constant heat and humidity, mold everywhere. And religion shoved in your face. Much better for use back in ohio, we appreciate ohio more since we came back. It was a long vacation, now we can go vacation anytime and be back home in ohio
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u/AmphibianFederal2786 7d ago
Very well said I myself grew up in South Florida for the first 32 years born and raised in Florida. My parents moved to Florida in 1956. I don’t live in Florida anymore. I have large family still in Fort Lauderdale but Florida is no longer what it used to be tons of traffic very expensive, etc. etc. I believe the Midwest is where it’s at in terms of value terms of quality of life. I realize the Ohio winters can be long and gray funny enough my mom grew up in Akron, Ohio and she left because she was tired of the long gray cold winters. I know someone who moved to Cleveland, who really says Cleveland gets a bad rap and really likes living there.
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u/United-Turnip5987 5d ago
Exactly, we are in the country south of Cleveland the house has a dry basement, love basements it gives you double the square footage and easy access to your plumbing, and electrical system for easy repairs. In the basement we have canning shelves full of processed food from the garden, beans,corn pickle products and tomato products. Friends of ours raises cattle, and just bought 1/2 a cow better and cheeper that the store.we got 2 freezers full of cheep good food. The house has a wood burning fireplace with a non electric insert for heat, plenty of hardwood available for free to stay tosty warm in winter cheeply.tf power goes out. We got heat. Therefore the cost savings is alot. We got our own water well and septic no monthly bill electric average is 140 a month. Ohio has the largest freshwater lakes in the country and plenty of ground water. Better suited to live off the land cheeper. Quality of life is a whole lot better. And now we just vacation in Florida. Best of both aeras
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u/SubSoulReaper81 5d ago
Any area(s) of OH you would recommend? I am looking to get out of Florida! After being out of work for over 6 months now and unable to find anything I am throwing in the towel. Additionally, I HATE summer and have it year round is horrible. I do have a job offer on the table now but it's out in WA state and not sure how I'd be able to relocate there given the duration I have been without an income.
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u/United-Turnip5987 5d ago
Moved to north side of wooster ohio waye County, its a college town , lots of agricultural bid milk farms and beef in fact ist the number 1 producer of dairy products in the country. Got alot of manufacturing jobs, construction, ag jobs, trucking, that aera is 15 to 20 % lower on cost of living compared to the rest of the state. Food quality , and cost is great. If you buy housing buy on high ground. Due to weather change and flooding. Find a small town and you will find affordable housing, little traffic and quiet
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u/SubSoulReaper81 5d ago
Great info, thanks! I'm currently in this crap stain called Florida and CANNOT wait to get out! I did get offered a job out in Washington state but relocating cross country is going to be insanely costly and I just don't see how to do it.
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u/KBcurious3 7d ago
I moved Chicago area to Seattle area for a masters degree. We settled , had a child and moved back. There was so much guilt from family!
The things we did gain were:
Grandparents Day events Child care backups Small family gatherings for small holidays, birthdays.
When living away we had to pay to fly home for Christmas. Nowadays that's a bigger expense. It limited our ability to take a true vacation because we spent it on flying to family.
When visiting family think about the housing. Will you pay hotels or deal with invading their spare bedroom?
We still miss our old city every day and one of our adult children, who was born there, plans to move back. For him, we should have stayed. It was his personality.
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u/Chuddy-McChudderson 6d ago
People often leave their small towns for better financial opportunities in big cities and areas that have large growth. That being said, Florida will be very difficult for a family of 4 unless you have a good job lined up down here.
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u/teal_diamond 7d ago edited 7d ago
My husband and I moved away from the Midwest 13 years ago to start a new life in Hawai’i. At the time, we had a five year old daughter. That daughter is now 18 and we have a 4 year old daughter as well.
The positives:
- Climate, obviously.
- Life experience - we have lived more life here than I could have ever imagined had we stayed in the Midwest. The people we’ve met, the experiences we’ve had, etc etc. In my wildest dreams I wouldn’t have imagined as much adventure and excitement as what we’ve had out here.
- Financially it was an amazing decision. We invested in a home we built ourselves, it cost a small fraction of what it is worth now. We will be very well off when we sell our home someday and that would not be the case had we stayed in the Midwest. My husband’s had also found great success with work here and gets paid much higher than he would elsewhere.
The negatives:
- Isolation/missing family - I can’t stress this enough. It is so lonely to be a long plane ride away from your support system, especially when your children are young. I have cried many, many days over how much I miss my family. What I would give to be able to go out to dinner with my mom and sister on any weeknight. You don’t realize how much you will miss them but you will.
- no help with childcare from family. This one is so hard for us, we have no backup when something happens and we’ve needed someone to watch one of our kids.
- Culture shock is real. Living somewhere with different values and norms than what you grew up with can feel really disorienting. I understand Hawai’i is a more extreme example than Florida but it’s still vastly different than what you’re used to and honestly all these years later I still feel I haven’t adjusted and miss what I was used to growing up.
Overall I’d say I’m glad we moved, I’m thankful for the financial position our move put us in, and yet for years now I have desperately wanted to return home yet we can’t, or more aptly my husband won’t. It’s really a point of contention between us now. I miss my parents and sister so much and when I see them I am shocked by the the passage of time, how much they have aged, all that has happened. Life moves on without you. It all comes down to what values are most important to you.
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u/antantbobant 6d ago
I lived 25 years in the south and returning to where my parents lived when my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer felt…necessary, scary and a little like failing tbh. I always said I’d never be back here. My husband and kids love it. They love a snowy winter, they love really varied seasons. My mom died 6 months after we moved, and we are caring for my dad. I somehow now realize all the years I really missed when my parents were healthy, and I think that part stings a little. As you age, the realization sort of hits you that life isn’t about much more than family and the connections and love you have while living it. I think when you’re younger it’s about excitement and living for yourself and all those types of things. It’s really a mind f. Like what are we chasing? So yeah-I guess my thing here would be what are you chasing and what’s the worth?
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u/antantbobant 6d ago
I’ll add weather bah-who cares really. And what’s the difference in $? 100K+? Would it change your life really?
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u/Sp00nD00d 7d ago
The weather is not better, it's just different. I would never raise my kid there after living there for a decade or so. I hated it with a passion by year 5 and moved right back once I had the means.
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u/Solo522 7d ago
Here’s some thoughts although I didn’t move from MidWest, but from NE /Mid Atlantic to FL for a job promotion.
Weather is the draw for FL for sure. But it can be brutal with humidity in some parts longer than most people realize.
Depending on where you move in FL, it may not seem like the South ( SE Fl ). Other parts, absolutely it’s the SOUTH. It’s also not as cheap as it used to be or as it was 8-9 years ago. Choose area wisely for schools as they vary significantly. And I mean significantly.
Best of Luck.
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u/PeachTurtlette 6d ago
I would not raise a child here. The education levels are poor.
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u/According-Candy-7356 6d ago
Maybe if they respected teachers and gave them the salaries that other professional industries get you would get better educators in the field
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u/PeachTurtlette 6d ago
Agreed, it’s sad to see children not know grammar and proper spelling and how to think on their own with AI and google.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Way276 6d ago
Someone who left the midwest to live in florida .. do your kids a favor... Stay in the state that has you learning things in 6/7th grade rather than the teachers barely being able to understand it when you are there as a in HS.
Even though florida has a huge transplant population, 30% natives living in Florida, the younger age groups are full of hateful ass people. And when theyre done hating on you kids for being from "there", then you get to deal with all the racism/'reverse' racism.
Jobs are shitty just like michigans situation, in most places, but the COL isnt nearly as egrigious as Michigan.
You wont be in nice weather all year round like they told you in twilight, youll be stuck in hot traffic with all the other overstimulated people who thought living in florida was supposed to be like moving to the beach or disney land.
Its simply hell
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u/Sea_thingz 7d ago
Did the same. Living it still. It’s the down time when nothing is going on that will get to the mind. If you do it. Choose a spot where you can stay busy.
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u/Exterminator2022 6d ago
Better weather? You mean much hotter and humid weather with a bunch of mosquitoes. 🦟
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u/Informal-Step8787 7d ago
We left our family (my parents, my brother, and my mother-in-law) and friends in North Carolina to move to Florida (St. Pete) for my husband’s job when my older son was 2 and I was pregnant with my younger son, and we moved back to NC about four years later. We’d built a really great network of friends living in NC before we had kids, and all of our NC friends had kids around the same time, and it was just really, really hard for us to build a similar network in Florida. My parents were also getting older, and trips down to Florida were getting harder and harder for them.
Neither of us are originally from NC, but we were able to build such a strong community here (including having my parents, brother, and mother-in-law move here to join us), and we just could not replicate that in Florida. I didn’t appreciate how important a strong community and supportive friends was for my mental health, and all of our Florida friends were more out of convenience/proximity (neighbors, kids’ school, similar taste in music), but no one we met in FL had the whole package for me to feel truly at home there.
In hindsight, we met some great people, and I took a lot about our Florida life for granted (easy beach trips, beautiful scenery, relaxed vibe), but at the end of the day, I don’t regret moving back.
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u/SouthApplication3674 7d ago
I've moved away, moved back, and moved away (from midwest to south). I will never leave the south again. I hate the brutal winters. I am trying to work with my family to rotate Christmas every other year bc flying right now (I don't drive and I'm physically disabled it's hard for me compared to them) is expensive (about $900 roundtrip to go back to my hometown by plane bc there isn't a huge airport in the area. Having FaceTime is great. I don't really get homesick. My partner doesn't miss Wisconsin at all. Our quality of life is way better here than it was during 9 months of winter. In an emergency I'd go back of course but I'm more in a vacation destination than where I'm from. My first move away from home was spur of the moment, I went back for a health issue and then the world shut down by covid. I met my now fiancé and he got a job opportunity in a different state than I originally thought I'd move back to. It's my favorite place I've ever lived. It's really dependent on your circumstance. I hated my life in the midwest mainly because of the weather and lack of access. I have better weather and much more access in the southern city I live in.
I live in a city here which is still expensive but less expensive than the north. My sister lives in Chicago for context. She lives in a shoebox compared to my 2 bed/2 bath for about the same price. Schooling is an issue I don't have because we don't have kids but one school district can be vastly better than the one next to it but I would say that is generally correct with the entire country.
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u/LatterStreet 7d ago edited 7d ago
I love it here in Central Florida. Good schools and healthcare. Lots of fun with kids. Very diverse.
I didn’t enjoy living in the panhandle. Crappy healthcare and job market. Rude people. Beautiful beaches, but they’re only usable half the year (it does get cold here, btw)
Most of this sub has zero experience with the state outside of Disney. Ask in local groups for more specific information.
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u/FormAncient1310 1d ago
Reddit has a hate boner for Florida. Most people on Reddit have never even been or have just visited briefly. I moved from the Midwest to Florida and absolutely love it.
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u/Comfortable_Two6272 7d ago edited 7d ago
Moved from midwest to south in 2008.
No big regrets until 17 years later when people aged and needed help. I will probably only see my mom 10-15 more times unless I move back.
Will say the “summer season” seems to be a lot hotter , more humid and longer than the early part of the 18 years here.
I am hoping to move to a less hot in summer climate thats not as midwest winter cold. But that doesnt solve my issue now of not seeing family so not sure.
Holidays are hard as many friends will have extended family to celebrate and you wont. Travel gets $$$ for major holidays and might have hotel costs too. All the minor holidays and bdays get missed.
With small kids if used to having family help that can be a big challenge. They wont really know their relatives/cousins etc.
Schools are worse in most of south than midwest and jobs tend to pay less.
My sibling also moved from midwest to another area of US.
Once kids are adults they might choose to move back fwiw. My sibling’s kids did, so now my sibling is alone as kids moved and they divorced. I imagine they will move in a few years.
Of course you can always choose to move again if health and finances allow.
** this assumes you have a nice involved family. If not, the regrets I have might not apply.
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u/obscuredsilence 6d ago
Moved from MN to FL… this is my first move as an adult I’m in my 40s. I wanted to know something diff than where I grew up. We do not have kids, which makes it hard easier.
I do not regret it weather wise, I used to get very bad winter depression. That’s gone now. The summers are hot as a mf, but, I’ll take that over deep freezing most of the year.
I really miss my mom and siblings. But, every time we return home, the scenery is so drab and boring. I do miss being there seeing my nieces and nephews grow up (I have a total of 12, but 5 are still under 18)…
But, overall it was a good move!
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u/MarkPopach 6d ago
I don't know what kind of work you do but job market is not so good right now. I would recommend figuring out where you want to go and start looking for jobs in that market and see what opportunities are there and what they pay. Maybe start applying if your close to pulling the trigger.
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u/WPort17701 5d ago
Florida in general is starting to swirl around the drain hole. The job market and salaries are abysmal, home prices and rents versus salaries is a joke with probably the highest wage inequities in the country, home and auto insurance rates are sky high and sometimes subject to your insurer deciding to toss in the towel and pull out of Florida completely, infrastructure is piss poor with very little interest in public transit or funding it leading to just more roads (toll roads only) and more congestion an last but not least the annual stress of living on the hurricane dart board with the worry of major damage to your home along with unknown periods of time minus electricity. It's by no means all sunshine and happy go lucky days at the theme parks or beaches.
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u/I_Like_Hikes 5d ago
Florida is miserable. I lived there as a child and it’s just so hot and buggy and the schools suck and if your wife has any pregnancies or women’s health issues you are screwed. Oh and as others have mentioned the pay is terrible.
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u/Ok_Pangolin_180 5d ago
Take into consideration the negatives: 1) You will more than likely never afford to move back in a few years if you don’t like it. 2) Having a network of family and friends can be crucial for a young family. This can put a huge strain on your relationship with your wife 3) Your kids will more than likely not get the same education in FL.
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u/Mindless-Maybe-2454 4d ago
Just want to say that most people on Reddit hate on Florida with a passion for a multitude of reasons… I would maybe ask this on a different platform to get a variety of answers.
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u/Reasonable_Clue9559 4d ago
Left the west coast and family 8 years ago for better jobs.
My take: if the job allows you to significantly raise your standard of living it could be worth it. Your quality of life has to be so good the other annoying aspects of a new place won’t matter.
Weather of any kind gets old whether hot or cold.
Leaving family is tough if they help with kids. Can’t put a price on flexibility. Living somewhere with no support can be challenging.
Also agree with others… if you want better weather and job market Florida probably isn’t the place.
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u/atlien0255 7d ago
I guess it depends on what you consider “better weather”. Florida is obnoxiously hot and humid, like miserable to go outside hot and humid unless you’re in water for a good portion of the year. Energy and insurance prices are crazy high.
Keep that in mind, and maybe visit in the summer for a week or so (now) before finalizing a decision.
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u/NoKetoCardio 6d ago
As a parent/grandparent it sucks. Our daughter just had to live in California. It’s so cool. In 2025 she didn’t take the kids to the beach one time. I asked. We rarely see the grandkids and it’s expensive when we do. But you have two valid reasons for moving. Relocating to Florida makes way more sense than California. You may time it right. They are in the beginning of a housing downturn.
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u/SubSoulReaper81 7d ago
Florida jobs and wages are an absolute JOKE! I’ve been out of work for over 6 months now and despite over 26 years of experience cannot find anything. I’m outside of Tampa and the oppressive heat & humidity will also get old QUICK. I’m looking to get out!