Dear Americans who live in a rural town, what kind of job do you have?

43 comments

1. >I’m currently a junior software developer and student, so I need to stick close to an urban area if I want to have a job.

   Look for something in this field where you can work remotely.

2. Software dev? The most remoteable of remote jobs? I think the better question for you would be, ‘where can I live in Rural America *and* get decent internet?’

   E: OK ruralites, I hear you loud and clear. I mean no disrespect!

3. > junior software developer

   Why can’t you do this remotely? The real question here is “where can I be ‘rural’ but still have reliable high speed internet?”.

4. Lawyer. There are so many people out here who need one, but there aren’t a lot out here.

   It’s both good business and an overwhelming amount of work.

5. I work as an IT support specialist but I work from the office most days. Just make sure there’s reliable high speed internet in your area because there are a lot of rural areas that don’t have cable or fiber available.

6. Except for a narrow sliver of my life I have lived in rural settings. Retired now but an attorney for 38 years. Sure it’s not the city but there are professional and business opportunities in rural areas.

   Probably even easier these days, I live 14 miles from the closest town and I have cheap fiber internet due to my wonderful PUD.

7. I was a welder

8. I work a depressing warehouse job. I do not recommend.

9. I don’t live in a rural town anymore but I will breakdown what my ex husband and I did for work while living in rural SE Kentucky from 2007-2011

   1. Rent to Own delivery driver (just like Aaron’s/Rent a Center)

   2. Prison secretary (I worked in a state prison as a secretary for a whole $8/hr in 2010) the prison was originally an hour drive but we opted to move closer. What a dumb idea since it was really in the middle of nowhere.

   3. Call center for Sprint

   4. Retail in a sports shop

   We were so happy to get out of there and get to Lexington where our lives improved greatly and felt normal since we were city folks to begin with.

10. I work at an auto parts store.

11. I’m lucky to have an electrical engineering job at a small company in rural East Texas, around here most jobs are in oil fields, timber, health care, and fast food.

12. I’m quasi-rural but I work in insurance in the legal department. It’s mostly remote.

13. I work on a tugboat. I have a seven hour commute I make every two weeks.

14. Government, fully remote.

15. Semi rural suburb here: game producer. Before that SOC chief and before that software engineer. If we go way the hell back I did sensor and automation at a heavy stamping shop.

16. Part time at a factory and part time at the dollar tree

17. Cashier……two counties over. I could do the same work here, of course, but then I’d take a steep pay cut.

18. My actual title is unintelligible to most. So… I develop fraud detection strategies for a major US bank.

    Your card got blocked for potential fraud when “you” suddenly charged $5,000 at Western Union? That was me (or someone in my department).

    It’s a lot of research and data mining and a little bit of coding.

19. I am a mechanic primarily, but am a jack of all trades. I can rebuild your transmission and I can also wrangle cattle, give vaccines to farm animals and pets, and can cook a scrumptious beef Wellington. I built a shed last weekend and wired it for lights and outlets. I also build drones both for FPV racing and for surveying. My garden is a quarter acre in my backyard, and I can catch a fish on any lure. I’m known as the go to guy for a lot of people, no matter the task at hand.
    Grew up in Alaska but have been in the upper Midwest for 20 years now. I love it here.

20. PIO at a police department

21. I don’t live in a rural town anymore, but I work(ed) at a dog facility.

    Training, grooming, daycare, boarding, sports, etc.

22. Technically a little bit *outside* the rural town, but close enough. I’m a translator. None of my clients are local, but that doesn’t matter because I have an OKish Internet connection.

23. I’m a grocery store manager, and my partner works remotely for a software company.

24. I’m an engineer, but I live in a small town and commute to the suburbs.

25. I’m a freelance photojournalist and videographer.

26. I do sustainability for a manufacturer.

27. Public librarian.

28. IT support, I live 10 minutes away from my job and 20 minutes away from the city

29. Education.

30. I have a job where I work for the state. The pay is shit but the benefits are decent.

31. I am a Rocket Propulsion Testing engineer. I work for NASA @Stennis Space Center

32. I don’t currently live in one, but I did grow up in a rural town (population ~550) in the upper Midwest.

    Lots of farmers, but other than that teachers/school workers, bankers, like one lawyer, bar/restaurant/gas station worker or manager, postal worker, pastor/priest, clinician/nurse (most MDs only came in on a schedule for a week or so at a time or you had to drive to the nearest town with a hospital), small & large engine repairs, grain elevator workers, and various handymen & municipal caretakers.
    Our firefighters & ambulance drivers were an all volunteer force, and for whatever reason my town was the county seat so the sheriff’s office and courthouse was located there so there were a few dedicated county government workers.

    Lots of folks also drove 30+ miles to work out of town for more “white collar” work and others between 10-30 miles for farmhand, pig/turkey barn, and industrial work.

    Mostly agrarian work and “blue collar” jobs. Reliable internet and phone reception can be a real 50/50, but improving so work from home is becoming a bit more common these days.

    All in all it depends how “rural” you are thinking. My entire county growing up was under 3,000 people, but there are areas that are “rural” with towns/cities with 10,000+ people which is much different from my experience.

33. Looking forward to moving to a remote area in the next few years. My only requirements are high speed internet and proximity to a good airport.

    I work in tech. If I’m not at home, I’m traveling.

34. Spouse: Electrical Engineer, all her work is remote and she works for several different contractors and engineering firms. I am a filmmaker specializing in instructional videos for various industries. We have good internet and have previously lived RVLife for 2 years working from our travel trailer wherever we were. My advice is to get really good at something difficult no matter what it is. Other people will pay to not do difficult maths or whatever.

35. I was a teacher.

36. I fix shitters and kick people out of bars for a living

37. I drive to the nearest big city to work in a hospital

38. HR. I like the job, but I want tobhave a career in a different location.

39. Forklift operator ftw

40. I make wine. I live in a town with a lot of wineries and they’re our number 1 tourist attraction.

41. Park Ranger, but the park is in a rural area so I’m in the closet town to the park. I’ve worked other places where I’ve lived in cities

42. I live in a small town of 200. About 10 miles from a town of 20k in one way and 50k n the other. My place of employment is about 2 miles away. Dad and I own/run a dragstrip. We’ve been at it for 25 years now and he’s starting to move into retirement, leaving me and our manager to run the place.

    It’s difficult work, long hours and sometimes it rains. We don’t make any money when it rains. The manager and I logged over 40 hours in just three days over this past weekend.

    Of course we can’t do it on our own and have a great crew that we have gathered over the years. They work very hard too. Most of them drive from one of the two towns and it’s not even their only job.

    Slightly off subject, but I saw other comments about internet. Our local co-op has excellent gig service, but it is a little pricey at $90 a month (though that includes a land line).

43. I am a cyber security analyst for a large defense contractor in one of the big cities close to my small town.

    The reasons we live in said small town?

    1. Lower tax rates.

    2. Lower housing costs.

    3. Significantly better school system (big city school systems curriculums usually suck)

    4. Traffic is much more manageable.

    5. A better community overall

    6. Little to no crime.

    7. The local government (mayor, city council, etc.) actually cares about the general populace and are more willing to pass ordinances that actually help said populace.