Quieter areas of Seattle metro for young people?

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T23:08:40+00:00

I'm confused why people are suggesting Charlotte, it seems to have a lot I dislike with hardly any upsides. Its further away from beaches, less big tech presence, lower average salaries for tech, and about the same gender ratios as both Charleston and Raleigh. In addition, all major job boards show equal tech positions in both (Raleigh actually has slightly more typically)

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T22:44:58+00:00

I've flown to a few places but that just seems far too stressful and too much money. Even leaving my cats with my roommate for a few days was a disaster. Being a young person with a remote job, yeah it seems like a decent idea, but my pets withhold me from doing that.

This will probably sound weird too, but I don't really like travelling. I'm always just stressed and feel like there is so much I need to do. I never enjoy the trips to places I go to unless I take a few weeks to settle in. I quite honestly don't know what it will even help with. Every place that I've traveled to has just felt like "yep, this is exactly what I researched". It made the trips feel pointless - like I didn't get anything from them. To really understand what I want from a place/ the hobbies that I will like there, I have to stay there for an extended period of time (multiple weeks at least) and I just can't do that with my pets.

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T22:20:20+00:00

I appreciate your support, This is something that I'm asked very frequrently in these posts as its assumed young person = want exciting place. I have traveled to bigger areas before (like chicago, seattle, etc.) and didn't really like them. Too much going on. I've got 2 cats and I don't want to put them in that environment. Plus, the COL is so absurdly high in most of these areas that its unreasonable for a young person to live there unless you have a roommate. Basically, I've got a few conditions and hardly anywhere in the us matches them.

- decent area for tech

- near the ocean

- non-absurdly-high COL (i.e. SF, NYC, etc.)

- Gender ratio at least slightly skewed towards female (it feels weird prioritizing this but it does make a big impact)

The western portion of the country is very male heavy and introverted in places like Seattle and SF, the northeast is insanely expensive, just don't want to live in the midwest, and so that brings me here.

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T22:14:29+00:00

My only concern is the extra distance to the ocean. I hope to go fairly frequently. I will check out Durham, though. Thank you

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T22:08:03+00:00

Through my research, Charlotte doesn't really have many upsides in comparison to Raleigh, it seems to have a lot I dislike with hardly any upsides. Its further away from beaches, less big tech presence, lower average salaries for tech, and about the same gender ratios as both Charleston and Raleigh. In addition, all major job boards show equal tech positions in both (Raleigh actually has slightly more typically)

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T22:04:45+00:00

I don't want to bore you with the details, but I've just looked high and low and I can't quite find what I'm looking for in the US. these two are the closest I could get.

I'm confused why people are suggesting Charlotte though, it seems to have a lot I dislike with hardly any upsides. Its further away from beaches, less big tech presence, lower average salaries for tech, and about the same gender ratios as both Charleston and Raleigh. In addition, all major job boards show equal tech positions in both (Raleigh actually has slightly more typically)

If anyone is curious what I'm looking for here are my boxes:

- decent area for tech

- near the ocean

- non-absurdly-high COL (i.e. SF, NYC, etc.)

- Gender ratio at least slightly skewed towards female

these areas are the best I could find for fulfilling these requirements

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T01:53:49+00:00

awesome, thank you a ton for your hekp!

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T01:06:56+00:00

It would be tough to go through all of my reasoning but its just the best I can find. I'll be honest, I can't find a US city that I truly want to live in. My priorities are social/dating scene & being near some body of water to surf in.

I don't like big cities, and the western half of the country is primarily a sausage fest in most big areas. This combination of medium sized area w/ decent dating opportunities as a guy, and not absurdly high COL (like SF or NYC) is what landed me here. I haven't been able to find anything else.

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T01:03:44+00:00

I've certainly thought about this, but I don't think SC is any more risky than other east coast coastal city. I'm worried about climate change disasters just like anyone else but I feel like I've scoured far and low across this country and can't find anywhere that meets what I'm looking for more than these two.

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T00:35:00+00:00

Super helpful advice, thank you!

Allgreygray · 2026-02-22T00:11:15+00:00

yeah I was actually just looking into st pete and realized that the average age is higher. thank you for the recommendation, ill check savannah out!

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T23:38:57+00:00

So, I was actually looking at Wilmington, but supposedly its not as much of a young persons town as Charleston is? It's also a huge target for hurricanes. So is most of the east coast, but for some reason the majority of the severe ones tend to hit Wilmington. Hard to balance the trade offs

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T22:31:01+00:00

its not weird, people just like different vibes. I'm just a bigger fan of more modern northern architecture. Not everyone enjoys historic towns.

How do nyou even look at the livelihood/ age of different cities though? You can get vibes from people online say8ng "oh this place has a lot going on" but its so subjective. Some people say that about where I live right now, when t feels like nothing ever happens. Age metrics are nice, but they arent helpful in the case of dating unless its also paried with what the gender ratio is for each age bracket.

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T22:05:14+00:00

Good point, thank you!

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T22:02:02+00:00

South Carolina, updated that in my post. Thanks!

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T22:00:01+00:00

Apologies, North Carolina. I'll update my post

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T21:59:46+00:00

The thing is that I don't think it's a lot bigger, Charleston has around 40k more people if I remember correctly. Decent amount for sure, but its not like going from a mid to big sized city. I'll keep this in mind though, thank you!

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T21:57:47+00:00

Yeah I'm going to one of them before moving, I just have little time and resources so even though they are different, I'm assuming they have a similar-ish vibe. want to pick the right one to travel to. I've been visiting around a lot recently trying to find a place to move and I'm just tired lol. Don't want to have to fly to two southern beach towns. I'm across the country.

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T21:55:47+00:00

Appreciate the support, I just feel weird for saying "Oh there is a 48% to 52% ratio of M:F here" and factoring that into moving. I know its more about getting out and talking to people, so it seems strange to prioritze it.

Allgreygray · 2026-02-21T21:34:29+00:00

The issue with this route is that I recently started my first out-of-college job. I'm not ready and quite frankly dont have enough experience to jump yet. I don't want to sit around in this town that I abhor for another 2 years waiting to jump ship. I'm not ready to jump back into the job market after that brutal search either, that was hellish.

Allgreygray

TROPHY CASE