Living in Elko

[Z]

Can anybody who lives or has lived in Elko please tell me about it. I might have an opportunity to move there soon and wanted to get a good idea of what to expect.

We hunt the Rubies every year, so it would make a huge difference for us since we love to hunt, fish, hike, and camp. What I don't know too much about is the town, people, etc.

 

[kittykiller]

Living in Elko is pretty much like living in any small town in the western United States. Cost of living is pretty high because of the gold mining activity. The price of gas, groceries, rent, and etc is almost always highest in Elko compared to the rest of Nevada. There really isn't much to do around town, unless you are into going to the bars and/or whore houses. However there is plenty of stores and a few gyms. There are also a couple of decent places to eat, but for the most part they are pretty limited.

From my experience, most of the people in Elko pretty much keep to themselves. I have run into a few scumbags around town, but you can get that pretty much anywhere you live. The crime rate in Elko is pretty high. There seems to be a pretty big homeless community and a lot of drug and alcohol use by people around town that fuels the crime rate. Instead of trying to make the community a better place to live, the local politicians seem to worry more about NDOW and the Feds than the well being of the citizens of Elko County.

Pretty much in a nutshell, Elko is awesome if you live for the outdoors. The Rubies are about as good as it gets. If I were to rate living in Elko on a scale from 1 to 10, I would give Elko a 5.

 

[Z]

Gotcha!

I kind of figured the above but wanted to hear it from a local.

Would a $64K household make for a decent living? We would be moving from Vegas.

 

[nvhunter]

$64K house in Elko, yeah i suppose you could live in it. Probably have to kick the rats and bums out first. Want a decent house, multiply 64K x 3 or 4.

 

[kittykiller]

64K is probably pretty average for the yearly household income in Elko and Spring Creek. I think my wife and I paid in the neighborhood of 25K for our house rent, utilities, and amenities (internet, TV, etc) last year. I'm not sure how that compares to Vegas, but at least it gives you an idea.

 

[Z]

>64K is probably pretty average for
>the yearly household income in
>Elko and Spring Creek. I
>think my wife and I
>paid in the neighborhood of
>25K for our house rent,
>utilities, and amenities (internet, TV,
>etc) last year. I'm
>not sure how that compares
>to Vegas, but at least
>it gives you an idea.
>


Sounds about the same as we do here. We would probably be looking at buying a house though. We found a few we liked and could afford.

Thanks for the help!

 

[BaldBeaver]

Ok, whats the skinny Z? Whats going on? Where is all this coming from?

~Jason Peterson


"No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength."~Jack Kerouac

 

[bownanza332]

>64K is probably pretty average for
>the yearly household income in
>Elko and Spring Creek. I
>think my wife and I
>paid in the neighborhood of
>25K for our house rent,
>utilities, and amenities (internet, TV,
>etc) last year. I'm
>not sure how that compares
>to Vegas, but at least
>it gives you an idea.
>

Not trying to sound rude, but 64k is probably on the LOWER end of average around here. If one member of the household works for one of the mines, they will EASILY surpass that number alone. Can you live on 64k here? I'm sure you can. As stated above, the mining activity here inflates EVERYTHING. Keep that in mind when looking at the cost of living in the area.

The first reply sure painted a pretty vivid picture of why NOT to move to Elko/Spring Creek. On the flip side of that, there are a lot of good things about Elko too. It is somewhat isolated from bigger cities (210 from Boise, 230 from SLC and 280 from Reno) but there are perks to that as well. You say you hunt the Rubies so you already know how easy it is to get away from everything for a day or a week.

My family and I love living in Spring Creek. It's quiet. We have 5 acres and the kids love it. The neighborhood is good and people are generally pretty easy to get a long with. I have had great experiences living in this community. There are a lot of activities for kids to do throughout the year.