Pennsylvania Leads the Way in Promoting Agriculture.

[Ken]

Everything I hear coming from Belleville is that there are lots of jobs and barely enough people to do them. The Plain people stay, and the not-so-plain people are the ones who concluded there is "nothing to do".
"Nothing to do" is determined by the values of the surrounding society.
Society in general views manual labor and menial tasks as something to escape rather than something to pursue.

What are these "lots of jobs?" Nursing home work and home health care at near minimum wage? Plain people don't stay either. They are constantly seeking out colonies or opportunities elsewhere to send their younger generations because if you have 8 kids, only one can really inherit the family farm.

Others have tried to give you examples if you are willing to consider them and the many others that are not listed.

There are many sawmills, woodworking companies, etc, that provide people with good wages. There is a lot of construction happening in the valley. An acquaintance just started a profitable and popular restaurant. People drive to Belleville for many products and many products are shipped out.

The Plain people who are leaving the valley want more space. They like rural living and there isn't enough land in Big Valley for everyone.
Most non-Plain people wanting professional jobs will probably need to look elsewhere. But that is not because they couldn't make a good living in the valley. They just want to live a different lifestyle with different values.

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour. Which is about half the US average. And 28% of children live in poverty.

[ken_sylvania]

What are these "lots of jobs?" Nursing home work and home health care at near minimum wage? Plain people don't stay either. They are constantly seeking out colonies or opportunities elsewhere to send their younger generations because if you have 8 kids, only one can really inherit the family farm.

Others have tried to give you examples if you are willing to consider them and the many others that are not listed.

There are many sawmills, woodworking companies, etc, that provide people with good wages. There is a lot of construction happening in the valley. An acquaintance just started a profitable and popular restaurant. People drive to Belleville for many products and many products are shipped out.

The Plain people who are leaving the valley want more space. They like rural living and there isn't enough land in Big Valley for everyone.
Most non-Plain people wanting professional jobs will probably need to look elsewhere. But that is not because they couldn't make a good living in the valley. They just want to live a different lifestyle with different values.

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour. Which is about half the US average.

If housing and food are priced reasonable then a person doesn't need as high of a wage. It's actually a plus in my opinion if an area has a suitable climate where a family can have a garden, grow much of their own food, dad can do the repairs around the house that need to be done, and family and friends help each other out such that people don't need to work long hours and earn high salaries in order to have a good life.

[Ken]

Others have tried to give you examples if you are willing to consider them and the many others that are not listed.

There are many sawmills, woodworking companies, etc, that provide people with good wages. There is a lot of construction happening in the valley. An acquaintance just started a profitable and popular restaurant. People drive to Belleville for many products and many products are shipped out.

The Plain people who are leaving the valley want more space. They like rural living and there isn't enough land in Big Valley for everyone.
Most non-Plain people wanting professional jobs will probably need to look elsewhere. But that is not because they couldn't make a good living in the valley. They just want to live a different lifestyle with different values.

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour. Which is about half the US average.

If housing and food are priced reasonable then a person doesn't need as high of a wage. It's actually a plus in my opinion if an area has a suitable climate where a family can have a garden, grow much of their own food, dad can do the repairs around the house that need to be done, and family and friends help each other out such that people don't need to work long hours and earn high salaries in order to have a good life.

What is your definition of a reasonable wage that would allow someone to support a wife and three children in this "good life"

[ohio jones]

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour.

That calculation only makes sense if everyone (including children and the residents of Valley View) is working 40 hours per week.

[Ken]

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour.

That calculation only makes sense if everyone (including children and the residents of Valley View) is working 40 hours per week.

I don't know if median wage data are available. For for the sake of contrast, the figure here where I live in Clark County WA is $46,919 and the child poverty rate is 8% instead of the 28% in Mifflin county. And this is a pretty ordinary middle class and working class county.
Nothing particularly affluent or special. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/050 ... county-wa/

Obviously it isn't Haiti or even deepest Appalachia. There are lots of wealthy and prosperous people there, just like anyplace else. But by national standards it isn't a particularly prosperous place. But not really much different from many other rural small towns around the country. And yes, young people are leaving for that exact reason. The population is aging.

[ken_sylvania]

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour. Which is about half the US average.

If housing and food are priced reasonable then a person doesn't need as high of a wage. It's actually a plus in my opinion if an area has a suitable climate where a family can have a garden, grow much of their own food, dad can do the repairs around the house that need to be done, and family and friends help each other out such that people don't need to work long hours and earn high salaries in order to have a good life.

What is your definition of a reasonable wage that would allow someone to support a wife and three children in this "good life"

My parents had more than three children and I'm sure our family's per-capita income was less than half the US average but we had a "good life." Money (whether or not coupled with neighborhood wineries) doesn't buy happiness.

[ken_sylvania]

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour.

That calculation only makes sense if everyone (including children and the residents of Valley View) is working 40 hours per week.

I don't know if median wage data are available. For for the sake of contrast, the figure here where I live in Clark County WA is $46,919 and the child poverty rate is 8% instead of the 28% in Mifflin county. And this is a pretty ordinary middle class and working class county.
Nothing particularly affluent or special. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/050 ... county-wa/

And the median home price in Clark County, WA is $520,000 compared with $145,000 for Mifflin County, PA. (interestingly, home prices are trending up in Mifflin County at 4.3% year-over-year compared with a 2.4% year-over-year decrease in Clark County, WA).
So mortgage cost alone is going to run an extra $30k annually (assuming a 30 year mortgage) plus the added costs for higher real estate taxes and higher homeowner insurance costs. In reality the folks in Mifflin county might have more disposable income than your Clark County neighbors.

[Ernie]

According to the census, median per-capita income in Mifflin County is $28,979 which comes to $2,414/month or $13.93 per hour.

That calculation only makes sense if everyone (including children and the residents of Valley View) is working 40 hours per week.

I don't know if median wage data are available. For for the sake of contrast, the figure here where I live in Clark County WA is $46,919 and the child poverty rate is 8% instead of the 28% in Mifflin county. And this is a pretty ordinary middle class and working class county.
Nothing particularly affluent or special. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/050 ... county-wa/

Obviously it isn't Haiti or even deepest Appalachia. There are lots of wealthy and prosperous people there, just like anyplace else. But by national standards it isn't a particularly prosperous place. But not really much different from many other rural small towns around the country. And yes, young people are leaving for that exact reason. The population is aging.

Nearby Lewistown is a very poor town with drugs and lots of alcohol abuse. A few of my Plain acquaintances moved there some years ago and have started making life different for a quite a few disadvantaged teens who now have jobs and are contributing members of society. Again, I will remind you that it is the people who are becoming dissatisfied with the Plain lifestyle and wanting to live higher on the hog like the "with it" people in society. And yes, such people will leave Belleville, just like any other rural area. And yes, their children and grandchildren will get to experience all of the "advantages" of those who conform to Western society.
Some of us don't consider this advantageous, and so we stick with cottage industries and other ways of providing for our families that does not generate the highest incomes we could be making, but rather builds the values in our families and communities that we believe are good and important.