Young Adults Weigh Pay Cuts to Stay Home
Colorado employers in Pueblo, Grand Junction and Sterling may draw on local hires willing to accept lower pay for family ties.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Remote Work
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A Resume.io survey of about 3,000 U.S. adults found roughly half of young adults want to build careers where they grew up, and that workers would accept an average 10.5% pay cut to do so. Pueblo, Grand Junction and Sterling each drew at least 50 respondents who wanted to work there, a signal for Colorado employers in those cities.
Why it matters
The findings suggest employers in smaller Colorado cities may be able to recruit from a hometown talent pool willing to trade some pay for proximity to family and a lower cost of living. Operators competing for workers may find the hometown pull a meaningful factor in hiring and retention.
The survey covered about 3,000 adults nationwide, and about half of young adults said they want careers in their hometowns. Respondents said they would take an average 10.5% pay cut to stay home for the same role and conditions.
The players
Resume.io
An online resume-building and career platform whose survey produced the hometown career data.
Intermountain Health St. Mary's Regional Hospital
A major Grand Junction hospital and one of the city's largest employers.
Colorado Mesa University
A public university in Grand Junction and one of the city's largest employers.
Northeastern Junior College
A community college in Sterling and one of the city's larger employers.
The details
The survey asked adults ages 18-35 whether they intended to stay in or return to their hometown to build careers, and it measured willingness to accept lower pay for the same role, working conditions and cost of living. Grand Junction's largest employers include Intermountain Health St. Mary's Regional Hospital, Community Hospital and Colorado Mesa University. Pueblo's steelmaking industry has long been a major employer, while Sterling's Northeastern Junior College and Sterling correctional facility are among its larger employers.
Timeline
Article on the survey results published November 5, 2026.
Market Landscape
The survey's family-proximity finding, with 20% of respondents citing it as the top reason to stay, places hometown hiring in a tradeoff against wages. Employers in Colorado's smaller cities may compete for workers on local ties as much as on pay.
Operators in Pueblo, Grand Junction and Sterling may find local hiring pools more receptive to roles that offer proximity to family, though the survey does not show that these workers will accept below-market pay in practice. Hiring managers should weigh the survey's stated preferences against their own wage benchmarks and retention data.
The takeaway
The hometown pull is measurable, but the survey measures stated willingness rather than actual hiring outcomes. Operators should track applicant sources and retention in their own Colorado hiring to see whether local ties translate into lower turnover.
Further reading
For more on how workers weigh location against pay, see Remote Work coverage in Colorado.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Coloradoan.
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