Just because opportunity knocks doesn’t mean it will be waiting on your doorstep. Often, rewarding job options will require you to relocate yourself and your family, and that can be a difficult and intimidating prospect. Especially if you have kids in school and close personal ties, relocating for your career can feel like a huge roll of the dice with your family on the table.

Is it worth it? Most adults rank moving right up there with divorce and losing their jobs as some of the most stressful times of their lives. On the other hand, if you cast a wide net when considering your next career move, it can be one of the most valuable and life-changing things you ever do. So, how can you tell if the rewards will justify the risk?

If you’ve taken the right steps to ensure the job is a great fit, you’ll quickly discover that establishing your new home is worth every drop of sweat. Here are five potential benefits that can make relocating for a job the best decision you ever made.

1. Higher Pay

You probably saw this one coming a mile away, but new research has shown us the benefit of a better salary is even greater than we thought. You’ve probably asked yourself the question, “How much would it take to make me move? But the fact is, depending on many cost-of-living factors, even a modest increase in pay with some opportunities to advance could translate to a much better day-to-day life and career trajectory.

Also, conventional wisdom told us for decades that, past about $75,000/year, happiness from additional income essentially plateaued. However, a recent University of Pennsylvania study discovered that 80% of the participants still found significant improvements in happiness to be had beyond that number without any additional factors influencing the results.

We’re closer than ever these days with smartphones and video calls, and our children are increasingly connecting with each other virtually through texts, social media, and online gaming. Moving away simply doesn’t take the toll on our relationships that it once did, and that’s just one new factor in the equation of happiness.

In other words, if your family life is solid and there are no obvious red flags, salary alone can be a perfectly good reason start loading up the boxes.

2. More Rewarding Work

Of course, money isn’t the whole story. Businesses have long known that happy workers are good for the bottom line—13% more productive for the same work hours according to one study. And it should come as no surprise that meaningful work can be incredibly rewarding for you as well.

Human beings have an incredibly strong and deep need to matter and feel like they are making a positive difference in our world. Given that you’re going to spend more than 81,000 hours working over the course of your life, being happy at (and with) your work can have unmeasurable positive value.

This is where working with a dedicated industry recruiter can make one of the biggest impacts on your life. The unknown is a huge part of what makes relocating intimidating, but when you partner with a recruiter who’s focused on finding a perfect fit that accounts for all your priorities, it takes out a lot of the risk.

And the best part is, putting a resume on file is completely free. If you’re talented and motivated, they want to connect you with their clients!

3. Better Quality of Life

This means different things for different people, but if your new town or city offers amenities that resonate with you, that alone could be worth the move.

The truth? The vast majority of people who work with recruiters are already gainfully employed and not necessarily dying to get out of Dodge. Yes, a better salary is often a motivator, but as people and their families grow and change, so do their priorities for a lifestyle and living situation. Opportunities for your kids, more restaurants and culture, a quieter life, or proximity to family can all be excellent reasons to move—even if it means taking a pay cut.

If you’re looking on your own, however, you may end up accepting a much worse situation than necessary to achieve some of these quality-of-life goals. A great recruiter will help you find the best options that also meet your most important lifestyle criteria.

4. Happier Family

As with the previous item, this will mean different things to different families. But if the people around you are happier (or you can be closer to the people who are important to you), that’s a big satisfaction multiplier for you, too.

These may seem obvious, but here are a few items you might not have considered yet:

• Better schools for your kids.
• Greater access to enrichment opportunities such as children’s sports, youth music, nature access, art classes, etc.
• Greater regional alignment with your family’s values.
• More diverse cultural exposure and opportunity.
• Closer proximity to relatives.
• More agreeable climate for one or more family members.

In a massive, 12,000-person international study spanning six continents, researchers found overwhelmingly that the happiness of a person’s family was of greater importance than the happiness of the person themself. If a relocation makes your family a lot more content, you’re never going to regret moving.

5. Company Paying for Your Move

If you’ve already committed to moving for a job, why not get someone else to pay for it? When a company wants you so badly they’ll shell out real cash for the transition, that’s a great sign you’ve made the right decision. Plus, it will take a lot of the stress off the move.

The benefits offered in relocation packages are not just a pile of cash to “help out”. They are often designed to support many aspects of your total experience, and a recruiter can help everyone find the right balance for your situation:

• The average package is $21,000-24,000 and can be as high as $76,000 for homeowners.
• They can cover as much as six to twelve months’ worth of assistance.
• 80% of these packages provide assistance for selling your home.
• Most offer money for temporary housing, moving costs, transportation services, and packing costs.
• Some packages include spouse job assistance and cultural training.

And if your company doesn’t offer relocation packages, your recruiter may be able to connect you with some great resources to sweeten the deal. After all, successful recruiting is about getting everyone to the finish line, not halfway, and your partner can direct you to all sorts of support and services to help you navigate the transition.

Leverage Your Skills and Talents Globally

Lots of people look for reasons to avoid change, staying with what’s comfortable. After all, moving one’s family to a different state or even country is an enormous and expensive hassle. But if you keep these five incredible benefits in mind when making career choices, you’ll find the advantages of keeping an open mind and casting a wide net can long outlive the stress of relocating.

If you’ve not considered moving for work before, V20 Recruiting can open your eyes to amazing opportunities you’re missing out on all over the world. We’ve got our finger on the pulse of dozens of businesses and industries, so we can show you exactly how your skills might translate to more money, happiness, family satisfaction, and job fulfillment in a new city. We’ve even partnered with Global Mobility Systems to smooth the moving process for our clients, in addition to any relocation package your new employer may offer.

Reach out to V20 Recruiting today to discover all the amazing opportunities waiting for you and your family out there!