BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) - Three years ago, Jody Finnegan was at a career crossroads: choose between a well-paying job in a bigger city or live in a desirable place for less money.

Finnegan, 37, tried to do both. Prior to 2004, the chemical engineer was commuting every day between Bellingham and Everett, working at Boeing. She didn't like losing three hours a day to driving but couldn't find a Bellingham job that matched her skills. Ultimately she decided to quit and find a new career in Whatcom County.

"I don't regret the decision at all," said Finnegan, who purchased 12th Street Shoes in Fairhaven three years ago and opened a second store in Birch Bay Square a year ago. "I did have to take a pay cut and do something completely different, but I love living in Bellingham. The commute really grates someone like me, creating a lot of stress in my life. I just couldn't take it."

The rap on Whatcom County's job market has been the same for years - local jobs pay too little. That's fueling a puzzling trend: People in their prime employment years are leaving the area to seek their fortune in bigger metro areas, then returning as they near retirement, according to one local economist's research. Yet local companies complain they can't find qualified workers for their high-paying positions.

"There seems to be a disconnect that is taking place between employers who can offer high wages and people who are looking for work," said Hart Hodges, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research for Western Washington University. "There are jobs out there that pay better-than-average wages for people between the ages of 35 and 44, but it's a small number, and they may be hard to find because there are so many $9-an-hour jobs out there."

Hodges found another interesting trend in the local labor market: While overall the Whatcom County population has been rising, the number of people in their prime employment years (between ages 24 and 44) has been stagnant. In that age group, a Whatcom County worker earns around 25 percent less than the state average.

At the same time there, has been a significant increase in that age demographic in counties near metro areas, such as Snohomish and Clark counties.

"For a period after people graduate from high school or college, Whatcom County is able to keep them in the local labor pool," Hodges said. "We can't seem to keep our claws in them, however.

"It's possible that we aren't doing a very good job as a community explaining what they can do here, and they are leaving. It's also possible that the career path they want simply dictates that they have to leave. If we aren't explaining what jobs are available, it would be a travesty if we end up having companies that are here and pay great wages move somewhere else because they can't find qualified people."

Linda Cowan has been seeing the disconnect. As consortium director for Whatcom County Tech Prep, her job is to help younger people get the right training to qualify for meaningful jobs available in Whatcom County. Many times, she said, people will graduate high school, wander within the local job market in search of a career for about five years, then leave the area because they can't afford the high cost of living here.

"We have programs in place that will train someone to get a well-paying job at a place like BP Cherry Point within a couple of years, but we're not getting enough interest from students," Cowan said.

"The challenge is how we get students and their parents to understand what well-paying jobs are out there. When companies like ACB (Aluminum Chambered Boats) can't find people here to fill positions and don't want to move, they'll have to look outside the area. It doesn't seem right that we have people leaving the area to find work, forcing companies to look outside the area and bringing them in to fill positions."

How much money people make between the ages of 24 and 44 is an important factor, because it is tied to so many other aspects of the economy. Hodges noted the difficulty the community is having with affordable housing.

"We need to be thinking of the house-cost problem as more a wage problem," Hodges said. "We can't build ourselves back to affordable homes, so we have to take a look at how we can raise wages."

Some other efforts are being made to match workers with in demand jobs. Youth career camps, are being held, focusing on health care, construction and manufacturing. Sixty youths attending the three-day camps then will have the option of a six-week paid internship to continue to learn about the industry.

While commuting outside Whatcom County isn't for everyone, it has worked out well for Bruce Walker. The Ferndale resident drives to Monroe five days a week to be a high school life skills teacher, working with students who have severe disabilities.

Walker had a similar position in Ferndale but was moved out of it about six years ago. He was offered an opportunity to teach locally but wanted to stay focused on life skills, so he went to Monroe.

Walker is part of what has become a significant trend: According to a study by Hodges, more than 2,600 people were commuting from Bellingham to work in Skagit, Snohomish and King counties in 2003.

"It's a job I like, but there aren't many of these positions in Whatcom County," Walker said. "Although it's a three-hour commute each day, I am able to leave early enough in the morning that I'm usually back home by 5 p.m."

Walker was able to balance his time on the road each day with a higher paycheck. Walker estimates he's making $10,000 more a year in salary than he would be in Whatcom County. Since he's about four years away from retirement, it's a good final boost in income for him.

"It makes it possible for me to continue to live in Whatcom County, as well as retire here, so I feel very fortunate to have this job," Walker said.

He can see the impact of the Whatcom County job market on his own family. His son works as a welder in Lynden, a field where finding qualified workers locally has been challenging. Walker recently helped his daughter move to Chicago to work as a mechanical engineer, a job with few openings locally.

"There are well-paying jobs in Whatcom County, if the person has the right skills," Walker said. "Matching skills with what is in demand is the challenge."

Hodges wonders whether this trend should be changed.

"Do we want to be a community where younger workers leave, only to come back here when they are ready to retire? It's something we should be talking about," Hodges said. "The message right now about the workforce is, there are a lot of signs that say we're doing fine. A 3.8 percent unemployment rate is great. However, we should be thinking about where we are going."

For the companies that are here and are offering well-paying jobs, Hodges believes that partnerships are going to be important.

"Employers need to be talking to the high schools, letting students know they have these jobs out there," Hodges said. "If those high-paying jobs get filled, it has a dramatic impact on the economy, not only those people hired, but on the companies, who can continue to grow. It also helps in dealing with many other affordability issues we face."