Unfortunately you have to figure in more than taxes to gain a full understanding of living costs. I will never forget when I called USAA to tell them I was moving to South Florida from northern Virginia 10 years ago. The lady on the line said please don't get angry at me but you car insurance is going to more than double...and it did. Homeowners insurance has been and continues to be an issue with exorbitant rates for windstorm coverage and to a lesser degree for flood insurance and with increasing home values this will not change anytime soon. Although the state legislature has tried to address this issue it will remain an issue until a major storm does a direct hit on a major population center.
Yes, I failed to mention that. It's more than taxes. Nevada auto insurance rates are bad. In California, you will pay $24K per year for fire insurance in some places. Hurricane in Florida etc.
I also referenced the Tax Foundation before I made my move, but it was not the total state taxes I looked at, it was the taxes that affected me the most.
I’m in western NC and the northerners who initially moved to Florida but then moved to NC after not liking something about Florida are called halfbacks.
A lot of people who lived and bought property in South Florida back in the 50's to 70's cashed in on their properties and moved to exactly where you are. Can't blame them as the South Florida I knew from the mid 80's is mostly gone...although it is still a nice place.
We have really nice four season weather. Although I wish I had your winter warmth, it’s not bad here. It never gets too cold or snows that much. We rarely have winter days where the high of the day doesn’t reach 32 degrees. I can get out and do stuff almost all winter long, unlike how I used to have to hibernate when I lived in Chicago. Winters are also sunny here unlike gloomy Chicago.
Taxation is theft. Btw, speaking of MN, tonight im staying at a beautiful campsite on the mississppi river near Hill City on our way from ID to WI. Also recommending stopping for a day in the north unit of Teddy Roosevelt NP. Wish i could post some pics on your comments.
In 2020, we sold our house in Sacramento, Cacafornia, packed up everything, and moved to San Antonio, TX. Between low Prop 13 property taxes in CA and no income tax in TX, it was pretty much a wash. Here in TX, my property taxes are sky-high. But most other cost-of-living factors are lower. Gas and groceries, especially.
In CA if I bought a new gun, I had to wait 10 days get it. Here, the salesman will carry it out to my truck for me. That was important to me.
In CA, I sold an average tract home on a 1/6th acre lot. I bought a nicer, larger home on a full acre in San Antonio, and had $100K left over.
San Antonio, TX traffic is pretty bad at times. Sacramento traffic was incredibly WORSE.
The only thing I miss about Sacramento is the delta breeze, a cold wind that blows in through the Golden Gate and right up the Sacramento River delta. It could be 105 degrees at 4 PM, and sometimes the delta breeze would cool things down to 70 by 10 PM. Nothing like that here in Texas!
Wyoming is indeed a fine place for personal taxes, but they are rising. Wyoming's hedge is that the mineral extraction industries not only provide high paying jobs but also support the tax base quite well. The Wyoming schools have been excellent historically, but the winters and the wind can be brutal.
Jeffery, agree that property taxes are high in Texas, however it keeps the income tax away and other taxes low, and like you said groceries and gas are generally less expensive. Florida has unfortunately been a victim of the shyster lobby and auto insurance as pointed out has went though the roof. There are about four billionaire shysters that made their money suing auto insurance companies and the legislature if filled with shysters that keeps it that way. Property insurance is due to the massive payouts when we get a CAT 4-5. However in the last decade most of the pre-enhanced building code places have been hit and so claims should decline. Again like Texas there is a trade off of not having an income tax, but if you can manage your auto insurance (high deductible) and set a reasonable level of coverage on you home owners (don’t insure for more then the average case of damage if you have a direct hit). Florida is great and they are staring to open Culver’s Restaurants for all the snow birds (butter burger is the best plus the Waleye Sandwich)
Oh dear, I cannot help but comment on grocery bags as I live in the Nazi grocery bag center of the world.
Pre-covid: Plastic bags pure evil. Use one and you are killing all ocean life and an evil human. Grocery stores would not even offer them, only paper bags that would break if you put anything heavy in them.
Bring your own: The only true example of a decent human being was to bring in your own reusable bag(s).
Fast forward to covid: All of you evil people trying to use your contaminated reusable bags need to get with the times. The only safe alternative now: plastic bags. Not paper, not reusable, but plastic. The same plastic bags that were pure evil prior to covid are now back in vogue (still are). The hell with the oceans, mother earth, whatever. Plastic is good now once again.
Liberal rules are not about reality, they are about control.
It's ridiculous to think that running away to save a buck today, at tomorrow's expense, is good strategy. The shortest path with the least resistance to low taxation is kicking the clowns out of office in your state!
Illinois will have tremendous potential if we can get rid of the RINOs. Brandon Johnson (Chicago) has a 6% approval rate, and Dan Proft's Uihlein grift is the only thing preventing him from getting attacked by a savage mob.
Unfortunately you have to figure in more than taxes to gain a full understanding of living costs. I will never forget when I called USAA to tell them I was moving to South Florida from northern Virginia 10 years ago. The lady on the line said please don't get angry at me but you car insurance is going to more than double...and it did. Homeowners insurance has been and continues to be an issue with exorbitant rates for windstorm coverage and to a lesser degree for flood insurance and with increasing home values this will not change anytime soon. Although the state legislature has tried to address this issue it will remain an issue until a major storm does a direct hit on a major population center.
Yes, I failed to mention that. It's more than taxes. Nevada auto insurance rates are bad. In California, you will pay $24K per year for fire insurance in some places. Hurricane in Florida etc.
I also referenced the Tax Foundation before I made my move, but it was not the total state taxes I looked at, it was the taxes that affected me the most.
I’m in western NC and the northerners who initially moved to Florida but then moved to NC after not liking something about Florida are called halfbacks.
A lot of people who lived and bought property in South Florida back in the 50's to 70's cashed in on their properties and moved to exactly where you are. Can't blame them as the South Florida I knew from the mid 80's is mostly gone...although it is still a nice place.
We have really nice four season weather. Although I wish I had your winter warmth, it’s not bad here. It never gets too cold or snows that much. We rarely have winter days where the high of the day doesn’t reach 32 degrees. I can get out and do stuff almost all winter long, unlike how I used to have to hibernate when I lived in Chicago. Winters are also sunny here unlike gloomy Chicago.
Taxation is theft. Btw, speaking of MN, tonight im staying at a beautiful campsite on the mississppi river near Hill City on our way from ID to WI. Also recommending stopping for a day in the north unit of Teddy Roosevelt NP. Wish i could post some pics on your comments.
Yes, Substack doesn't do that. Disqus does. I went to Teddy's park on the way home two years ago. It was fantastic.
In 2020, we sold our house in Sacramento, Cacafornia, packed up everything, and moved to San Antonio, TX. Between low Prop 13 property taxes in CA and no income tax in TX, it was pretty much a wash. Here in TX, my property taxes are sky-high. But most other cost-of-living factors are lower. Gas and groceries, especially.
In CA if I bought a new gun, I had to wait 10 days get it. Here, the salesman will carry it out to my truck for me. That was important to me.
In CA, I sold an average tract home on a 1/6th acre lot. I bought a nicer, larger home on a full acre in San Antonio, and had $100K left over.
San Antonio, TX traffic is pretty bad at times. Sacramento traffic was incredibly WORSE.
The only thing I miss about Sacramento is the delta breeze, a cold wind that blows in through the Golden Gate and right up the Sacramento River delta. It could be 105 degrees at 4 PM, and sometimes the delta breeze would cool things down to 70 by 10 PM. Nothing like that here in Texas!
Wyoming is indeed a fine place for personal taxes, but they are rising. Wyoming's hedge is that the mineral extraction industries not only provide high paying jobs but also support the tax base quite well. The Wyoming schools have been excellent historically, but the winters and the wind can be brutal.
Winters and wind are brutal. My friend moved there. He said one day at his place it was 30 below zero.....
Jeffery, agree that property taxes are high in Texas, however it keeps the income tax away and other taxes low, and like you said groceries and gas are generally less expensive. Florida has unfortunately been a victim of the shyster lobby and auto insurance as pointed out has went though the roof. There are about four billionaire shysters that made their money suing auto insurance companies and the legislature if filled with shysters that keeps it that way. Property insurance is due to the massive payouts when we get a CAT 4-5. However in the last decade most of the pre-enhanced building code places have been hit and so claims should decline. Again like Texas there is a trade off of not having an income tax, but if you can manage your auto insurance (high deductible) and set a reasonable level of coverage on you home owners (don’t insure for more then the average case of damage if you have a direct hit). Florida is great and they are staring to open Culver’s Restaurants for all the snow birds (butter burger is the best plus the Waleye Sandwich)
and Portillo's.
This is a great analysis and puts the tax issue in states prospective. Next is a list of all the taxes we pay at the Federal Level!
Oh dear, I cannot help but comment on grocery bags as I live in the Nazi grocery bag center of the world.
Pre-covid: Plastic bags pure evil. Use one and you are killing all ocean life and an evil human. Grocery stores would not even offer them, only paper bags that would break if you put anything heavy in them.
Bring your own: The only true example of a decent human being was to bring in your own reusable bag(s).
Fast forward to covid: All of you evil people trying to use your contaminated reusable bags need to get with the times. The only safe alternative now: plastic bags. Not paper, not reusable, but plastic. The same plastic bags that were pure evil prior to covid are now back in vogue (still are). The hell with the oceans, mother earth, whatever. Plastic is good now once again.
Liberal rules are not about reality, they are about control.
It's ridiculous to think that running away to save a buck today, at tomorrow's expense, is good strategy. The shortest path with the least resistance to low taxation is kicking the clowns out of office in your state!
Illinois will have tremendous potential if we can get rid of the RINOs. Brandon Johnson (Chicago) has a 6% approval rate, and Dan Proft's Uihlein grift is the only thing preventing him from getting attacked by a savage mob.