Taxes. A doubled income in California isn’t a doubled income. It’s much less: higher tax bracket, state income taxes. What needs to be compared is the after tax

Taxes. A doubled income in California isn’t a doubled income. It’s much less: higher tax bracket, state income taxes. What needs to be compared is the after tax income. Because it sure isn’t doubled. Even if you add it property taxes — tax on a Houston $500k house is going to be less than taxes on an equivalent $2 million house. The median prices of condos in San Francisco is almost $1.4 million. $1.4 million could buy you a grand house in Houston. A nice condo might cost $350k. Because, even if you double the income, your post-tax pay isn’t actually doubled. Adding housing into the mix (even ignoring taxes) and the math is still rather difficult because houses cost far more than double what they do in Houston. That’s a big difference when you talk about doubling income. Taxes and housing; that’s the problem with California.