I've found that my paycheck goes a lot farther since I moved to Oregon. Oregon has (nearly) a flat income tax at 9%, while California has a progressive income

I've found that my paycheck goes a lot farther since I moved to Oregon. Oregon has (nearly) a flat income tax at 9%, while California has a progressive income tax topping out around 9.5%. The CA income tax advantage shrinks as you make more money. On the other hand, if you don't make a lot of money, then you probably have a lower savings rate. If your savings rate is low, then a large portion of your income is subject to the 7-9% sales tax. It'd be interesting to draw a surface map. On the two horizontal axis put income and savings rate, and make the height the difference between the total effective California tax and Oregon tax. I'd do this now, but I need to sleep instead. Additionally, one should compare CA's Prop 13 with OR's Measure 47. Both limit the rate at which a houses assessed value can grow, but Prop 13 allows for discontinuities of assessed value when a house is bought, while Measure 47 doesn't. As a result, new home owners in OR pay much lower property taxes than new home owners in CA. (By new home owner, I mean someone who newly owns a house, not someone who owns a new house. Measure 47 favors old houses.)