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Just pick any mid sized US city and pick a suburb that has a Main Street type of area and it’s not in high COL area. I would look for ones with fiber internet a

Just pick any mid sized US city and pick a suburb that has a Main Street type of area and it’s not in high COL area. I would look for ones with fiber internet available. The houses should not be anywhere near $1m when you do this. Avoid high tax states like CA or NY. I imagine you have other factors like distance from family, area of the country, weather, proximity to mountains/beach/parks/major metro for things to do, etc. so those should narrow down what states. Then go on a mini vacation and explore or work remotely from where you’re exploring.

ajross 4y ago
> Avoid high tax states like CA or NY. Why? This sounds (especially given the two specific states named) more like an impression from partisan media than practical advice. Those two states do indeed happen to have comparatively high tax burden and metro areas with high real estate costs. But the relationship isn't well correlated. Maine and Minnesota are "high tax" states with cheap housing, and Alaska has (IIRC) the lowest tax burden but wildly higher cost of living. Similarly Miami has low tax and outrageous real estate, etc... (Also recognize that state and local taxes make up a comparatively small share of an individual's tax burden in the US, anyway. The difference in total tax between NY and TN is something like 20% if I'm doing the math right)
- mattbrewsbytes 4y ago
  I suppose I should have clarified to include property taxes. If someone is looking for an area to move to and possibly settle, when you pay off a house you may not want $800-1000/mo in taxes on that house. I said “like” I didn’t do an analysis of 50 states and tax rates. I think it would be common sense if someone was looking to move anywhere in the US to consider taxes and avoid places that were high. Similarly consider 0 income tax states like TX, NV or FL too (I’m sure there are others, those I know off top of my noggin), all things being equal if you net an extra 5-8% per year of a Tech company Eng Mgr salary that could be $10-15k more per year.
  - ajross 4y ago
    This still sems mixed up. In fact Texas has among the highest property tax rates in the country, above both NY (which it beats by a little bit) and CA (which is way down in the middle of the pack). You can find data on states by total tax burden (which, sure, is going to depend on your particular assets and flows being taxed). It's not nearly as big a differentiator as you seem to think it is (especially, again, since it's quite minor compared with your federal liabilities), and I worry about the sources that might have informed your opinion.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - forrestthewoods 4y ago
      > You can find data on states by total tax burden (which, sure, is going to depend on your particular assets and flows being taxed). It's not nearly as big a differentiator as you seem to think it is (especially, again, since it's quite minor compared with your federal liabilities) Nonsense. The difference can easily be 10% of gross income. Tax burden estimates are also really bad for tech workers making mid-six figures. Texas may take an extra $10,000 in property taxes on a million dollar house. But New York State + City will take an extra 10% of your gross income. Sales tax varies by state and city. But if you’re a tech employee you should be both saving a significant portion of your income and living in home that costs a smaller portion of your income than most people.
      - ajross 4y ago
        > Nonsense. The difference can easily be 10% of gross income. The use of "easily" is maybe a bit spun, that's at the outer edge of the distribution (e.g. moving from NY to TN, Seattle to Cleveland might net you quite a bit less). But sure, that's about right. A 10% change in income is really worth an unqualified "avoid these states" recommendation to you? That seems unjustified to me. (Especially since employers already know this. 10% is in fact more than the penalty I already "pay" simply for living outside the Bay Area myself!)
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  >But the relationship isn't well correlated. what relationship are you inferring? Some states simply have higher tax burdens than others.
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    [deleted]
- MisterMower 4y ago
  Do you enjoy high taxes? It’s no different than saying “pick a state with good weather.”

ajross 4y ago

> Avoid high tax states like CA or NY. Why? This sounds (especially given the two specific states named) more like an impression from partisan media than practical advice. Those two states do indeed happen to have comparatively high tax burden and metro areas with high real estate costs. But the relationship isn't well correlated. Maine and Minnesota are "high tax" states with cheap housing, and Alaska has (IIRC) the lowest tax burden but wildly higher cost of living. Similarly Miami has low tax and outrageous real estate, etc... (Also recognize that state and local taxes make up a comparatively small share of an individual's tax burden in the US, anyway. The difference in total tax between NY and TN is something like 20% if I'm doing the math right)

mattbrewsbytes 4y ago
I suppose I should have clarified to include property taxes. If someone is looking for an area to move to and possibly settle, when you pay off a house you may not want $800-1000/mo in taxes on that house. I said “like” I didn’t do an analysis of 50 states and tax rates. I think it would be common sense if someone was looking to move anywhere in the US to consider taxes and avoid places that were high. Similarly consider 0 income tax states like TX, NV or FL too (I’m sure there are others, those I know off top of my noggin), all things being equal if you net an extra 5-8% per year of a Tech company Eng Mgr salary that could be $10-15k more per year.
- ajross 4y ago
  This still sems mixed up. In fact Texas has among the highest property tax rates in the country, above both NY (which it beats by a little bit) and CA (which is way down in the middle of the pack). You can find data on states by total tax burden (which, sure, is going to depend on your particular assets and flows being taxed). It's not nearly as big a differentiator as you seem to think it is (especially, again, since it's quite minor compared with your federal liabilities), and I worry about the sources that might have informed your opinion.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - forrestthewoods 4y ago
    > You can find data on states by total tax burden (which, sure, is going to depend on your particular assets and flows being taxed). It's not nearly as big a differentiator as you seem to think it is (especially, again, since it's quite minor compared with your federal liabilities) Nonsense. The difference can easily be 10% of gross income. Tax burden estimates are also really bad for tech workers making mid-six figures. Texas may take an extra $10,000 in property taxes on a million dollar house. But New York State + City will take an extra 10% of your gross income. Sales tax varies by state and city. But if you’re a tech employee you should be both saving a significant portion of your income and living in home that costs a smaller portion of your income than most people.
    - ajross 4y ago
      > Nonsense. The difference can easily be 10% of gross income. The use of "easily" is maybe a bit spun, that's at the outer edge of the distribution (e.g. moving from NY to TN, Seattle to Cleveland might net you quite a bit less). But sure, that's about right. A 10% change in income is really worth an unqualified "avoid these states" recommendation to you? That seems unjustified to me. (Especially since employers already know this. 10% is in fact more than the penalty I already "pay" simply for living outside the Bay Area myself!)
s1artibartfast 4y ago
>But the relationship isn't well correlated. what relationship are you inferring? Some states simply have higher tax burdens than others.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
MisterMower 4y ago
Do you enjoy high taxes? It’s no different than saying “pick a state with good weather.”