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I moved to California from Nebraska, so I'm well familiar with what you're talking about. And while that's true, it overlooks a few things: * My salary:housing

I moved to California from Nebraska, so I'm well familiar with what you're talking about. And while that's true, it overlooks a few things: * My salary:housing ratio is better in California than in Nebraska. I have to work fewer hours each month to pay for my home here than I use to, for roughly similar niceness. * What is spendy is services, like paying someone to do work on the house. Those workers make more here, too. * On a side note, anything you buy from a national retailer costs the same in both places. An iPhone or a minivan both cost $X whether you live in CA or IA, so I only have to work about 1/4th the amount of time to buy a new phone here as I use to. Yes, the cost of living is a lot higher here. Especially for those in tech, in my experience the pay difference far outweighs the cost difference, even including housing.

queenkjuul 4mo ago
Nebraska housing is actually a bad deal given the wages. It's cheap by national standards, but my wages doubled moving from CBIA to Chicago. Rent in Chicago is of course much higher, but adjusted for income, my place is way nicer and actually a similar portion of my income
- kstrauser 4mo ago
  Preach it, neighbor. And nothing whatsoever against NE or IA. Those are nice places to live with a lot to commend for them. Still the low cost of living is kind of misleading unless you’re on a fixed income such that moving elsewhere would raise expenses without raising pay.
  - queenkjuul 4mo ago
    Yeah i mean, i get why my friends with kids didn't leave, but at the same time, i would so much rather raise my kids in Chicago. Some of them i think are starting to realize the same, as they come out to visit. Des Moines and Omaha are pretty good, though. I'm especially partial to Omaha. However I personally still wouldn't live there by choice, either one. But i know people that are happy in both all the same.

queenkjuul 4mo ago

Nebraska housing is actually a bad deal given the wages. It's cheap by national standards, but my wages doubled moving from CBIA to Chicago. Rent in Chicago is of course much higher, but adjusted for income, my place is way nicer and actually a similar portion of my income

kstrauser 4mo ago
Preach it, neighbor. And nothing whatsoever against NE or IA. Those are nice places to live with a lot to commend for them. Still the low cost of living is kind of misleading unless you’re on a fixed income such that moving elsewhere would raise expenses without raising pay.
- queenkjuul 4mo ago
  Yeah i mean, i get why my friends with kids didn't leave, but at the same time, i would so much rather raise my kids in Chicago. Some of them i think are starting to realize the same, as they come out to visit. Des Moines and Omaha are pretty good, though. I'm especially partial to Omaha. However I personally still wouldn't live there by choice, either one. But i know people that are happy in both all the same.