If you're a business owner or remote freelancer, it may net you more money to be headquartered in a no-income-tax state (e.g. Texas, Florida, Nevada, Washington). This is assuming you're charging similar prices as your competitors based in SF/SV or NYC.
If you're a single employee, your best bet is to live somewhere with high salaries (California or New York) and be frugal with your expenses.
If you're an employee that's married and/or have kids, I don't know. I don't have that experience yet. Best to ask someone who does.
--> BUT income tax is just one of many state taxes. For an aggregate tax %, see The Tax Foundation's report on State "Tax Burdens." Scroll down in the doc to 2008. http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/336.html
Not really. I've lived in both and the salaries are maybe 20-25% lower in Austin, but everything else is much cheaper for more value. Especially when you're paying for grown up stuff like 3-4 bedroom homes in safe neighborhoods, day care/nannies, etc. That stuff is off the charts expensive in the Valley. And your tax bracket is higher along with your salary.
I can't imagine being an entrepreneur in the Valley with kids without at LEAST a few million in cash. In Austin you only need 1. :)
I'm in austin, but I keep wishing that I lived in Silicon Valley or PNW - namely due to:
* greater ability to commute by bicycle/train/public transit. Austin's bicycle scene is growing, but it's still fairly impractical due to the lack of public transit infrastructure.
* potential for more outdoor trips - hiking around austin is fun when there's water around, but we easily have drought years too which aren't as fun. Plus, I'd think planning a ski or surfing trip is much easier out west than here. Many of my valley friends afford to share a house in tahoe during the winter.
On the downside, I think you'll be disappointed with the bicycling situation in SF. Yes there are bike lanes, but it seems like automobile drivers are hellbent on murdering all bicyclists.
On the upside, if you like the outdoors, there are very few places in the U.S. that are more beautiful than northern California. (I think that Austin is the best place to run my company, but everywhere had tradeoffs.)
Property taxes in Oregon are a little funny. It depends a lot on where your house is located and when it was built. I pay about 0.6% of current market value annually. I have friends that pay 2%.
CA's sales tax is county/city dependent, starting from a 8.25% base. It's 9.25% in San Jose, 9.5% somewhere nearby, closer to 9.75% in SF, and less than 9% some places.
Besides federal income tax (as noted by another commenter), there's local sales tax, state property tax, and who knows what-all else. Income tax is sometimes one piece of a state's tax system, but it's never the only piece.
If you're a single employee, your best bet is to live somewhere with high salaries (California or New York) and be frugal with your expenses.
If you're an employee that's married and/or have kids, I don't know. I don't have that experience yet. Best to ask someone who does.
--> BUT income tax is just one of many state taxes. For an aggregate tax %, see The Tax Foundation's report on State "Tax Burdens." Scroll down in the doc to 2008. http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/336.html
Here's some of the state tax burdens:
* Nevada: 6.6%
* Florida: 7.4%
* Texas: 8.4%
* Washington: 8.9%
* Oregon: 9.4%
* Massachusetts: 9.5%
* California: 10.5%
* New York: 11.7%