Income/COL question and airport question (Atlanta, Dallas: real estate, home, good schools)

[k374]

How does ATL COL compare with 1) Dallas 2) Austin?

Considering TX has no state income tax and I know Dallas has dirt cheap property prices and a super strong economy does COL favor Dallas? I know Austin is getting pricier but also has some good property deals.

Purely from a Income/COL standpoint and discounting other attributes between the three areas - ATL/Dallas/Austin, which place would one get ahead financially long term in terms of income potential, lower taxes and cost of living? For reference I am a Software Engineer by profession.

Additional question I have - Both Dallas and ATL are very well connecting for foreign travel but I found flights from ATL are very expensive compared to Dallas. Any ideas why? Is it airport taxes?

[citidata18]

My completely uneducated guess is part of the reason for higher prices in Atlanta is because it's only served by one airport that's a fortress huh (Delta), whereas Dallas is served by multiple airports and is home to multiple hubs (American and Southwest).

As far as the COL diffedence, it's a trade off IMO. While Texas doesn't have state income taxes, Georgia on the other hand has much lower property taxes.

[stoxdiamond]

I'm not familiar with TX but if you are picky as to where to live (e.g. want to live in the nicer areas that have gentrified, good schools, good traffic situation, etc), the home prices are actually rather high here in ATL.

It used to be pretty cheap to live well in ATL but prices in good areas have increased A LOT over the past 5 years. It used to be a good deal, but now is less so. I think the upper end of income earners in ATL do well, because they are able to live in areas that can provide a good quality of life: lower crime, better amenities, better location for commuting. If you are in the median or lower, then you can struggle if it means you cannot afford to live closer to where you work. Being forced to a 1 hr commute due to housing being too expensive is a very bad feeling and a problem that ATL suffers.

I feel that software engineering jobs in the three areas probably pay similarly. I think if your job here in ATL is approaching six figures with the expectation to surpass it in a few years then you can live rather well.

[lorilove]

Atlanta and Dallas are VERY similar cities

As for COL - Atlanta is slightly less than Dallas or Austin

https://www.bankrate.com/calculators...alculator.aspx

[sedimenjerry]

If you're coming from an expensive city/metro like LA or NYC, all three are going to be very similar in COL. I'm potentially moving to NJ from Houston and the difference in COL is insane compared to DFW and Atlanta. And Austin really isn't that expensive. Maybe for a metro of 2 million people, but it's much more affordable than some of the coastal cities.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by k374

How does ATL COL compare with 1) Dallas 2) Austin?

Considering TX has no state income tax and I know Dallas has dirt cheap property prices and a super strong economy does COL favor Dallas? I know Austin is getting pricier but also has some good property deals.

Purely from a Income/COL standpoint and discounting other attributes between the three areas - ATL/Dallas/Austin, which place would one get ahead financially long term in terms of income potential, lower taxes and cost of living? For reference I am a Software Engineer by profession.

Additional question I have - Both Dallas and ATL are very well connecting for foreign travel but I found flights from ATL are very expensive compared to Dallas. Any ideas why? Is it airport taxes?

Sounds like you want to live near a major airport. I haven't examined the difference between flight costs, but a lot probably depends on where you're flying to. I would expect DFW to have slightly cheaper flights to asia and ATl to have slight cheaper flights to europe.

If I were in your shoes I would choose a smaller metro with a very good airport to keep COL down. Unless you're flying multiple times per month, I think that $200-$300 added to a couple of round trip tickets per year is going to more than make up for thousands of dollars in difference for real estate, less traffic woes and easier pace of life.

[testa50]

I don't consider Dallas a much cheaper airport than Atlanta. It really depends where you want to get to.

Both cities have multi-carrier access to most/all of the large metros in the US. Atlanta has an advantage for east coast in that you can fly to all of the large eastern cities, Florida to the NE to Chicago to Texas, within a couple hours. But the west coast is a haul.

The really convenient thing about Atlanta is the options. If you're looking at a major metro area in the eastern half of the country, there will almost always be at least 20 flights per day nonstop. For big cities with multiple airports like New York, Chicago, and Miami during peak times there's a flight like every 20-30 minutes, all leaving from one central airport. It's kind of amazing.

Atlanta has a significant presence from Southwest now (not as big as Dallas) as well as other low cost carriers, so Delta is kept in check on a lot more domestic markets than it was immediately after the Airtran/Southwest merger when Delta was able to run wild with fares for a bit.