Really Torn About Moving to Austin

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by spchtx

I get it, but I would pretty much compare Suburbs of Austin to to Suburbs of Sacramento.

There's still going to be qualitative differences though, even in the suburbs. One is a suburb of a city with 2.6% unemployment, the other a city with 6%.

[Joejoeskitten]

Originally Posted by Ariel_Austin

Property taxes in Texas are high because there isn't a personal income tax.

Someone making $100k taxable income in California would be taxed at 9.3% plus 1% for property taxes on say, a $500k home. Total taxes paid is $9,300 + $5,000 = $14,300.

The same taxable income and house value in Texas would see property taxed at 2.5% (some places higher, most lower) for a total taxes paid of $12,500 ($800 less than California in this example) but the house in Texas is going to, in general, be much more than the house in California.

For ease of comparison the scenarios above do not consider various exemptions for both states nor do they consider Mello-Roos that many pay in California or MUDs that are common in some areas in Austin (they are similar infrastructure and amenity funding vehicles).

Change the taxable income to $200k and the total taxes paid jumps to $23,600 while in Texas they stayed at $12,500 (Texans would pay just less than half the taxes compared to Californians under this simplified scenario).

Obviously the tax scheme in Texas favors those who earn more but spend moderately in proportion to their income. Even so, assuming the Texas earner making $200,000 taxable income has a $1,000,000 taxable value home, their property taxes would be $25,000 for $1,400 more in total taxes for much, much, much more home.

Your mileage may vary.

Wrong. The taxes are high because our state has started wasting more and more money on dogoodie ideas with no payback or contribution to economic improvement. We need LESS taxes and LESS govt, period.

[cBach]

I've been tracking the weather, and Sacramento tracks very closely to ours. Upper 90's summer, 80's in the fall right now. 50s/60s in the winter, 70s/80s spring. The only thing is the night time lows are much lower in Sacramento due to the dry weather.

[hornraider]

Originally Posted by cBach

I've been tracking the weather, and Sacramento tracks very closely to ours. Upper 90's summer, 80's in the fall right now. 50s/60s in the winter, 70s/80s spring. The only thing is the night time lows are much lower in Sacramento due to the dry weather.

Correct! The Central Valley of CA is also cool in the evenings during the summer. I can remember summer days swimming in the rivers of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and wearing a jacket at night. It is not uncommon to have highs in the 100s and lows in the low 60s or high 50s.

[zhugeliang1]

But would driving be necessary if working next to UT? (I was thinking the Far West (& mopac) area...don't they have UT buses that run from there?) Great area, good to great schools. Not sure about $1500 rent though.

Yes, I used to attend UT Austin and lived in the Far West where I rented for $1500 a month, UT buses do run from the Far West. I would do my homework on the bus there and back. Schools there are good - Doss and Anderson are very good.

[Ariel_Austin]

Originally Posted by Joejoeskitten

Wrong. The taxes are high because our state has started wasting more and more money on dogoodie ideas with no payback or contribution to economic improvement. We need LESS taxes and LESS govt, period.

Thanks for your personal commentary.