Dallas Cost of Living (San Diego, Howe: middle-class, sales, real estate)

[romeoDNB]

Hello,

I am considering moving to the "Big D" for a job. The salary will range from $55,000 to $85,000. I'm going to guess that I'll probably end up with a salary in the $65,000 to $70,000 range. I currently live in CA and this type of salary is OK, but not great. Would I enjoy a decent living in Dallas with this salary?

-romeoDNB

[lh_newbie]

Most definitely MUCH better than in California.

- NO STATE INCOME TAX... at $65K... that's the equivalent of getting a $5850 raise for moving to Dallas.
- Gas prices are 20-30 cents/gallon less
- Food prices are a good 10% lower

If you want to buy a home... at $65K - it's a real possibility in Dallas. Not so much in California. Of course, you will have to get used to our summers.

What area of California?

[Lakewooder]

You also won't have to spend so much time on the road. I hardly ever drive more than 10 minutes to get anywhere..

[KBilly]

You should do OK. However, the property taxes, with a homestead exemption, on a home valued at 260k, will pretty well eat up that 5800 dollar no-state-tax saving.

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by KBilly

You should do OK. However, the property taxes, with a homestead exemption, on a home valued at 260k, will pretty well eat up that 5800 dollar no-state-tax saving.

But he'll get the tax deduction AND the state sales tax deduction. Not huge, but still better than California. Electricity costs are basically equal here, but your usage will be higher in the winter.

[KBilly]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

But he'll get the tax deduction AND the state sales tax deduction. Not huge, but still better than California. Electricity costs are basically equal here, but your usage will be higher in the winter.

He gets to deduct his CA state tax there, just like we deduct our massive property taxes here, so that's a wash.

The sales tax deduction, if not itemized, for two people here is barely 2000 bucks at a combined income level of 190k. It's insignificant. It's even more insignificant at income levels below that.

My only point I made upthread was that telling someone from CA that they pay no state income tax here is a useless upside if you own a middle-class or above neighborhood home here.

[lh_newbie]

But if you rent, it's a huge boon. And if you own a home that is equivalent to our $260K home in california ($500-800K there), you would be paying the same amount in real estate taxes. Your mortgage would just be MUCH larger.

And to compare an equal COST home:

A $260K home in CA would have roughly $2600 in property taxes. Your incremental property tax load would be about ~3K in Dallas, so there most definitely is a decrease in overall taxation in Texas. $3K more in property taxes - $6K in income taxes = +$3K ahead of the tax game.

[aceplace]

That's a good point, newbie. Property taxes not only fund local governments in California, they pay for transit. It does not cost less money to operate a California county than a Texas county. In fact, property taxes in a suburb of a major California city would have to be higher per household because costs of operating cities and counties are higher. County employees have to be compensated with higher salaries, supplies are more expensive, etc.

A $260K Dallas house is pretty lavish and luxurious, but a $260K LA or San Diego house, if you can find one, is most likely a shack in a ghetto. Housing prices over there are astronomical, by our Dallas standards, and the property tax rates are structured to that astronomical price.

The total tax burden, property, sales, income taxes, etc, is higher in California than in Texas, according to many surveys. Actually, the CA state income tax is not high enough. Their state government forces counties to pay for many services and programs that state governments usually pay for, the so-called "unfundd mandates". As a consequence, the local governments in California are not able to provide the same level of service as Texas counties, or they have higher taxes, or both. The CA public school system is particularly threadbare.

The bottom line... a typical big-city Californian has a noticeably lower standard of living than his Texas counterpart.

[LastDallasNative]

But remember that the Californians who come here quickly realize the culture shock and realize that being Californians is really important to them. A price can't be put on that.

[KantLockeMeIn]

The sales tax deduction was only approved through 2007, so it's not something you can factor in long term.

But the cost of living is less here imho...

If you work harder/smarter for a promotion or get that second job, you pay no additional state/local tax. You choose your destiny with the choice of your home. If you want lower taxes, live below your means, sock away the savings and live extremely well in the future.

Just my 2 cents.