Texas vs Oregon (Portland, Eugene, Salem: sales, daycares, house)

[stargazer1984]

My girlfriend and I are thinking about moving to Oregon. Does anyone know the differences in Oregon taxes vs Texas taxes. What % is income taxes in Oregon? Are there property taxes? Where are the best places to find jobs? I have been a nanny and worked in daycares and she is a veterinary technician. Also where are the most gay friendly places in Oregon?

[Silverfall]

Our income tax is 9%. Property taxes in my area run $15-$18 per thousand of assessed value (don't confuse that with market value) and then they take a percentage. So in Salem a $300,000 home runs around $4,000 in property taxes. We don't have sales tax here.

The most gay friendly cities would be Portland and Eugene. But you would be fine in some of the other mid sized cities as well.

There is no good place to find jobs. We are at 12+% as a state for unemployment.

[malone7384]

As someone who moved here from Texas - there are HUGE differences. First, there is a state income tax. The property tax here is huge. The housing prices here compared to Texas are out of the park.

I have a friend of mine in Texas who just bought a really nice house (closing on Tuesday). They paid less than $100k for it. The house that they bought there would bring over $250k here.

The unemployment rate here is ridiculous. 12.2% last month. The jobs are very hard to come by around here. And that is all over the state. If you go to Bend, the unemployment rate is much higher.

Make sure that if you move here, that one of you has a good job lined up and a lot of savings ready to live on.