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Try low income high cost of living. Traffic, taxes, poor infrastructure, mixed bag of schools, taxes, unstable job market, rising tuition, rising cost of goods, expensive housing market, rising illicit drug use, limited job's in a small over populated state, and so forth.
Never thought I'd say this, but I gotta go with high cost of living/high income. I left NYC because I thought I was getting screwed over by rent, taxes, etc. Moved to Tennessee where there is no state income tax and the cost of living is a lot lower. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it ended up being a mistake. I took a pretty significant pay cut and ended up eventually losing my job. Finding another job in my field looks to be, at the very least, an uphill battle, if not completely impossible. 85 people are moving to Nashville every day so there is a lot of competition for good jobs. In NYC, the opportunities in your chosen industry are basically endless. I was able to purchase a condo here, which I would have never been able to do in NYC so I am definitely grateful for that. However, Nashville is a place where the salaries just haven't caught up with housing costs. So I'm putting about 60% of my income towards housing, same as in Manhattan (even though here I own it and there I didn't). On top of that, I have all of the expenses associated with owning a car. I don't know, I just feel like I had more disposable income in NYC. If it weren't for the crappy weather, I would move back in a hot minute.
Some of that is just a Tennessee problem. I'm from Tennessee, and moved to Iowa for a job that was same role I was in at the time, and it paid 30% more. My last job in TN was for $11/hr, and I frequently see jobs here in Indiana with that same title for $20/hr+. Aside from taxes, IN actually cheaper in TN.
HIGH INCOME = more money paid into Social Security
Good point. I hadn't thought of this before. I choose HIGH, HIGH. It comes down to quality of life for me, which in my case suffered in LOW/LOW places.Now, I live in DC and the only real burden is the housing cost. But, I'm single and don't need a lot of space. So I managed by downsizing and getting by with less stuff. I love living in a place that offers so many amenities.
High/High. I would search for deals on apartments or condos like it was a second job. Sometimes living in the hottest or brag worthy area isn't necessary if you can get a deal in an older, safe area.
High cost of living area is a bad move for most people... if you don't have a high level degree or something you are much better off in a low cost of living area. Having said this, not all low cost of living areas are created equal. Many mid level jobs, and of course lower level, do not pay very much more in a high cost of living area compared to a low cost of living area. There's people in my area that drive around in new expensive luxury vehicles and they're making less than 30k a year... when you're rent or mortgage isn't $4,000.00 a month you can do that.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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I'll tell you all, I currently live in a medium priced city, Phoenix, and looking to move to LA Area (obviously higher priced). As far as I'm concerned, you get what you pay for. I go to LA for work a lot (regional truck driver), and every time I go back to Phoenix, I get a little sad. And I make enough money that I can afford a roof over my head, so that's all there is to it.
In my opinion, people who leave places like California or the "95 corridor" and move to flyover country, are either unskilled, or "losers" who want an upper middle class lifestyle without the ambition to work for it
Everything else equal, if you had to pick, would you choose a higher income in a place stereotyped to have a high cost of living or choose a lower income in a place stereotyped to have a low cost of living?
Personally, I'll choose high cost of living + high income (i.e. California, NYC, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Dubai, etc.)
Most places with high cost of living are mainly due to the high cost of housing. Since housing isn't a particularly important part of my life other than having a roof over my head, it's a place I could easily cut back on. Plus, a high cost of living presents a more formidable personal challenge in pursuit of frugality with bigger potential rewards and savings (if you can find a way to live on less while raking in a fat paycheck.)
What do you prefer?
I just think there is confusion about the source of why an area is high cost or low cost of living when thinking about differences between states.
It's helpful to think of high cost or low cost of living between different nations.
For example, America is much higher cost of living then Mexico.
The reason, America and regular Americans have much higher incomes and more wealth than citizens of Mexico.
So Mexico's low cost of living compared to America is because Mexico and Mexican citizens are poorer than America.
The same thing applies between states or cities. High cost of living cities or states have citizens it's higher incomes, more wealth, more money than low cost of living states.
The problem with low cost of living states is if you lose a job, it's may be much more difficult to find a decent paying job that can sustain you and your family.
So I'd always always go for the higher cost of living area.
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