Which town would fit my likings? (Cheyenne, Wheatland: taxes, living, cost of living)

[wyoming3]

I live and work in Sheridan, Wyoming. I myself am a self employed photographer as well as graphic designer. My husband and I both work and make around $40,000 a year. It is doable and there are quite a few jobs around here in a variety of fields. The energy boom is big right now with Methane and that seems to be the hot field right now, probably because the jobs pay very well. However, methane is a product that will run out within the next 10 years, so I wouldn't count on it as a permenant career. Anyways, you can be to the top of the mountain within an hour of Sheridan. 30 minutes will put you at the base and it is a beautiful drive up. There are two small towns, Dayton and Ranchester that are at the base of the mountains. Very small, but scenic. I have been to mountains a lot of other places and they do not compare in my opinion to the Big Horns. The best way to determine if this area fits your needs is to visit. I would come in the summer when you could also tour Yellowstone and the surrounding area.

[McCallister]

Thanks wyoming3. I have been thinking lately that maybe I got tunnel vision into liking wyoming just because it had some nice scenic places & there were no income taxes... That would be pretty dumb of me to consider moving just on that alone. So I started expanding my search to other surrounding states too.

If any of you know much about these states & had to rank these states in order from the best to worst to live, how would you order them & why? Things to take into consideration are a combination of many things like jobs, scenery, urban sprawl(BAD!!!), community, pollution, cost of living, etc... Here is my order based on what I've read so far.

1. Montana
2. Wyoming
3. Utah
4. Idaho
5. Colorado

[wyoming3]

I was just curious as to your statement about no income taxes in wyoming? Were you kidding? That is certainly not true.

In response to your list, I would put Colorado at the bottom (where we have lived also), Wyoming at the top of course and Montana 2nd. Good choices! Some awesome areas of Montana are the Bozeman area, which is completely surrounded by mountains. It is a college town, but has a neat feel to it.

[sunsprit]

wyoming3 is apparently not a Wyoming resident ... or they'd know that there is NO INCOME TAX in Wyoming.

Easy to verify, too, on the 'net by going to any of the retirement sites that list/compare tax consequences in the states.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

wyoming3 is apparently not a Wyoming resident ... or they'd know that there is NO INCOME TAX in Wyoming.

Easy to verify, too, on the 'net by going to any of the retirement sites that list/compare tax consequences in the states.

Clairifacation.

Wyoming has NO "State" income tax.

Wyoming DOES have "Federal" income tax.

[wyoming3]

Ok, I was confused, it is STATE income taxes you were talking about. Yes, that is correct. Wyoming is rated very well as far as tax friendly states. Montana is pretty poor in that respect -- they don't have sales tax but their income tax and property tax is very high. Colorado isn't the best either! Yes I am a wyoming resident and have been a colorado resident, I just read the question wrong. No biggie.

[McCallister]

Yes I meant state taxes. Sorry for the confusion. It was a toss up between #1 & 2, but it seems that Montana might have a better chance of finding a job simply because there are more towns.

I'm at a fork in the road where I can stay at my job & get a decent income, but nto enjoy it. Or I can do what I want to really do & move out west, but likely not make what I am now. It would be hard to leave all my family & friends though & move by myself. TOUGH!!! Anyone went through this themselves?

wyoming3, do you have a website? I'd be curious to see your work.

[wyoming3]

Yes, we too had a similar delima (sp?) when we lived in Colorado. We could stay there and make quite a bit more money, or move to Wyoming where we love and make a bit less. It was a hard decision, but we hated living in Colorado and money is not everything. We are much happier where we are at now.
My website is: www.creativeimagesphoto.net

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by McCallister

Thanks wyoming3. I have been thinking lately that maybe I got tunnel vision into liking wyoming just because it had some nice scenic places & there were no income taxes... That would be pretty dumb of me to consider moving just on that alone. So I started expanding my search to other surrounding states too.

If any of you know much about these states & had to rank these states in order from the best to worst to live, how would you order them & why? Things to take into consideration are a combination of many things like jobs, scenery, urban sprawl(BAD!!!), community, pollution, cost of living, etc... Here is my order based on what I've read so far.

1. Montana
2. Wyoming
3. Utah
4. Idaho
5. Colorado

McCallister,
The reasons that one state is desirable are often the same reasons that it is not desirable. For Example, in Colorado, you have significantly more jobs than you do in Wyoming. As a result, you have more people, and with that, more pollution, urban sprawl, higher cost of living (due to housing costs), etc. In Wyoming, you have almost none of the negatives mentioned for Colorado, mainly because there are few jobs, and few people. Obviously, the cities in each of the states mentioned are more likely to provide job opportunities based on how large the cities are. Each of the states you listed, with the exception of Wyoming, have at least one city with a population around 100,000 people, or more. In Montana, it's Billings (about 100,000). In Utah, it's Salt Lake City (about 200,000, with nearly 1,000,000 in the area). In Idaho, it's Boise (about 200,000). In Colorado, it's Denver (about 500,000, with a couple million nearby). Wyoming's two largest cities (Casper and Cheyenne) combined only have about 100,000 people in them. Most of the other "large" cities in Wyoming are 20,000 people, or less. The trade-off is going to be to choose a state with a large population and more jobs, or one with a smaller population and fewer jobs.

I love each of the states you mentioned for their scenic splendor. Each has its own uniqueness, yet they all offer many of the same things to love about them. They each have spectacular national treasures in their National Parks and National Monuments. The mountains in each of these states are spectacular. Many of them also have some prairie or desert landscape.

If I were to rate places to live, I'd have to break it down a little further than just by state. For the same reasons you mentioned, I would place most of Wyoming fairly high on my own list of desirable places to live, however, Jackson and the surrounding area would drop down on my list, primarily because of the expense of living there. The Salt Lake City and Denver areas would be fairly low on my list because of the population and the problems that arise from being heavily populated. Other parts of Utah and Colorado are worth looking at, though. I would suggest looking at Cedar City, Utah, and Grand Junction, Colorado. I haven't been into Boise, but have seen some of the surrounding area (from north of Boise, all the way up Coeur D' Alene). What I have seen was beautiful, and I would rate the areas I've seen fairly high on my list. In my travels through Idaho, I saw spectacular mountains, beautiful lakes, and gorgeous camas prairies. Along the way were many small towns and cities, many of which appealed to me. I also loved some of the areas in eastern Idaho that I've been. Though I haven't been in many parts of eastern Idaho, I liked Victor and Swan Valley, even though they are both close to Jackson, Wyoming. I can't say much for Montana, since I've only seen a small part of it, but I've been through Billings, and even though it's the largest city in Montana, it felt very comfortable, without most of the problems of excessive growth. I also fell in love with Red Lodge due to its proximity to the Beartooth mountains. It is also very close to Yellowstone, and about an hour north of Cody, Wyoming. Although I haven't been there yet, I've heard fantastic things about Kalispell, Montana. That is another place to consider.

With all that said, each of the states you've mentioned is worth looking into. As I stated, I have places in each of those states that would rank high on my list. My travels have been limited, though, so I am certain that there are other places in each of these states that would also be well worth considering. There are also other states that might be worth looking into, such as New Mexico and Arizona, as well as the northern part of California. What I plan to do when I relocate is to get closer to those places I want to explore, but get out on the road frequently to see those sights I haven't yet seen. It sounds to me like somewhere in the middle of all that is where you should be, then you could travel to the places you want to see.

[McCallister]

Thanks jdavid93225. I have been through grand junction last year on my way out to MOab, UT. I only drove through it though so I did not really see too much of it. Seemed nice though. I'll have to look a litle bit more into CO taxes, costs, etc... I do have to say I am also partial to the desert type scene that I experienced in Moab UT. THat is the downfall, I appreciate all types of areas from the northwoods of my state(WI), to the splendor of the Rockies, to the Zion, arches, Bryce canyon places. Maybe I should just make it a personnal goal to visit all the national parks & be content where I live now??? I guess we'll see once I make a road trip again out that way.