Cheapest cost of living in a place that doesn't suck (renting, homes)

[azsportpilot]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Seven U.S. states currently don't have an income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

Yep.Limiting.

Texas while having no income tax is notorious for insanely high property taxes
Florida while having no income tax is notorious for petty speeding tickets 37mph in a 35 zone etc

they will get their money one way or the other

also keep in mind some states have very low income tax, in your probable income range it would have little effect anyway

[azsportpilot]

also keep in mind that some states have no sales tax, which would likely have a bigger positive impact on your budget than no income tax

DE, NH and MT have no sales tax

no sales tax benefits everyone, no income tax most benefits persons with high incomes

when looking at the income tax rate of a state you must factor in sales tax and property tax also

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ndation_v2.gif

[azsportpilot]

as you can see on this graph, income tax (state & Federal) has no effect on people earning $0-$20k and little effect on people earning $20k-$40k

conversely Sales and Property Taxes have a huge impact for anyone earning under $60k

Income tax only starts to outweigh the others when income rises above $80k

[march2]

Originally Posted by 775

I see someone gets butthurt easily.

Location: East Coast
Name: BigCityDreamer

All signs are pointing to you never having been to or seen anything out west. Why don't you further elaborate on this theory of yours that the entire west half of the country is "land-locked, isolated and barren", and then I feel we will have our laugh.

Yikes, lol. I don't think the poster was "butthurt" at all, (weather right or wrong) they just made an observation. But I would think most of us can sense a hostility in your posts ("hatred for EVERY other part of the country", "butthurt"), seemingly out of nowhere, that make's you seem a bit butthurt for some reason. It probably does evoke a chuckle here and there. Anyway, hope you find the place your're looking for.

[Prickly Pear]

Reno might be why lol. Am I right though, Reno?

The Southwest is incredibly cheap and affordable. however the economy is somewhat minimal, even in Phoenix to an extent. You can find starter homes in Phoenix in safe but not most desirable areas for half of your price. Also mountains and and dry air and stuff.

Wyoming looks pretty cheap too. No income tax and stuff. But it's also Wyoming. Windy! and Cheyenne is really close to Denver which could be cool.

Alaska is expensive. I saw a photo the other day of a regular-sized PB jar going for more than $10. If a place can have unaffordable peanut butter, then I don't even want to know what everything else costs up there. But it sure is beautiful.

[ryan_ninenine]

Maybe eastern Washington? When you say Washington is expensive have you looked into the eastern part of the state at all? It really isn't expensive and there's a lot of nice areas in Spokane. It's also dry like Nevada but just looks nicer.

[Kmanshouse]

I was thinking Boise, ID, Spokane, WA, Tucson, AZ, or somewhere in New Mexico.

[PCALMike]

Where are you from originally where you get all that for 300k?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

West of the Rockies? Cheap? Probably small towns in Nevada and Arizona are the only options. There is nothing cheap in Washington, Oregon, or California.

Technically, Arizona doesn't really count as west of the Rockies, but it is geographically in the western states and some of the smaller towns are pretty reasonable and there are some attractive areas.

[Finger Laker]

Meh, the Rockies run on a diagonal, but dip into NM and run strong through CO..... Arizona is definitely west of that, plus the whole dry and mountainous thing

What price range are you looking for as it relates to housing and cost of living.

I definitely wouldn't consider eastern WA as expensive