Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Philly is generally recognized as offering a much better COL than Boston and DC. I used the first COL comparison tool that popped up on google and found that a person making $100K in Philly would need to make $170K in Boston and $159K in DC. This is the tool I used:Moderator cut: Link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed. You know who these tools are. I'm sure they are not exact, and it depends where in these cities a person lives, but I think it gives some sense of just how more affordable Philly is when compared with Boston and DC.
As for taxes, Philly has an imposing wage tax of 3.89%. On the other hand, PA state income tax is a measly 3.07%. This equates to a total income tax burden of 6.96%. This compares with the following wage taxes in Boston and DC and its suburbs:
-Massachusetts: 5.1% (not clear if Boston levies a city tax)
-Washington, D.C.: 8.5% on taxable income between $60,001 and $350,000.
-Maryland: 5.5 - 5.75%
-Virginia: 5.75%
-Washington, D.C.: 8.5% on taxable income between $60,001 and $350,000 (8.95% at higher incomes)
As you can see, the total tax burden of living in Philly is markedly better than that in DC and not terribly out of line with the DC suburbs and Boston. Factor in the COL difference and Philly seems an easy choice.
You have to go further than that though. DC has one of the lowest tax burdens in the whole nation. Look at this below for a more thorough comparison:
Nah, like stated earlier, people will go where the jobs are. Most Amazon employees in Seattle likely aren't from Seattle.
So if talent pool doesn't matter, why not just go to Memphis, Bakersfield, or El Paso? Cost of living is cheap. Sure people will move to whatever city wins, but it's important to already have a base there. It's makes cities attractive.
I'm sticking with my Atlanta prediction. Centrally located in the south east(the fastest growing region in the US), tons of space to build, business friendly, low COL, huge labor pool, good public transit, infrastructure, growing tech sector. Makes too much sense.
LOL! Don't build another house, just add on a huge wing to the existing one! Not sure why they would put an RFP out for another location but then just choose Seattle....again.
I doubt they are smart enough to choose Gary, Indiana (the well-run, low tax, part of Chicagoland). Gary leaders making
That would be interesting. They could pretty much take over the entire city and become their own suburb of Chicago. A lot of potential there with all that lakefront real estate!
Clearly! It's always best to go with actual fact based entities like the government.
And guesss what! Here’s what the DC government webiste says its income tax rates are:
4% on the first $10,000 of taxable income
6% on taxable income between $10,001 and $40,000
6.5% on taxable income between $40,001 and $60,000
8.5% on taxable income between $60,001 and $350,000
8.75% on taxable income of $350,001 and above
Looks like you live in the suburbs but if not, perhaps you’ve been underpaying?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
