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Cost of living comparisons need to also recognize wages / salaries to be useful.
Even the averages are only mildly useful. In the end it is your specific income vs specific expenditures.
Agree. NJ, MD, and MA has some of the highest MHI in the whole country, and it's no surprise that they're among the "most expensive state". And WA, CO, CA, NY, and CT aren't that far behind.
Meanwhile, the like of OK, AR, and MS (and even AL and NM) has some of the lowest MHI in the whole country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
This stuff is simple clickbait. Costs vary wildly depending on where you live in the state. I live in a paid-for house in coastal southeastern Massachusetts. My town has lots of oceanfront vacation homes and a big Mall / big box store commercial area that subsidize my property taxes. I'm 60 miles from Boston beyond rational commuting distance so it's not absurd metro Boston housing prices. My home ownership costs are very low. Massachusetts has Proposition 2 1/2 property tax law so I know my property taxes, on average, will only go up 2 1/2% per year. I'm retired and Massachusetts doesn't tax Social Security.
Same here in Maryland - eastern shores overall are not THAT expensive, but that's b/c the commute DC or Baltimore is a pain. Part of western MD is also cheap - but again, that's b/c there's not really any jobs out in that part of the state (and MSA like Cumberland has some of the lowest MHI in the whole country).
With inflation and current housing market affecting all of us, I am hearing more and more about Americans looking into more affordable states to live, work, and play. I saw this article (see the link below).
Top 10 most expensive U.S. states based on monthly expenses:
Hawaii - #1 Most Expensive State
California
New Jersey
Massachusetts
Maryland
Connecticut
New York
Washington
Colorado
Alaska
Top 10 least expensive states based on monthly expenses:
Alabama
Missouri
New Mexico
South Dakota
Indiana
Kentucky
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Mississippi
West Virginia - #1 Least Expensive State
Would you live in any of these least expensive states? Please feel free to make comments about them including pros and cons.
Having performed exhaustive research on my own in this topic, I can say with certainty state rankings are too broad and nearly useless.
Supposed most expensive states cancel out many areas like western Maryland and southern Maryland, 2/3 of Connecticut, 3/4 of New York, the eastern half of Washington and about a third or more of Colorado.
States as a whole is a bit broad. Even metros are too broad when talking about bang for your buck.
That said, out of curiosity, I compared weekly wage to cost of living, and the ranking of the twenty mentioned states are:
1) Washington ($1417.03 adjusted weekly wage)
2) Connecticut ($1408.49)
3) Colorado ($1395.26)
4) New York ($1387.69)
5) New Jersey ($1344.43)
6) Missouri ($1325.79)
7) Alabama ($1304.05)
8) California ($1248.33)
9) Oklahoma ($1247.67)
10) Indiana ($1236.07)
11) Maryland ($1223.43)
12) Massachusetts ($1206.20)
13) New Mexico ($1183.65)
14) West Virginia ($1181.62)
15) Arkansas ($1179.40)
16) Kentucky ($1171.64)
17) South Dakota ($1168.44)
18) Mississippi ($1110.20)
19) Alaska ($1044.21)
20) Hawaii ($685.47)
It kinda matches my thoughts, though. If you're jumping to a cheaper state to get a bit of a boost (say if you're on a struggling rung even in WA, CT, CO, NY or NJ), then Missouri and Alabama would be the main two of the cheapest states worth looking at, with Oklahoma and Indiana as maybes if you're really familiar with them. The rest, for the most part, won't help that much (outside particular spots in each). Also the CoL effect is most brutal on the non-contiguous states.
I’ve actually lived in two of the least expensive states and now live in one of the most expensive. I did four years in small town New Mexico and a summer in Louisville. I now am in the Puget Sound area of Washington.
Louisville was a very nice small city with a lot going for it. The food was outstanding, the culture was pretty distinct, some nice gay bars, and there was plenty to explore in my 10 weeks there. The rest of the state I’m certain is a much different story (particularly eastern KY); eastern KY is just like WV, beautiful country but also very impoverished. I think at least if you live in Louisville you can be fairly insulated from the more negative aspects of the rural parts of the state.
New Mexico was okay. The small town I was in sucked, but the college campus was pretty decent. New Mexico is sprinkled with little interesting nice towns but also lots of poverty, even in its biggest city. If I had to live in NM again, I would pick Santa Fe.
Washington is my favorite state that I’ve lived in, though the amazing PNW landscapes is a big part of it and surely a reason why the baseline costs are so high. The northwest quadrant of the state tends to be more expensive than the rest of the state. Another huge factor is the local wages. Seattle is very strong economically and as far as I know, WA has one of the highest minimum wages across the board.
I’ve actually lived in two of the least expensive states and now live in one of the most expensive. I did four years in small town New Mexico and a summer in Louisville. I now am in the Puget Sound area of Washington.
Louisville was a very nice small city with a lot going for it. The food was outstanding, the culture was pretty distinct, some nice gay bars, and there was plenty to explore in my 10 weeks there. The rest of the state I’m certain is a much different story (particularly eastern KY); eastern KY is just like WV, beautiful country but also very impoverished. I think at least if you live in Louisville you can be fairly insulated from the more negative aspects of the rural parts of the state.
New Mexico was okay. The small town I was in sucked, but the college campus was pretty decent. New Mexico is sprinkled with little interesting nice towns but also lots of poverty, even in its biggest city. If I had to live in NM again, I would pick Santa Fe.
Washington is my favorite state that I’ve lived in, though the amazing PNW landscapes is a big part of it and surely a reason why the baseline costs are so high. The northwest quadrant of the state tends to be more expensive than the rest of the state. Another huge factor is the local wages. Seattle is very strong economically and as far as I know, WA has one of the highest minimum wages across the board.
Most of the high tech companies in Seattle region are actually in the east side suburbs. The fact that Washington State doesn't have a state income tax is huge, especially for employees that have high paying jobs working for an employer.
I have read all responses and your thoughts are very interesting. I know that the yearly ranking is never reliable and accurate.
I think the ranking is always subjective because it takes into consideration of overall state average instead of the major metro area in each state like Seattle is very expensive while Spokane is more affordable in Washington State, for an example.
You know the saying "The grass is always greener on the other side of fence." is not necessarily true. No matter where you live, the wages will always be either average or lower unless you are in a high-earning field (doctor, lawyer, etc.) or a booming field like IT.
Some states may be unbelievably cheap but wages tend to be much lower with stagnant to bad economy. The only way people usually benefits from moving to one of the cheapest states is if they sell their home in New York or California then move having extra cash to buy a house outright and still have a plenty of money left to live. Unfortunately, most millennials do not have that opportunity compared to baby boomers unless they were born into wealthy families.
Out of cheapest states, I wouldn't mind living in New Mexico if it is Santa Fe. I am also open to Missouri since it is my home state so I am biased. In Missouri, suburbs of Kansas City and St. Louis along with the college town of Columbia are actually nice.
Despite the ugly topography, I was actually impressed with Indiana, especially suburbs in Indy, such as Carmel, Fishers, and Noblesville.
I have nothing against West Virginia, Oklahoma, and states in the Deep South (AL, AR, and MS) but I don't think I could ever live there as someone who is LGBTQIA+ with a husband. I don't think Kentucky would be that much better even with Louisville.
I have nothing against West Virginia, Oklahoma, and states in the Deep South (AL, AR, and MS) but I don't think I could ever live there as someone who is LGBTQIA+ with a husband. I don't think Kentucky would be that much better even with Louisville.
You should probably check your notions and actually look at the cities in those states before you blanket state that. States as a whole can pass the whatever laws they want, but it only matters if they're enforced. Whether its blue state laws in the red rural areas or red state laws in the blue urban centers, a lot of the more cultural level stuff isn't really enforced. These aren't laws of nature, they're laws people made. They're at best recommendations. Places as small as Dothan, AL or Mountain Home, AR have pride parades, much less Birmingham, Mobile, Little Rock, Fayetteville, Jackson, Gulfport, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa or even Auburn.
I would live in Maryland, and id buy a cabin in West Virginia but I couldn’t live there full time. If I ever have enough money, I’ve always wanted my own little mountain escape. Being in a Georgia it’d make more sense to have it down here but West Virginia also has great cabin options.
I have in the past heavily considered moving to Washington or Colorado. Now living here in Georgia I know I would’ve been too cold in those states long term. Politically though I like them very much still.
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