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In almost every list I see ID is supposed to have a low cost of living- except ID has one of the highest personal income tax rates at over 7%.
Property taxes are lower but not "dirt cheap" and most other items seem comparable to other locations.
Business taxes are also on the high side.
So why is ID considered so "low cost"? What am I missing?
For example PA has very high property taxes (but this also results in cheap homes) but income tax is only 3%. Car registration is also cheap (in AZ it is hundreds if not thousands of dollars).
Let's see perhaps it's due to the daily stuff? I know our sales tax (currently) is only 6%. I pay far less for auto insurance here then I would in any densely populated area. Most other things that you need to live on day by day are far cheaper here than elsewhere;groceries, textiles, building supplies although Katrina placed an impact Nationwide and in general our real estate is currently going cheaper than elsewhere.
Not sure what you car registration and of course it always depends on the vehicle, but ours ins't bad at all.
I lived in so. Idaho for about a yearrecently. All across the southern tier of Idaho, I was shocked at the high prices at every store of every type and for gasoline - and I come from a low-pop area where prices are regionally and state-wide higher than most "high-price" urban areas.
You're correct in the gas prices being higher and when I did some research I found it is due to ID not having their own refineries.
This boggles me. I live in a state - and have lived in another - with many refineries. We are often higher than the nat'l avg. for long periods of time when other states' prices are going down. Now, I kinda know why - in my state, they're often controlled by a panel (sometimes, an owner of stations) that controls a region. It works both ways though - sometimes, the prices are lower for long periods, like now. Back east, things must be done a little different as prices raise and lower throughout one day by pennies and dimes and more! At least, there's a consistency by the system used here. Lately, I've been trying to figure why diesel is so much higher here. Actually, as far as gas and groceries go, I'm still trying to understand why everything tripled several years back and have never gone down - but I'm off-track here. Let me get back to the original answer, i.e., high prices in ID (and my WY) - Ours is said to be because of transportation costs and I must assume ID's problem is similar - even though we're both on interstates. Our entire intermtn region (Cheyenne to Boise) is high for shopping - and I haven't been convinced of a good reason why except for the lower density in population.
In almost every list I see ID is supposed to have a low cost of living- except ID has one of the highest personal income tax rates at over 7%.
Property taxes are lower but not "dirt cheap" and most other items seem comparable to other locations.
Business taxes are also on the high side.
So why is ID considered so "low cost"? What am I missing?
For example PA has very high property taxes (but this also results in cheap homes) but income tax is only 3%. Car registration is also cheap (in AZ it is hundreds if not thousands of dollars).
Why is ID considered so affordable?
You're on to something here, be careful, the local chamber of commerce may bore us with another post on how Idaho is nothing but a bed of roses. I love this place but the average wage to expense ratio is brutal.
On the upside. Electricity is a bargain in Idaho. The vehicle registration tax is low. All else is not a bargain. But, compared to San Fran or other such areas prices are better here for some things.
Also, depends on where a person is at. As I tell my sons, "the economy my go into recession and the local economy my be down,but if you have a decent income it gives you opportunities."
In some of the counties the economy is very sluggish. The local UPS driver making over $55,000 a year+ bennies,may be doing better than most business owners. That is one of the few union jobs in the state BTW.
Utilities are cheap. Electricity is only 7 or 8 cents/kwh. My highest elelctric bill in Idaho was barely over $100, and that was in the middle of the summer when the AC was running constantly. Natural gas is cheap. My highest gas bill was in the $90 range, again in the dead of winter. Total electric + gas bill is always less than $150, usually less than $100. Water bill depends on the city, but my water bills have never been more than $40/mo for a family of 5.
For comparison, my electric bill was never less than $200/mo in Maine, and that was w/o many "elelctricity hogs". The only "big ticket" items I had were the fridge and the clothes drier. No AC, and the stove used LP. My heating oil bill in Maine was $350-$400 per month, every month. (You overpaid in the summer to compensate for underpaying in the winter.)
Car registration in Idaho is cheap. I never paid more than $80 to register any of my new cars in Idaho. In Maine, my 10 year old Camry was $250, and my 2006 Sienna was $650. You'll never see rates like that in Idaho.
I've heard that income tax in Idaho was expensive, but to be honest I haven't noticed a difference between Idaho, Maine, and Georgia. My property tax bill in Idaho was comparable, as well.
In almost every list I see ID is supposed to have a low cost of living- except ID has one of the highest personal income tax rates at over 7%.
Why is ID considered so affordable?
Idaho is considered affordable???? Where did you get this from? I think every list I've ever seen shows Idaho to be somewhere in the middle--that is if you mean "affordable" as in low cost.
The two biggest expenses for people that are regional are housing and state income taxes (federal taxes and car payments are not regional). Food can be considered a big expense depending on your income but generally speaking, because stuff can be shipped anywhere nowadays, it is not a consideration, i.e. it's the same everywhere (except for Alaska and Hawaii for obvious reasons).
So just look at how much houses cost relative to everywhere else and look at the tax rates for income. That's really all you need to look at.
If you want really cheap living, go to Oklahoma or Georgia. Even Texas isn't bad. Seems like it costs almost nothing to live in these places...
For example (getting off the subject here), in Texas, they don't have state income tax but property taxes are fairly high. But you can get a pretty cheap house there. So if you go small, you can keep your mortgage low and your taxes low. And believe me, there are a ton of jobs to be had there...
Sperling's is often cited. Their website has a cost-of-living calculator, with data that were last updated one year ago. It rates Boise at 89.7% and Pocatello (representative of many mid-sized cities in ID) at 83.6% overall, relative to the national average cost of living. Idaho's housing and utility costs are well below the national average. (Forum rules prohibit posting links to "competitive sites", but simply Google Sperlings.)
Affordability is a more complex issue. But in 2005, the median household income in Idaho was up $1818 to $45,009, as compared to the US median up $243 to $46,071. So Idaho is indeed relatively affordable. http://www.chn.org/pdf/2006/2005Medi...atabyState.pdf
Gosh, is car registration the only expense you're all worried about? It seems to be the main topic! Every place has its expensive ups and its welcomed downs. If property taxes are high, home prices are low, etc., etc. I think that Idaho at least offers the biggest bang for the buck. I mean yeah, we can all move to Georgia and other cheap spots, if you like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods!! We folks from the west coast are not used to (and don't want to get used to) natural weather disasters. For me, weather is huge and Boise has enough of a mild, year-round temperature. That's where I'm going to retire.
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You're on to something here, be careful, the local chamber of commerce may bore us with another post on how Idaho is nothing but a bed of roses. I love this place but the average wage to expense ratio is brutal.
Cost of Living ID
