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I grew up in Merrimack and have been here for about a year now since my job was relocated. Cost of living is roughly on par with NH - taxes here are higher, but at least you can see them at work. It's hard to compare this area to NH as it's so very different - as someone else said, it's apples to oranges. The difficulties with the transition were the summer heat, moving away from family, and meeting new friends in the area. Overall I'm happy with my choice and I think it was the right move for my family. Seeing pictures from Memorial day cookouts in NH where everyone is wearing fleece and looks miserably cold just reaffirms my belief that the NH climate is just not for me.
We paid over $8k in income taxes alone in NC last year. And we are certainly not atypical here. Our home is $170k. I'll take the taxes in NH any day. Our tax burden would be FAR LESS in NH than here in NC.
I don't know why people just look at property taxes and don't look at income. If you are living in a 3700 sq ft home now, you must be making in the high 100's low 200's and up. Look at how much income tax you are paying.
If I lived in my parents house I reckon we'd be paying just about half the taxes we pay now, all things considered. Property, sales, and income. House is around 2000 sq ft in an excellent neighborhood.
Love people who assume just because you live in a certain house that you must make a lot of money. I won't go into why that is far from the truth in our case, but just suffice to say that our taxes are no where near what you quoted yours are. Maybe for you NH is the best choice but not for us.
Moved to NC from Windham NH (not too far from anyone that has posted in this thread) almost four years ago and love it. We're definitely finding the cost of living less here (but that's just one reason why I love it here). Property tax in NH is more than we're paying for property tax + income tax + sales tax. Electricity averages out higher than NH (because of a heat pump, and A/C obviously runs more here), but it's still cheaper than the electricity + oil.
I'll go back to visit, but no way do I expect to ever move back.
My wife is from Manchester proper, and I am from South Shore, MA. While it is nice here, not saying anything derogatory, we are moving back to New England. This area is just not for us.
This is certainly an interesting thread to read as my husband and I are moving to the Triangle this summer from Hudson, NH. It's a job transfer for him (same company, different business unit) and I will be looking for a new job in the healthcare field.I'm kind if a wreck about it as the time draws near, but still looking forward to exploring a new area and transitioning into a new phase in our lives. All if my family is in NE, as well as many friends do I'm expecting a slow adjustment. We are hoping to meet new friends from NC, as well as some people we can reminisce with about our old home area. Hoping to find some Pats fans at local sports bars! We are honing in on Apex as a place to live and plan to rent a home the first year. Don't want to make a mistake and end up in a town/ city we dislike!
You'd be living in a state with (for instance) the worst support for higher education in the US, despite also having one of the lowest poverty levels. UNH is a mediocre school at a horrifically high price, and NH adults with college debt have some of the highest debt burdens in the US.
This is a great point, Bull City. With two little ones, I feel lucky they have the opportunity to perhaps attend UNC, NC State, ASU compared to the choice(s) offered in NH (not that UNH is a bad school).
Overall, the taxes average out. They get you one way or the other (property, Ma income tax if you work there). In Merrimack, we supported half the highway system with tolls.
This is a great point, Bull City. With two little ones, I feel lucky they have the opportunity to perhaps attend UNC, NC State, ASU compared to the choice(s) offered in NH (not that UNH is a bad school).
Overall, the taxes average out. They get you one way or the other (property, Ma income tax if you work there). In Merrimack, we supported half the highway system with tolls.
Look at the schools overall in NH vs. NC. To be honest I never did any research into UNH I just had no desire to go there. But primary education in NH blows NC away. NH consistently ranks in the top tier for public education.
This is certainly an interesting thread to read as my husband and I are moving to the Triangle this summer from Hudson, NH. It's a job transfer for him (same company, different business unit) and I will be looking for a new job in the healthcare field.I'm kind if a wreck about it as the time draws near, but still looking forward to exploring a new area and transitioning into a new phase in our lives. All if my family is in NE, as well as many friends do I'm expecting a slow adjustment. We are hoping to meet new friends from NC, as well as some people we can reminisce with about our old home area. Hoping to find some Pats fans at local sports bars! We are honing in on Apex as a place to live and plan to rent a home the first year. Don't want to make a mistake and end up in a town/ city we dislike!
You will like Apex. Don't let that one poster who tried to claim Apex was unsafe in the thread you started defer you. Those posts were either extreme exaggeration or blatant trolling. There are also plenty of Pats fans around
JMM and SW Flower: thanks for the welcome. Hope to meet up with you and watch a football game. We are pretty happy that the Hurricanes play at the arena in Raleigh so we can go see Bruins games on occasion without the huge price tag!
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I won't go into why that is far from the truth in our case, but just suffice to say that our taxes are no where near what you quoted yours are. Maybe for you NH is the best choice but not for us.
