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My husband and I are looking to moving to either North or South Carolina within the next few years with our 2 young teen girls.
I live in a small town North of Pittsburgh,,tired of the weather. But I dont want to move too far south.
Jobs: My husband is disabled,,and I will be graduating nursing school in a few months and will be a LPN after I take boards. I know nurses are in demand in alot of areas,,is that the same for South Carolina?
I have looked on internet,,there are jobs listed, I would def get a job before I move.
Taxes: Ok for example, I live in a modular ranch style home. Its about 1000 square feet and on a lot of .27 acres. Between county and school taxes I pay around $2,000.00 a year. I aslo pay 1% income tax on wages and taxes on on everything but food is 6%, no taxes on food. I have tried to look it up online but it's hard to deceifer.
I am not expecting the Perfect place and I know every city and state has its pro and cons. I have lived in PA all my life and am a bit nervous..just want to get as much research done as I can. Then find some areas that really interest us and go take trips to check things out.
Your taxes in SC would be lower, but then that is why we have such poor schools and expensive state colleges, as well as poor roads and transportation.
Cost of living is higher in NC, but you might want to consider the Asheville NC area. Cooler, but not a lot of snow or ice generally speaking. More progressive attitudes and more receptive of people from outside the area than many cities in SC
Would avoid any town in SC with population of less than 10,000 unless it butts right up against a large city.
Taxes in SC are generally lower but if you are only paying 1% income tax to PA you will pay up to 7% in SC on that money. Sales tax is 6% and some locales tack on an extra amount to that. Property tax on that home should be lower in most areas except maybe nearer to the coast. And don't forget to figure property tax on your car(s), boat(s), motorhomes, etc.
Depends on where you come from and for you it doesn't sound like it's going to be too much different except that it goes to different places. You may save in other areas of your life like car insurance, electricity, winter heat. Those that save the most are paying double or triple+ property tax over what you pay now.
My husband and I are looking to moving to either North or South Carolina within the next few years with our 2 young teen girls.
I live in a small town North of Pittsburgh,,tired of the weather. But I dont want to move too far south.
Jobs: My husband is disabled,,and I will be graduating nursing school in a few months and will be a LPN after I take boards. I know nurses are in demand in alot of areas,,is that the same for South Carolina?
I have looked on internet,,there are jobs listed, I would def get a job before I move.
Taxes: Ok for example, I live in a modular ranch style home. Its about 1000 square feet and on a lot of .27 acres. Between county and school taxes I pay around $2,000.00 a year. I aslo pay 1% income tax on wages and taxes on on everything but food is 6%, no taxes on food. I have tried to look it up online but it's hard to deceifer.
I am not expecting the Perfect place and I know every city and state has its pro and cons. I have lived in PA all my life and am a bit nervous..just want to get as much research done as I can. Then find some areas that really interest us and go take trips to check things out.
Thanks a bunch!!
Things in SC that are cheaper than other states:
Homes ~ as long as your salary does not suffer with the move you will be able to afford more house in SC then you would get in Pittsburgh for the same amount of money.
Car Insurance & Homeowners Insurance
Gas
Property taxes
Things that cost just as much in SC as it does in other states:
Food ~ you will find grocery store prices there to be the same as other states.
Clothing ~ same as other states.
Utility Bills ~ Electricity and gas bills cost just as much in SC as they do in other states. Many of the areas only have one service provider for the gas and the electric.......which of course allows them to have a monopoly and charge what they want.
Vehicle purchase ~ dealerships in SC tend to charge around the same thing as other states.
Whatever you do just do not make the mistake that I made when I relocated to SC a few years ago......don't rush into a home purchase (big commitment), rent for a few years and see how things work out first. This way if life throws any surprises your way (lay off, don't like the south etc.) then all you have to do is pack up and move back home. Many of us move from northern states that have home prices 5x's more expensive then SC.....we get excited at how much home we can get for our money and we jump right in before we know for sure how things are going to work out with the move.
Thanks for all the advice!! I was planning on buying..but I think that is a great idea to rent first. I am going to set some money aside for emergency as you will never know what might happen. I am a
"what if" type of person. Thanks soooooo much!
Relocated to SC years ago and have raised three daughters. Low cost of living, but after being used to PA services, you will notice a real difference.
SC's schools have a much worse reputation than many of them deserve. If you can afford to live in a relatively affluent, white area, you will get a great bargain on an excellent education. We have some really good state colleges here and our education lottery money mostly goes to fund college scholarships for top (read white, affluent) students.
SC's economy is bad, and has been bad for a long time. We are encouraging our girls to leave as they finish school - and we will be leaving ourselves.
The biggest challenge for us has been cultural. If you are white, politically and socially very conservative, and a church-going Christian, you will be very comfortable here. if you are different on any of those dimensions, you will feel it.
SC's political system is terrible - not only absolutely dominated by one party (Republican, which may be fine with you), but also corrupt and run by the good ol' boy system (even though looks like we'll be electing a female Tea Partier as governor this year.)
All in all, IMO NC is just less Deep South and Bible Belt than SC, so the culture is more mainstream. Still warm, still leans right, still less expensive and less congested than where you are, but doing much better on almost all counts.
SC's schools have a much worse reputation than many of them deserve. If you can afford to live in a relatively affluent, white area, you will get a great bargain on an excellent education.
South Carolina to a TEE!
But it won't be an 'excellent' education, even then.
And that the overt racism does not bother people is just scary.
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I'd choose NC
