undefined | Better HN

0 pointsjoegahona4y ago0 comments

Taxes are much better and a low cost of living.

0 comments

Only for the richest people: Texas has lower state income tax but the local taxes more than make up the difference and so middle-class people end up paying a higher total tax rate.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-c...

Since the decision about where a large company's headquarters is located is typically made by someone on the ultra-rich end of the spectrum, they're optimizing for things which don't apply to most of their workforce.

Cost-of-living should be lower, but I think that's important to view in more specific comparisons based on exactly where you're going to live — someone coming from San Francisco is going to find almost anywhere in the country to be cheaper but California is a big state there are many places where the comparison is going to be much less stark, and might end up being a wash depending on your job prospects and quality of life factors.

dlp2114y ago

> Taxes are much better

Only for the upper-middle class and rich.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-c...

nyolfen4y ago

texas does not have state income tax, sales taxes are about average and property taxes are higher than average

edbob4y ago

Property tax rates are higher on a percentage basis, but property values can be much lower, so you can still come out ahead on the property taxes.

larsiusprime had a good analysis [0] that gets into some of the details.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28793851

jeffbee4y ago

Right. People don’t get this because tax policy is dominated by right-wing memes but tax load for median families is way higher in Texas. Property tax rates on the median house are higher, while the effective income tax on the median income in California is very little. Median income tax burden in California is ~$350/yr.

bsagdiyev4y ago

That seems way off… when I earned $16/hr way back in my early working days my CA state income tax was a hell of a lot more than $350/yr. $16/hr is under the median CA income afaik.

1 more reply

abduhl4y ago

Does the median family own their house? If not, then property taxes are not a relevant issue and if your argument is “median income tax gains are offset/overshadowed by median property tax losses” then you’re just wrong.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

acdha4y ago

Only for the richest people: Texas has lower state income tax but the local taxes more than make up the difference and so middle-class people end up paying a higher total tax rate.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-c...

dlp2114y ago

> Taxes are much better

Only for the upper-middle class and rich.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-c...

nyolfen4y ago

texas does not have state income tax, sales taxes are about average and property taxes are higher than average

edbob4y ago

Property tax rates are higher on a percentage basis, but property values can be much lower, so you can still come out ahead on the property taxes.

larsiusprime had a good analysis [0] that gets into some of the details.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28793851

jeffbee4y ago

bsagdiyev4y ago

That seems way off… when I earned $16/hr way back in my early working days my CA state income tax was a hell of a lot more than $350/yr. $16/hr is under the median CA income afaik.

1 more reply

abduhl4y ago

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse