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IRL - Considerations for a new State to live in? (1 Viewer)

Doc James

Doc James

Level 2
Joined
Oct 24, 2020
RedCents
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I am starting a plan to move my company (and family) corporate office to another state. California is getting too ridiculous as far as business costs and taxation along with cost of living. Anyone have any suggestions on what state to move to? I have lived in California my whole life.

Tell me if you have any good ideas for me? This won't happen for around 2 years as there is a lot of planning to do for the move. But, need to start mapping things out now.

Thank you everyone for any input you can provide! 🙏

EDIT: My comment about tell me some good ideas doesn't seem to be working well as everyone has a different idea and ultimately want me to define exactly what I am looking for. So let me edit by saying "Tell me where you live and why you like it". This vantage point may work better for what I am trying to achieve with this post.
 
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Doc James said:
I am starting a plan to move my company (and family) corporate office to another state. California is getting too ridiculous as far as business taxation and cost of living. Anyone have any suggestions on what state to move to? I have lived in California my whole life. I know I won't move anywhere that has weather similar to California as I believe that is one of the main reasons people move here in the first place.

Tell me if you have any good ideas for me? This won't happen for around 2 years as there is a lot of planning to do for the move. But, need to start mapping things out now.

Thank you everyone for any input you can provide! 🙏
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Today's world, cost, service availability for all the things, ideology (with regards to policies), general safety, state taxes, housing prices (interest rate) and a host of other factors fall into play.

I am the type of person that doesn't mind being in a remote area, "away from it all".. but city slickers gotta city, so going to Tupelo may not be for you.

If the news reports such and such city is the murder/crime capital of America, surely, I will not go there. I would probably go check the bureau of justice stats first tho.

The housing market is ungood for most markets, I bought something a decade ago and for the price I paid you can barely get a 1/3rd of what I have now.
 
If you liked the access to the Ocean in California, go Michigan. You get the big water of the Great Lakes and it doesn't smell terrible like the ocean does. It's got all the different seasons. You have some major metropolitan areas or the quiet backwoods places as well.
Good mixture of everything
 
Just a note, both Wyoming and South Dakota have no state income taxes! I'm from Minnesota and I don't recommend here as taxes are rising every year for business...though I've lived here most of my life and I absolutely LOVE the people / friendly attitude and seasons. It depends on what you are looking for community wise though...The Midwest is a great place to raise a family, but parts of it can be quite isolating.
 
These are problems effecting pretty much every state. I'm in the Houston area, and we used to be pretty well known as very low cost of living for a large city, but that has all but gone out the window. Rents have basically doubled in the past 10 years. And don't let the no state tax thing fool you, you just pay for that in other ways.

Are you looking for a house with land, or are you all about apartments/condos? How important is weather for you? If your looking for something similar to California that's going to be hard to beat.

Obvious politics is going to play a huge role as well. If you lean very heavily one way or the other then that may rule out a lot of states. For example, 2nd amendment rights, reproductive rights, lgqt rights can vary wildly state to state.
 
if this devolves into politics, religion, or anything that isn't for RG, it is going to fippys.
if someone says something ignorant and/or imflamatory, it will be locked.
 
My wife and I recently went through this exercise. Here's how we did it because there are lots of options for more business-friendly places to operate and family-friendly places to live (how you define both of those terms is entirely subjective IMO).

We started by considering environmental pieces first. Do we want beaches, mountains, desert, plains? Do we NOT want beaches, mountains, desert plains? Do we want 4 seasons, do we want to plow snow, do we want to have to invest in Coppertone stock because my wife's a redhead and the sun hates her?

We decided we would never go back to CA, she doesn't like the South (she was raised there), neither of us wants the culture or weather of the Northeast, and we both firmly vetoed the Midwest (too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, too flat year-round). After a few more eliminations, we got to a handful of states from the Rockies west. From there, we drew down on political and cultural concerns and were left with a smaller pool to choose from. With that limited selection sample, we started to dig into the specifics of each of those states, including specific metro areas we might like to be close to (or far from), before we made our decision.

As a decision chain, it looked like this: natural environment (topography, geography, weather) --> political and cultural concerns --> specific location analysis.

Hope this helps.
 
Thank you to all who contributed to this thread so far.

To clarify a little. Cost of living and cost of doing business are the top things we are looking to improve. Followed by a more "free" state. Our governor likes to lock us down here with laws and taxation, so moving to a red state may be more our speed. It's time for a change there. Weather, I do not care much. But I prefer an area that isn't hit by hurricanes every year. Or for that fact, I need to listen for sirens signaling a tornado. Don't want to be IN the big city, but also don't want to travel an hour to get to one either. (I have medical concerns where I should have access to a major hospital should I need one)
 
Doc James said:
Thank you to all who contributed to this thread so far.

To clarify a little. Cost of living and cost of doing business are the top things we are looking to improve. Followed by a more "free" state. Our governor likes to lock us down here with laws and taxation, so moving to a red state may be more our speed. It's time for a change there. Weather, I do not care much. But I prefer an area that isn't hit by hurricanes every year. Or for that fact, I need to listen for sirens signaling a tornado. Don't want to be IN the big city, but also don't want to travel an hour to get to one either. (I have medical concerns where I should have access to a major hospital should I need one)
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Look at the metro areas of MT, UT, ID, and maybe even WY if Laramie's big enough to support the infrastructure you need. If you want to look further East, you probably have to cross the Mississippi. There are bound to be some good spots in the South as well, particularly in the Appalachian areas (TN, KY, the western parts of the Carolinas), WV, etc. that are pretty stable and reliable weather-wise and also fit your indicated preferences.
 
Based on where your coming from id probably go to Texas, Tennessee or northern Florida because of the tax benefits, decent weather and growing economy.
 
All states have ups and downs, CA is a beautiful nature state, and it is hard pressed to find that type of variety conveniently close anywhere else. How ever, after having moved around and such, the people here bring up a good point, what are you looking for? just low cost/ease of doing business deeps south and central plains are both super cheap.. however, south has hot as crap summers, some parts of it have HIGH HIGH cost of living, and if you want to be "close" to culture, you lose low cost of living. Lower midwest, sorta the same, not really ever a high cost of living, but if your in OK, KS, NE, SD.... its can be far to ANYTHING (beaches, forest, desert, city life).

Short answer is find out what is no kidding important, then narrow down from there.

Also, its common in low cost of living rural areas to not have fast/consistent internet (hell, cell, power, open roads), little things can become huge things..


My home town put that out a few years ago (cant find updated version), low cost of living, quiet.. hard for online business, impossible for physical business.. might not pick up on it when your initially discussing, or looking.
 
Texas is closed! Too much of Cali relocated here already. Caused a lot of issues because the infrastructure can't handle the speed of growth that is occurring. I'm talking about extreme traffic backups (What used to take 20-30min commute is now over 2 hours). Water pressure issues and restrictions because too many homes/apartments/hotels without adding more water towers. At the current rate, they're forecasting 6-8 years to get things stabilized with road expansions, etc.
 
durango773 said:
All states have ups and downs, CA is a beautiful nature state, and it is hard pressed to find that type of variety conveniently close anywhere else. How ever, after having moved around and such, the people here bring up a good point, what are you looking for? just low cost/ease of doing business deeps south and central plains are both super cheap.. however, south has hot as crap summers, some parts of it have HIGH HIGH cost of living, and if you want to be "close" to culture, you lose low cost of living. Lower midwest, sorta the same, not really ever a high cost of living, but if your in OK, KS, NE, SD.... its can be far to ANYTHING (beaches, forest, desert, city life).

Short answer is find out what is no kidding important, then narrow down from there.

Also, its common in low cost of living rural areas to not have fast/consistent internet (hell, cell, power, open roads), little things can become huge things..


My home town put that out a few years ago (cant find updated version), low cost of living, quiet.. hard for online business, impossible for physical business.. might not pick up on it when your initially discussing, or looking.
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You mean to tell me that Curlew, WA isn't known for its highly-developed physical and technical infrastructure!? >.<
 
Having recently retired, I'm going through the same exercise. Since we're not in a hurry, we've decided to spend some time in each potential location and get the local vibe down. Try before you buy!
 
Missouri seems to have a decent cost of living..I’d stay away from St. Louis though as it’s usually voted somewhere in the top 5 every year for most dangerous cities to live in.
 
I live in Henderson (It's like 10 minutes away from Las Vegas) and love it here. NV has no state tax at all (thank you casinos and mining). Plus it's nice having access to a lot of things 24/7. Summers are hot as hell, but I stay inside where the AC is so it's not much of an issue. I've heard that our state is much less restrictive when it comes to businesses as well. Henderson is one of the safest cities in the country and has some of the best parks and recreation departments as well.
 
I live in rural Louisiana. North of New Orleans and East of Baton Rouge. Cost of living is so cheap. The summer sucks and weird culture, but good living and cheap land. I am from California.
 
Watching this thread closely as well since I was born and raised in CA and also looking to relocate as Doc mentioned in the next 24 months ish.

Tough call I think until you visit a few places and see what yo like and don't like.
 
This would depend on whether you're still working, because I'd chase the best economic opportunity, which might just follow annual "fastest growing city" patterns or some sort of analytics for your career or profession. For simply nice places that aren't the biggest of the big cities:

Reno (specifically the NE end of town around Spanish Springs) is a surprisingly nice little city, aside from the downtown area (full of Casinos). It's REALLY grown the last few years with an inrush of recovering Californians, which has, predictably, driven COL up like crazy, though not California crazy. The desert is beautiful, though, and it's a relatively short drive up to the Sierra Nevadas and Lake Tahoe. There's some unique fishing out at Pyramid Lake, too.

Near Couer d'Alene, ID is gorgeous and close to Spokane. There are some great fishing rivers out there in ID.

Coastal South Carolina (near Charleston) or Georgia (near Savannah) are really nice places as well; I'd give the nod to the people of GA for having more of that southern charm. Worth it just for the seafood!

All the places I listed will have you jonesing to get outside.

I'm with you on avoiding Tornado alley.

In my phase of life, I'd love to move to FL to enjoy the Everglades with my kids.
 
After 50 years of living in Chicago area, the costs associated with living there were ridiculous and quite honestly the snow and cold were getting to us. We have moved to the Myrtle Beach area, and LOVE it. People are polite and manners is second nature here. The cost of going out to eat can be expensive, but the offset from taxes is well worth some minor expenses. Plus, the beach, warmer weather, no snow, and if you like to golf, a TON of courses.
 
Bugs....its all about the bugs. If you go to Florida and wet states all have mosquitos the size of 747's and other oversized critters - think gater eating your puppies.

But the dry states - were talking climate here not liquor) have more deadly ones like scorpions, rattlesnakes etc.

So go somewhere in the middle. Like Iowa, how's Iowa? Good potato's.
 
Trixster28 said:
After 50 years of living in Chicago area, the costs associated with living there were ridiculous and quite honestly the snow and cold were getting to us. We have moved to the Myrtle Beach area, and LOVE it. People are polite and manners is second nature here. The cost of going out to eat can be expensive, but the offset from taxes is well worth some minor expenses. Plus, the beach, warmer weather, no snow, and if you like to golf, a TON of courses.
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If I lived in the Carolinas, I'd go broke eating SC-farmed oysters.
 
I'm not sure where the best pace for you to go is but I'm certain it isn't New York. Taxes are ridiculous here and we're only a small bit behind on most of the liberal ridiculousness .... although i think we have fewer genders and pronouns in NY.
 
I think most places have some form of bad weather.

I'm in OH along one of the tornado belt areas and while they happen they are usually fairly limited in scope.

Hurricanes along the south and east coast seem to do a lot more damage.

I've heard from a couple folks in FL that the insurance companies are dropping housing policies because they can't raise the rates high enough to offset the massive property loss.

My dad retired to a place in southern KY near TN boarder and loved it. Was a small place about an hour away from bowling green. Cost of living was good, people were nice, etc. He still got bad weather in the form of ice and snow so maybe go a bit further south into TN or AR
 
I moved from Stockton California to a small town of 2,400 people in southern Oregon and I'm quite happy with my decision for my family. Crime is basically nonexistent, the schools are much safer, less drama and no sales taxes. Plus the geography is absolutely stunning. There are tons of activities to do year round if you're the outdoorsy type. I'm still close enough to visit my extended family. Just stay away from Portland at all cost.
 
These are the things I value:
1.) Safety - I want my kids and my family to be generally safe. I don't want to live in or near areas with high crime rates that could overflow into my area. This is especially true of violent crime.
2.) Education - I want my kids to be ahead of the nation curve when it comes to education.
3.) Culture - I want my kids exposed to many different cultures. I want them to believe in stewardship, community, and responsibility.
4.) Climate - I am the ultimate Goldilocks -- being too hot or too cold is for other people.

I've lived in different states and different countries and while I think about the cost of living here and for sure that I could have a higher quality of life when it comes to housing and opportunity if I moved somewhere else, the value that I'm getting right now is incomparable.

But the reason we have states is because what works for me doesn't work for you. My definition of freedom and the line it is drawn upon is also going to be different from your definition of freedom, for example.

From what I've seen -- it sounds like you want North Carolina or Tennessee though.
 
Australia....for the exact reasons Knightly just mentioned
1.) Safety - Our gun laws are different so we haven't had mass shootings since 1996
2.) Education - top notch without the exorbitant costs of USA school system.
3.) Culture - we are multi-cultural. You name it we got it. Only causing an issue atm because we have both Israel and Palestinian communities.
4.) Climate - Extreme Hot to Moderate cold or just brilliant.....Australia is a big place - so take your pick.

And for these reasons:
5. Currency Conversion - Our Dollar sucks in comparison to USD - So you will gain about 30% right off the bat.
6. Aussie Rules Football - much more exciting game
7. Cricket in Summer
8. We have weird animals..Most are cute.

Against:
9. 10 of the top 15 venemous snakes live in Australia
10. and venemous Spiders...google Funnel Web Spider omg
11. Drop Bears!!!
12. Primitive internet speed in comparison to what you lot have.
 
haha well yes - we can definitely add Vegemite to the list...just dont eat it like peanut butter.

We are enormously proud of our Snakes and Spiders. For the most part - they will avoid human contact.
With modern medicine - we only get 1-2 deaths every year from snakebite (usually older people) and there have been no deaths from spiders in Australia the last ten years.

You are actually more likely to die from a Kangaroo than a poisonous snake.

Reminds me of a Funny EQ Story.....One of my EQ Friends came to visit Australia IRL. Sam, was American/Korean heritage and one of the founding members of Talisman. Great Guy.
He wanted to go see some wild life...in the wild - so I took him out to a forest range only 15 mins from home and soon enough we found a mob of Kangaroo's (about 40 of them grazing happily)

To my amazement Sam gets out of the Car and starts chasing them! Dont know what he was thinking!!!!
The way a Kangaroo kills you is when you corner it, it grabs you with its front paws, stands on its tail, and rips you open with its 2 foot long back legs.

Fortunately for Sam - the kangaroo's were not feeling threatened and simply hopped away.
1700094309363.png1700094473055.png
 
If you have money why settle for one? We call them snowbirds for a reason! The upper Midwest can be beautiful in the summer while you can't beat those Florida beaches in the winter months. My parents shuttled between Michigan and Florida for years and loved it. They made their money in MI and spent it in FL.
 
Doc James said:
To clarify a little. Cost of living and cost of doing business are the top things we are looking to improve. Followed by a more "free" state. Our governor likes to lock us down here with laws and taxation, so moving to a red state may be more our speed. It's time for a change there. Weather, I do not care much. But I prefer an area that isn't hit by hurricanes every year. Or for that fact, I need to listen for sirens signaling a tornado. Don't want to be IN the big city, but also don't want to travel an hour to get to one either. (I have medical concerns where I should have access to a major hospital should I need one)
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I think you may like Austin or San Antonio, Texas, similar vibe to California outside the coastal areas. If you are from the coastal areas of California, I would probably take a close look at the Atlantic coast between Miami and Jupiter. Yes, hurricanes, but life will be very similar to California. If you really are thinking mostly about a business, consider Puerto Rico for the business incentives and 4% taxes even though you are still in the U.S. If I was considering outside the U.S. with a business it would be Portugal or Spain, temperate, good business incentives, low cost of living but still within, and selling to, the E.U.
 
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