Why I Left Texas? (Houston, Dallas: mortgage, salaries, tax)

[TexasHorseLady]

California has an income tax, correct? What percent, generally? Texas doesn't have an income tax. Is that figured in to your calculations, along with cost of living variance?

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

California has an income tax, correct? What percent, generally? Texas doesn't have an income tax. Is that figured in to your calculations, along with cost of living variance?

Better yet, can someone making $16 an hour in California afford to buy a house over someone in Texas making $10. Can somoene making $10 hour have the ability to move UP in the food chain and actually afford to live in a decent area w/ good schools and NOT have to commute over an hour each way? Can the same be done in California?

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Better yet, can someone making $16 an hour in California afford to buy a house over someone in Texas making $10. Can somoene making $10 hour have the ability to move UP in the food chain and actually afford to live in a decent area w/ good schools and NOT have to commute over an hour each way? Can the same be done in California?

yes, in the Inland empire, North of LA county over the pass, No Cal. California is a very large state. Sorry but if you own a home in Texas, your still getting hit by those MASSIVE prop taxes,and low pay. Good luck on 10 bucks an hour paying a 800 dollar mortgage, and fitting 6K in prop taxes into the budget. There are opportunities. Im actually defending the West Coast BTW from an earlier post. Its not all about SO Cal

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

yes, in the Inland empire, North of LA county over the pass, No Cal. California is a very large state. Sorry but if you own a home in Texas, your still getting hit by those MASSIVE prop taxes,and low pay. Good luck on 10 bucks an hour paying a 800 dollar mortgage, and fitting 6K in prop taxes into the budget. There are opportunities. Im actually defending the West Coast BTW from an earlier post. Its not all about SO Cal

The Inland Empire? In any area in which you'd want to live there, houses are extremely expensive and you don't get much for your money. Last year my husband had a six figure job offer in the Inland Empire but once we went house hunting and looked at the public schools, we started rooting for his Houston area job offer to come through and we are so glad it did.

Cost of living isn't a question of opinion...you can calculate the overall affordability of places based on tax burden, median wages, etc. California is 20th in ranking for tax burden; Texas is 43rd.

If you want to look at an overall affordability index that takes into account median income and housing prices (with higher numbers being more affordable), Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown ranks 55.6. Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario ranks 8.4 (Sources: National Association of Home Builders, Wells Fargo Bank).

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

yes, in the Inland empire, North of LA county over the pass, No Cal. California is a very large state. Sorry but if you own a home in Texas, your still getting hit by those MASSIVE prop taxes,and low pay. Good luck on 10 bucks an hour paying a 800 dollar mortgage, and fitting 6K in prop taxes into the budget. There are opportunities. Im actually defending the West Coast BTW from an earlier post. Its not all about SO Cal

WRONG! In the Dallas area one CAN buy a fairly "newish" house in a well kept area for around $128K (I looked up my first house which is only 2 1/2 miles down the road from me now), in a GOOD school district, close to major shopping areas and EMPLOYMENT and the yearly taxes are ONLY $3200. The "mattress retail salesperson" could get a job at one of the area stores w/in a 5 mile radius and save a TON of money on gas and still be within an EASY 30-45 minute drive into Downtown Dallas if they wanted to go there for entertainment. No need to look for a place a good hour or more away from the main city center and ones job. No 2 hour commutes wasting GAS! Which gas is higher in California than it is here (most of the time). He won't be getting taxes taken out of his paycheck going to the state gov't either. He can spend more time with his family as he will be living closer to work and he won't have to worry about the poor quality of schools either. If he gets a raise he won't be losing more to taxes with each raise and his property taxes will only go up if values do or he moves to a more expensive house. Our property tax rate is LESS than 3%. Hmm, I think I'll take that and the sky is the limit on my income.

In California the INCOME TAX RATES ARE HIGH!

California collects income tax from its residents at the following rates.
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For single and married filing separately taxpayers:
-- 1 percent on the first $6,827 of taxable income
-- 2 percent on taxable income between $6,828 and $16,186
-- 4 percent on taxable income between $16, 187 and $25,546
-- 6 percent on taxable income between $25,547 and $35,463
-- 8 percent on taxable income between $35,464 and $44,818
-- 9.3 percent on taxable income of $44,819 and above.

A 1 percent surcharge is collected on taxable incomes of $1 million or more, making California's highest marginal rate 10.3 percent.

For married persons filing joint returns and heads of households, the rates remain the same but the income brackets are doubled.
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So that mattress salesman is paying in almost $2K a year in STATE INCOME TAX in addition to his property tax.

Yes, I know California is a very large state. I've traveled to most of it. It is also why people have to commute for over an hour from those AFFORDABLE places to their jobs on the other side of the hills.

Oh, and I'm not ragging on you or anything.
Every locale provides different opportunities. For those on the more "common mans" wages I'd just give Texas the upper hand. And with the rates of taxation on wages the best state would still be Texas. One could live very modestly and be making a killing in income and socking mega bucks away for kids college funds and retirement and vacations.

[dweej]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

yes, in the Inland empire, North of LA county over the pass, No Cal. California is a very large state. Sorry but if you own a home in Texas, your still getting hit by those MASSIVE prop taxes,and low pay. Good luck on 10 bucks an hour paying a 800 dollar mortgage, and fitting 6K in prop taxes into the budget. There are opportunities. Im actually defending the West Coast BTW from an earlier post. Its not all about SO Cal

I live in the Inland Empire right now and though I do enjoy certain aspects, and yes, housing is become more affordable, but the avg. $/sq ft is still $144 in Temecula. I wouldn't mind paying that, honestly, if my husband didn't have a 90 mile round trip commute to work, if we had a decent four year university close by, if the airport wasn't over an hour away, if the "big city" was a little easier to get to, and if we got more than 12 inches of rain a year, and if our weather was more like the coastal climate. But that's what you get when you live in the IE. And yes, there's an ocean fairly close, but with the time hubby spends commuting during the week, the last thing he wants to do is fight traffic to get to the beach on Saturday to hang out with crowds of folks who did the same thing. We didn't go to the beach once this year. Not once! So after a while, you wonder what you're paying for. Why live in SoCal if your life is basically just like living in Texas, minus the perks? I don't hate California, but it's just not possible to have the quality of life that we want, the kind of life that aligns with our priorities, and also provide our children the cultural and educational opportunities that living close to "the city" provides.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by dweej

90 mile round trip commute to work,

if we had a decent four year university close by,

if the airport wasn't over an hour away,

if the "big city" was a little easier to get to,

if we got more than 12 inches of rain a year, and if our weather was more like the coastal climate.

with the time hubby spends commuting during the week, the last thing he wants to do is fight traffic to get to the beach on Saturday to hang out with crowds of folks who did the same thing. We didn't go to the beach once this year. Not once!

Why live in SoCal if your life is basically just like living in Texas, minus the perks? I don't hate California, but it's just not possible to have the quality of life that we want, the kind of life that aligns with our priorities, and also provide our children the cultural and educational opportunities that living close to "the city" provides.

OUCH!!! See, that I could NOT DO!!! I would not even be married to my hubby if he had to drive that much. NO WAY!!! He has a 7 mile commute, lol.

Another plus here in the Dallas area. We have MANY 4 year universities w/in an hours drive. I for one lived at home my first year and commuted. Since I was paying for it myself it really helped out. It also gives high school kids a chance to visit a college campus for all of the different programs they put on.

While the LA area does have more airports than the DFW metroplex you are right. They are far away from your home. I can be at either of ours in less than an hour. Now if that stupid Wright Amendment would hurry up and go away

As a season ticket holder for the Dallas Stars that lives out in the suburbs this I can relate to. We can be parked at the AAC in less than an hour. This past Friday w/ Texas/OU in town and the Fair going on and all of the pre party hoopla going on down at right outside the AAC we still got there in no time. We knew the highways were already backed up (weekend traffic, Friday rush hour traffic, TX/OU traffic, etc) so we took the side streets. We left our house at 5:45 and pulled into the parking lot at the AAC at 6:25. If it took me more than an hour every game I would NOT have season tickets at all.
Plus, the kids get to go on great field trips to all of the attractions and cultural events. My oldest has played in the orchestra and band at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Now THAT is cool.

I LOVE the coast. The beach is my "second home" and where I plan to retire for at least 1/2 the year. But it won't be in the states. We have a place in Cabo that I can't wait to be at a LOT MORE! Oh, and it is raining today here in the Dallas area. eh. I appreciate the rain for the benefits it does give. We have great lakes (with a lake house an hour away we do LIKE THAT it does have water in it ) and it does make things green naturally.

I've heard this MANY times from a lot of people that live in California. Even people that live a lot closer to the beach. They just don't go. It can be the traffic and/or the crowds that they don't care for but they just don't go. Or they are too busy working to make a living to afford to live there they don't have enough free time to enjoy it. That would SUCK! I do know of one person that is from the Dallas area that is living right on the beach in a GREAT PLACE and a GREAT AREA (read $$$$$) but he is able to live there rent free (something he "fell into" and got VERY LUCKY). Most people can't do that.

Yep. And this is what gets me when I read people on the Texas boards inquiring about moving here and saying things like, "we already commute 1 1/2-2 hours to work so living that far away is not a big deal". WHY?????? If you do NOT have to live that far away from your job as there are GREAT homes, areas and schools MUCH closer....... WHY NOT!!! You can spend more time with your kids and family. You can be close enough to take off at lunch time and go have lunch w/ your kids at school. You can make it home in time to be involved in their after school activities. Not to mention saving mega bucks in gas money and wear and tear on your cars. I just don't get that. Oh, and another thing. Many Texans might stay in their first home (aka "starter home") even though they have made it way up the ladder and bringing home more money. Instead of moving to a bigger, newer and more expensive house they spend the money on vacations, second homes in the country or on a lake, etc. and more toys (those grown-up toys).

Sure living in California would be great if one could afford to live COMFORTABLY right on the beach. Of course a beach that is not polluted OR crowded. And still have enough money left over to save for kids college, retirement and travel the world.

[dweej]

I'm with you on all of it! I especially love the idea of hubby being able to participate in evening activities. You know, he gets home pretty early (6 pm) actually, but the bigger problem is that he leaves so dang early- 6 am. 12 hours!!! I feel so bad for him...

We're working on coming home, but the job, of course, has to come first. Hopefully something will pan out soon!

[Foreverking]

Ok, I know when Im licked, I guess I will let you guys love your state. I thought the site was called "why I left texas, not why I should move to Texas. There are those of us who left texas for more reasons than just money reasons. Paying a little more tends to get you a little more, if your into the west coast life stle. Personally, as stated, Im a Washington state fan. I tried Texas, it just seemed like such a foreign counrty to me, that I felt I had to find my way home.

[green_mariner]

I left TX because I was 4 years old and lef twith my family.