Originally Posted by
Grumble
Eastern Bucks county PA is only about 55min to the employee lot. But don't kid yourself, PA is only slightly cheaper than NJ. The state tax on the surface is cheaper, but each county and community within each county all levy their own additional income taxes. I've done the math on it living there and it worked out after all was said and done I took home between 30-37% of my pay after all taxes/cost of living for a given year.
If you're going to get F'd like that, at least go somewhere nice like LAX or SFO. The cost of living is just the ultimate kick in the junk on top of the misery of living in NJ. Which is a shame too because the EWR base/people/flying are fantastic.
You're correct that, in Pennsylvania, each county has varying rates of taxation (income, property tax, etc). You have to factor county taxation in to the price of the home. That said, housing costs are about 1/2 here in PA as compared to California, and state income tax is about 1/3. I left California last year for PA and saw my net taxation go down by $1000 a month and purchased a house for about half what a similar house in California would have cost. The cost of gasoline is cheaper by about $1.00 per gallon as well. The real shocker is the cost of electricity .. it's about 1/3 the rate here in PA as compared to California. All total, I've had a net increase of about $2500/month in spendable income since making the move from the Left Coast. I spent 40 of my 50 years living in California and I will NEVER move back there.
To each his own I guess .. California needs wage earners to keep the CalPers pension fund solvent
.