Originally Posted by Hotel Kilo

Based on your knowledge of LA and LAX base, I'm going to take a guess you live in California.

Make no mistake, IMHO California is the most naturally beautiful, ecologically diverse state in the country - hands down. I love wine country, the temperate rain forest up north Cali, the ruggedness of the Sierra Nevada, Sequoias, and the southern California (Orange county and south) vibe.

Cali has a total tax burden of 9.72% (Forbes). It has the #4 highest individual tax burden in the country (Forbes). You get a break on your property taxes (2% mas increase on value) thanks to Prop 13. So if your home is appraised for taxes at 750k, the property tax rate on that is 2.76% (Forbes). That's a 20k tax payment. State also gets its bite from you in the incidentals - fuel, sales, vehicle registrations, etc.

I'm not going to wager on your yearly earnings. None of my business. So going to just say for fed tax purposes you are north of 250k a year so that puts you in either the 24or 32% tax bracket. I would wager to say you pay in total over 50% of you earned income to some form of tax by living in California. That's cool if you like living there I guess.

Me? I prefer to keep as much of my hard earned $$$ for my family. I live in a state with little to no taxes on my income and property. Best thing about America right now is we all have choices. You choose to subsidize others and give away your money, I choose the opposite. Nothing wrong with either position.