PilotJ3

Commuting saves me about $20,000 a yr in taxes. I rarely pick Overtime and live comfortably with my salary.

Still have the same house I bought 10yrs ago when I was a regional FO.

Fourpaw

I would say about tree fiddy.

dmeg13021

He tricked me!

Setopbug

Wrong question.

I save about 50K a year in taxes by commuting. Sure, I pay for the occasional hotel room, but that's offeset by mostly company-paid rooms. Easy, no-stress commute.

I'm often home before my flying partners have overcome bridge traffic.

It also enables me to own a nice home that will be paid off well before retirement. That having been said, i do miss California. If the interest rates come back down, I'll snag a single bedroom. If they don't, I may consider paying cash. (Which as a commuter, I've got lots more of than when I drove to work.)

crewdawg

It's not so much the money, though I make a significant amount more by living in base, it's about the time away from home. I leave my house 1 hours prior to report. I'm usually home by the time most of my commuting FOs even board their commute flight. I sit a bunch of reserve and work short call from the couch/garage/hangar. When I bid a line, I do what I can to do easy day trips. All this means I spend few nights in hotels and a lot of time at home. For me, that is invaluable.

All that said, you can't replace living where you/your spouse wants to live. I just happened to live "in base," but I did leave another legacy to make this happen. If commuting allows you to live close to friends/family, it's really hard to pass that up. If you otherwise don't care where you settle and/or can't be near family, then the cost of commuting is too high for me. Both in lost income opportunities, but more so, lost time away at home.

No I don't live in Peachtree City, or Georgia for that matter. Though randomly, my neighbor across the street is a Delta pilot and there is one other in my neighborhood.

Best of luck in your decisions, only you know whats right for you and your family.

sailingfun

When people mention their tax savings I wonder if they factor in all taxes. Most states without a income tax have high taxes in other areas. Florida, Washington and Texas come to mind. Florida has the double whammy of high insurance costs that are going to get even worse rapidly.
California does off course manage to have high taxes for everything!

ClncClarence

You’re not wrong, but there’s a bit of nuance that you’re missing. My FL homeowner’s insurance is astronomical compared to my inland brethren, but at our income levels it’s still way less than an extra 5% income tax would be. Property tax here isn’t crazy either. I bought my home way before prices went nuts and because it’s my primary residence my annual increase is capped at 3% regardless of the assessment. Buying here now will cost you, but if you’ve been here a while it’s no big deal.