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Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

economist.com

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Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#31

Post by anon291 »

malshe wrote: post #24
anon291 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

Property taxes are relatively high in Texas but houses are so much cheaper. Also, the cost of living in Texas is far lower than in CA. From an economic perspective, living in Texas is a no brainer.

Houses are cheaper because there is no appreciation.

Ca appreciation is high and the appreciation more than covers the tax though

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#32

Post by anon291 »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #15
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but in my experience grandparent is a bit full of it. Yes property taxes are higher, but what op leaves out is that the values of homes are like for like 2-3x more expensive in California. So in the end I would probably pay around the same tax for a like for like home in California as Texas, simply because of the value of the home. Then we must consider the state income tax of California, which is a nonzero dif…

My understanding is that property taxes in Texas can also grow a LOT year over year if your town gets more popular, which isn't the case in California

Yes people in Texas have to move a ton because as property prices go up so do their taxes. With California, you control how much income you earn. In Texas, people moving to your neighborhood can price you out even after you've bought .

A move for a family can cost thousands. Since the higher moving rate is due to the tax system these costs ought to be counted.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#34

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

anon291 wrote: post #32
Rebelgecko wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that property taxes in Texas can also grow a LOT year over year if your town gets more popular, which isn't the case in California

Yes people in Texas have to move a ton because as property prices go up so do their taxes. With California, you control how much income you earn. In Texas, people moving to your neighborhood can price you out even after you've bought . A move for a family can cost thousands. Since the higher moving rate is due to the tax system these costs ought to be counted.

“A ton” is carrying a lot of unverified weight here. Do you have demonstrable evidence that move rates are higher in Texas AND that it’s a result of this AND that people hit this with an actual interesting frequency?

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#35

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #15
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but in my experience grandparent is a bit full of it. Yes property taxes are higher, but what op leaves out is that the values of homes are like for like 2-3x more expensive in California. So in the end I would probably pay around the same tax for a like for like home in California as Texas, simply because of the value of the home. Then we must consider the state income tax of California, which is a nonzero dif…

My understanding is that property taxes in Texas can also grow a LOT year over year if your town gets more popular, which isn't the case in California

Indeed, but circa 2019 the max taxable amount that the value of the home can rise any given year is capped in Texas. So if you are in that situation yes eventually the taxes will “catch up” and you will pay more every year, but that catch up is capped every year and you know what it is capped to and can plan for it

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#36

Post by anon291 »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #34
anon291 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes people in Texas have to move a ton because as property prices go up so do their taxes. With California, you control how much income you earn. In Texas, people moving to your neighborhood can price you out even after you've bought . A move for a family can cost thousands. Since the higher moving rate is due to the tax system these costs ought to be counted.

“A ton” is carrying a lot of unverified weight here. Do you have demonstrable evidence that move rates are higher in Texas AND that it’s a result of this AND that people hit this with an actual interesting frequency?

My experience supervising employees in CA and Texas. It's also just an inconvenience on businesses. I'd be giving my Texas employees grace time off all the time to move. My opinion. Sucks to not be able to live in your home

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#37

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

MAustriaGA wrote: post #26
pyuser583 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why are so many people moving to Texas?

[flagged]

So they move to the complete opposite end of the spectrum where not three years ago Texas was human trafficking migrants to other states? Quite the change of hearts.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#38

Post by jen20 »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #15
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but in my experience grandparent is a bit full of it. Yes property taxes are higher, but what op leaves out is that the values of homes are like for like 2-3x more expensive in California. So in the end I would probably pay around the same tax for a like for like home in California as Texas, simply because of the value of the home. Then we must consider the state income tax of California, which is a nonzero dif…

My understanding is that property taxes in Texas can also grow a LOT year over year if your town gets more popular, which isn't the case in California

That’s what the homestead exemption is for.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#39

Post by Recurecur »

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #37
MAustriaGA wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

So they move to the complete opposite end of the spectrum where not three years ago Texas was human trafficking migrants to other states? Quite the change of hearts.

I believe the correct term is “illegal aliens”, not “migrants”.

They weren’t “trafficked”, they were “relocated”.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#40

Post by Newlaptop »

anon291 wrote: post #7
cactacea wrote: post #4

> In the early 2020s Texas was luring in remote workers And not a single one of the people I know that moved there want to still live there. ymmv I guess

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

California has 10% income tax vs 0 in Texas. Austin property tax is 2% vs Palo Alto at 1.4%.

Salary of $150k in Austin requires $282k in San Francisco to be equivalent. Source: https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/austin-tx/san-fran...

To make sure that wasn't an anomaly or misrepresentative, I also checked https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator for Austin vs San Jose and got similar numbers: $150k in Austin requires $288k in San Jose.

You can argue that the Bay Area wins on weather, politics, startup ecosystem or whatever, but comparing taxes or cost of living is not where California wins.

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