> Nonsense. The difference can easily be 10% of gross income.
The use of "easily" is maybe a bit spun, that's at the outer edge of the distribution (e.g. moving from NY to TN, Seattle to Cleveland might net you quite a bit less). But sure, that's about right. A 10% change in income is really worth an unqualified "avoid these states" recommendation to you? That seems unjustified to me.
(Especially since employers already know this. 10% is in fact more than the penalty I already "pay" simply for living outside the Bay Area myself!)
> A 10% change in income is really worth an unqualified "avoid these states" recommendation
10% of a Tech company Eng Mgr salary could be 20-30k gross or more. All other factors being equal, this could be a deciding factor. Its one thing to look into, but I'm not the one looking so if I were, I would do more research than my anecdotal data and things I know currently. The other end of this is to find out from their employer if they will force a pay reduction because SF might get a "location bump" in salary.
I don't think anyone is qualified to know the tax laws of 50 states inclusive of the county/city/school taxes. Its a suggestion to the OP to factor in the tax burden of wherever they have narrowed their search. My main point was they could pick nearly anywhere in the US to get what they want, there are lots of small towns outside mid-sized cities that give you a main street feel.
"Could be a deciding factor" is something I'd agree with (though again, it's something many remote workers are paying already, lots of desirable employers are adjusting salary based on remote location now!).
What you said upthread was "Avoid high tax states like NY and CA", which is quite different advice, and I think pretty questionable.
The use of "easily" is maybe a bit spun, that's at the outer edge of the distribution (e.g. moving from NY to TN, Seattle to Cleveland might net you quite a bit less). But sure, that's about right. A 10% change in income is really worth an unqualified "avoid these states" recommendation to you? That seems unjustified to me.
(Especially since employers already know this. 10% is in fact more than the penalty I already "pay" simply for living outside the Bay Area myself!)