Originally Posted by Dude
Originally Posted by Austin
On the contrary, for people who make less money, the difference in moving to a new location with lower taxes and costs of living are very significant. A move often increases disposable income by 100 to 200%. A few extra $K a year is a HUGE difference to "working class" people. Not to mention better environment for their families.

1) People who make less money can ill afford the relocation costs, which would eat up the entire "few extra $K" for the first year up front.

2) Disconnecting people from their local support systems can introduce new costs that eat up the perceived savings. For instance, that few extra K could end up going to child care expenses, because grandma's not around to do it for free.

3) "Better" is a subjective term.

Another point that seems to have been missed is that for some professions, it doesn't matter where you live: the jobs just aren't there. For example, two years ago, the unemployment rate for architects hovered around 70% according to the AIA. Bob the Architect could move from Utah to Iowa to Florida to Maine (assuming he wanted to and could pay for new licenses each time), and it wouldn't do him a bloody bit of good.

"I love it when you two impersonate earthlings."