To add to what polarbear brought to the table: If your move is significantly far away, you might want to look at
city-data.com You can discover quite a lot from their info.
For instance, years ago I worked with a woman whose husband was recruited from Huntsville, Alabama into the Silicon Valley to work for Silicon Graphics. She said the salary offered seemed to be
huge, but they discovered after the move that houses and cost-of-living were eating up most of it. So much so that they weren't able to afford a home and had to rent instead of buy. They didn't do their research properly before taking the leap.
We have considered moving from our rural town to a major metro area one state over. When DH consulted his boss, (the district manager) about a pay raise to off-set the significantly higher cost-of-living, he was told that the pay scale for his position didn't account for location. In other words, he'd be making the same amount, but we'd be paying so much more for everything. Our standard-of-living here vs. there is
overall higher, that for now it takes priority over the lure of "perfect school". That may change as DS gets older, however. Right now, DH and DS resist moving from this home.
