State by state tax burden
Financially, living in the US varies greatly depending upon which state you live in. Whenever I travel out of Boston I’m often surprised at how cheap things are — food, rent, houses, etc. Of course I’m assuming this price change is reflected somewhat in local salaries, and standard of living (yes, I could be proportionally richer if I lived in Raleigh North Carolina, but I don’t think it would be as fulfilling as living in the Boston). Anyway, CNN/Money published a report (no longer available) on the tax burden for living in each of the 50 states. It makes interesting reading, and surprised me to see a 7.4% spread between the cheapest (Alaska) and the most expensive (DC). Massachusetts at 9.9% sits only 0.2% above the national average, although I suspect is you broke this table down to a city level, Boston would be on the high end of the list.
[...] Found an article on CNN/Money from April about the relative cost of living in different states. Interesting to see how this has changed since my post in 2003. Maine moves into the dubious number 1 slot at 13.5%, nudging DC down to third place. Alaska still remains at the bottom on 6.6%, although the spread between the highest and lowest has closed to 6.9% from 7.4%. The national average has risen a massive 0.9% to 10.6% with 19 states exceeding this. Massachusetts, which often goes by the nickname “Taxachusetts” comes in surprising at number 28, below that average now by 0.3% at 10.3%, a rise of 0.4% in the three years. [...]
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