Illinois has a flat income tax; at $135k income you would only be beat by the states that have no income tax (like Florida). Most of the states on that list also have weather that is either terrible in the summer or terrible in the winter, so I doubt that weather is really a factor in people moving.
I had a talk recently with someone who moved from Chicago to Atlanta. He said it's the property taxes that really kill you there. Allegedly, by moving to GA he decreased his property taxes enough to put an extra 100k towards the mortgage for the same monthly payment. I don't know the hard numbers on that myself, but it was enough to convince me that buying property in Chicago was probably a bad idea.
That document shows how varied the property taxes are in Illinois. Moving from "Chicago" to Atlanta for tax reasons is believable depending on whether the person is moving from the City of Chicago or the Suburbs of Chicago.
> On average, the 2018 property tax bill for a home with a market value of $200,000 would be:
* City of Chicago: $3272
* North and Northwest Suburbs (Cook County): $4741
* South and West Suburbs (Cook County): $6268
* Dupage County Suburbs: $4556
My sister used to live out in Kane County and her house, which she sold for about 33% less than my downtown condo is worth, was almost double my property taxes. Nearly 1.5 hours driving from downtown!
Illinois has massive levels of debt, which mean ever increased taxes and decreasing government services for the next 20+ years. And they’re going to hit you hard if you’re upper middle class, since that’s who has the money.
Same situation with NJ and CT and KY.
If I was investing the next 5+ years of my life somewhere, I would check the reports below:
You'd be surprised; I've met plenty of people that talk about how much they like warm weather and want to move south for that reason. Personally, I lived in Arizona for a while and have no desire to live in a hot climate again.
I think it's the snow that really gets people. It just interferes with everyday life in a way heat doesn't (ie, limiting car usage and driving safety until it's cleared). This mostly applies to car-oriented lifestyles though - since walking in high heat vs snowy or icy conditions are both quite risky.
Illinois has a flat income tax; at $135k income you would only be beat by the states that have no income tax (like Florida). Most of the states on that list also have weather that is either terrible in the summer or terrible in the winter, so I doubt that weather is really a factor in people moving.