Austin Overall Cost of Living
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9/19/2007
Having moved here one year ago from Nevada and prior to that California, I have to seriously question the accuracy of Sperling's statement that Austin's overall cost of living is 17.1% lower than the national average.
Property taxes are prohibitively high due to extremely high education tax rates, and the overall cost of living appears to be similar to both California and Nevada.
The exclusion of a state income tax is more than offset by higher overall taxes in subtle areas such as gasoline tax, utility bills, etc.
At the end of the day, we pay about the same to live here as we did in the West Coast. The real advantage is not an expense reduction, but rather a vastly improved quality of life.
rob | Austin, TX