Quote:
Originally Posted by The North One
Cost of living between Chicago and Boston are two totally different worlds. Not surprising at all.
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I may be brainfarting here, but wouldn't cost of living not factor into federal tax liabilities? If salaries are about the same in metro Boston as they are in Chicagoland (a quick Indeed check says "yes", but these are all just white-collar), then it doesn't matter if housing is cheaper, no? The only things the Fed would care about is state-specific deductions like state/local income, sales, and personal property/real-estate taxes paid.
MA and IL sales taxes are both 6.25%, so that's a wash. MA property taxes average 1.22%, while IL's are 2.31% (among the highest in the country). So that leaves some MA money available to the Feds proportionally above what the Fed can get out of IL. MA's income tax is 5.05%, while IL's income tax is 4.95% - basically another wash, given the population difference between metro Chicago and metro Boston. Maybe the local taxes are a lot higher in IL, allowing for more deductions? No idea.