How to Know Where You Want to Live

Relocating is an overwhelming prospect, even when the move is entirely voluntary. It's that much more intense when y'all're upward against a deadline, like your first day at a new job or the start of the school year. Few endeavors demand as many rapid-burn down decisions — or invite every bit much second-guessing.

One thing you lot definitely don't desire to 2d-approximate is where you choose to relocate. Whether you lot're a location-contained professional picking from the best places to alive and work remotely or just looking for the ideal community within commuting distance of your job, this of import decision will set your life'due south course for years to come.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Identify to Alive

Naturally, this choice involves a lot of considerations — more a dozen in all. Some, like affordability and employment opportunities, are obvious and near-universal in their applicability. Others, like food pick and climate, might seem less important next to dollars-and-cents bug like where you lot'll draw your paycheck and how far it'll take you. But they tin can still dramatically impact your quality of life and overall well-existence in the long run.

Pro Tip: Does your job allow y'all to work remotely? If and then, you could work from anywhere in the world. Companies like Remote Year will help set you upwards with a identify to live, your own workspace, and different experiences within the land you choose.

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ane. Affordability

Wealth is relative. Co-ordinate to a 2020 study deputed by Money Crashers, more than 25% of Americans equate wealth with fiscal security, regardless of income. Some other 27% ascertain wealth as a function of quality of life rather than finances.

Even so, near of us would adopt to have more coin to spend and salve — or at the very least, some animate room in our budget. That's where affordability, arguably the most disquisitional factor for people who are moving, comes in.

In this context, "affordability" encompasses the total cost of living — not but housing costs, only expenditures like utilities, groceries, transportation, durable appurtenances, and health care. The less you need to spend to get by in practiced health, the more affordable your chosen dwelling.

I've never lived in a truly unaffordable identify, but I've seen firsthand that seemingly minor changes in the price of living can add upwards. Moving from a smaller manufacturing town in the industrial Midwest to a major metropolitan surface area with a predominantly service-based economic system effectively cut my pay — which didn't change, thanks to a location-independent task — by 20%, due mainly to higher housing and transportation costs.

Curious how far your salary might go in a new identify? Use BestPlaces' cost of living computer to get a rough gauge.

2. Taxes

It's impossible to escape taxes entirely, simply moving to the correct identify tin can trim your overall tax burden. For example, v states don't charge sales taxes: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. 9 states waive income taxes on most or all sources of income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, S Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

Merely sales and income taxes aren't the only types of taxes you should scrutinize. Multiple levies — such equally holding taxes, schoolhouse taxes, gasoline taxes, and business taxes and fees — may affect your lesser line to a greater or bottom extent.

To quantify that impact at your next accost, wait to the Tax Foundation's country-local taxation burden report. Information technology calculates what taxpayers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia pay in state and local taxes.

The latest study, using data from fiscal yr 2017, identifies the District of Columbia equally the highest-revenue enhancement jurisdiction in the United States, followed by New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Northward Dakota, and Hawaii. Alabama has the lowest state-local revenue enhancement burden, followed past Tennessee, Arizona, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.

Fortunately, almost states provide holding tax credits or homestead exemptions to provide homeowners with some boosted tax relief.

three. Employment Opportunities

Employment opportunity remains a crucial and oft decisive cistron in decisions effectually where to live. Only it's not quite every bit cardinal to the question as information technology once was.

Increasingly, lucrative employment is entirely location-independent. Digital nomads need only a serviceable workspace, reliable laptop, and speedy Internet connexion to earn good money from just about anywhere. Notwithstanding, many individuals and families who choose to relocate do and so for work-related reasons.

Employment opportunities vary from land to state and city to city, then spend some fourth dimension researching the job markets in different areas. Get-go by analyzing quality employment opportunities within your industry, and so make up one's mind where the highest concentration of these jobs is located.

If y'all're an investment broker (or aspire to exist), you probably need to live in a big city, like New York or Boston. If your skills are more portable — say, you're a instructor or accountant — yous have a much amend run a risk of finding work wherever you make up one's mind to move.

That said, income levels for jobs can vary significantly from land to state. All other things being equal, workers tend to earn more in places where the cost of living is high or contest for their talent is fierce (or both).

For example, a marketing manager in San Diego, California, could earn thirty% more than their counterpart in Table salt Lake City, Utah. But the deviation might exist a wash thanks to Southern California'southward heaven-high housing and gas prices. In any issue, do your research before you move — and ideally, find a job before yous relocate.

4. Existent Estate Value

With real estate values in constant flux, homebuyers tin't afford to lack agreement of their new city's real manor market. At a minimum, research current home prices and short-term home price trends, the length of time for-sale homes sit on the market, whether and by how much homes sell above or beneath asking price, and probable long-term value trends.

Additionally, carefully review local housing price trends. Use websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin to go a handle on the local real estate market place. Or leap for a paid subscription to NeighborhoodScout if yous're serious nigh getting the virtually value for your money (and certainly if you plan to invest in local real manor to earn passive income).

The cost of existent estate is important even if you accept no plans to buy a home correct away. Y'all withal need to make room for hire in your monthly budget. Thoroughly researching prevailing rent prices earlier moving (or fifty-fifty choosing to motion) ensures you'll find an affordable place — or avoid moving to a new city yous really can't afford.

If you program to stick around for a while, you lot might end up renting for a few years until you've saved up a sufficient down payment for your start abode. In buyer'south markets, where the ratio of rents to abode values is low, you won't need to save as long for that downwards payment. You'll brainstorm building equity in your new home that much faster too.

5. Law-breaking Rates & Statistics

No 1 wants to alive in a high-criminal offense area, but that doesn't mean everyone can live in a utopian society where offense never happens. Utilise municipal or state resources to inquiry crime statistics in any city, town, or neighborhood y'all're eyeing.

For case, the New York Urban center Police Department keeps a comprehensive database of citywide and precinct-level criminal offence reports that — though quite data-dense — can help laypeople sympathise the crime rates and trends in different areas. Reputable private resources, like City-Data, can assistance also, but they're non e'er reliable.

Just just considering an area is safe today doesn't guarantee information technology volition exist safe in the future — or vice versa. The long-term stability of a neighborhood can be a determining factor in how safe your surroundings are.

Likewise, consider the development trajectory of a particular location equally you narrow downwards your choices. For example, while gentrification has serious downsides, such equally the displacement of low-income residents, localized prosperity also tends to represent with lower fierce offense rates, according to information compiled past the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

6. Proximity to Family unit & Friends

If you value time spent with family and close friends, you might want to call back twice about moving too far from them. Driving across state lines to reunite for the holidays (or just because) takes fourth dimension, and flying is both a source of stress and a non-insignificant strain on tight budgets.

If you want a change of pace or scenery that doesn't have you likewise far out of pocket, consider nearby college or vacation towns with potent, diverse local economies.

vii. Climate

For many of united states of america, climate is a critical quality-of-life consideration. If you bask winter sports, set up in a place that has them in abundance — or at to the lowest degree where they're physically possible. Think Colorado or Vermont, not Texas or Georgia.

By the aforementioned token, if you prefer the embankment to the slopes and want to be able to commute by bike comfortably in January, so the Sunday Belt is just correct for you lot.

It's worth noting that climate impacts more than than only our physical condolement, mental health, hobbies, and what we habiliment. It very often shapes local economies and, by extension, employment and relocation decisions.

8. Education Organization

For parents, the value of living nigh high-quality schools is articulate. Merely even single folks and couples without children demand to consider the local education organisation when choosing where to live.

All other things beingness equal, home values tend to rise faster (and from a higher baseline) in adept school districts than in otherwise comparable locales with challenged schools. And according to a report published in the Federal Reserve Depository financial institution of St. Louis Review, the tendency is even more pronounced in the all-time schoolhouse districts. Living in a lower-quality school zone a rock's throw from a much ameliorate district where comparable homes sell for 25% to 50% more than houses on my block, I've seen this play out in my own life.

You can use nonprofit websites similar GreatSchools and SchoolDigger to appraise school quality in the cities, towns, or neighborhoods you're considering.

To be sure, some better-off families in my neighborhood pour what they salve (and so some) on their mortgages into individual school tuition. Others take advantage of state and municipal school choice programs to enroll their kids in higher-performing schools.

But many families can't afford private school tuition or have other objections to private schooling, such every bit a lack of racial and cultural diversity. And school choice programs similar vouchers and open up enrollment accept pregnant drawbacks, such as contest for slots in skilful out-of-district schools and limited school-provided transportation (busing) in some places. Every bit a issue, the but realistic option for many lower-income families is enrollment in underperforming local public schools.

That doesn't mean y'all should automatically gravitate to better schoolhouse districts. If yous don't have kids and are pretty certain you won't before moving once more, then you'll likely observe improve housing bargains in lower-quality districts.

9. Culture

If you prefer proximity to world-course museums and theaters, music venues, professional sports teams, and a various array of restaurants serving cuisine from every corner of the world, you'll naturally want to alive in a big metropolis or its suburbs. Merely if you enjoy outdoor activities that crave ample infinite or proximity to nature, such equally hunting and camping, or want plenty of property to raise crops and livestock, you should stick to the wide-open spaces.

Major metropolitan areas do have cultural civilities and opportunities that far outstrip smaller cities' and rural areas'. But there'southward enough gray expanse to satisfy folks who crave both.

The semi-rural exurban communities fringing most major U.S. metro areas feature a mix of housing styles — large-lot "estates" or ranchettes, traditional suburban developments, and higher-density housing around older downtowns that predate the arrival of sprawl. And they're typically bachelor at insufficiently affordable cost points. They're besides shut enough to comfortably support weekend trips into the city without the added toll of an overnight hotel stay.

That said, exurban living isn't for anybody. Many of the states really are happier in isolated small cities and towns far from the nearest big urban center. Others merely can't fathom living in neighborhoods without sidewalks or corner stores or dozens of bars and restaurants within walking distance.

Not all urban, suburban, exurban, or rural communities are interchangeable. Each is influenced by its unique demographic and cultural makeup. That's vitally important and perhaps decisive for members of ethnic, cultural, or religious groups who prefer to live amongst others like them — whether in an otherwise anonymous suburb populated by recent immigrants from a particular country or a close-knit religious enclave in a largely secular big city.

10. Commute Fourth dimension & Public Transportation Options

Despite the increasing popularity and practicality of working from home, explosive suburban and exurban growth continues to increment boilerplate commute times and fourth dimension spent in traffic.

These issues are especially acute in high-cost littoral metropolises like the San Francisco Bay Surface area and greater New York City. In these areas, high housing prices in the urban core and surrounding suburbs compel hordes of "farthermost commuters" to travel more than ninety minutes, 50 miles, or both — each way — between comparatively affordable homes and downtown workplaces.

Long commutes are less stressful and potentially less costly, if no less time consuming, in major metro areas with good public transportation options for commuters. Though the United States' regional public transportation infrastructure lags behind much of the remainder of the developed world'southward, commuting by bus or rail is a realistic choice in most larger cities.

If you prefer not to drive to piece of work every day and tin't work from home, make certain the neighborhoods or suburbs you lot're considering take robust public transit that runs when you need it. And utilize Walk Score to guess your new neighborhood'south walkability — a proxy for how easy it is to get effectually when you're not stuck at the office.

11. Nutrient Options

For those disinclined to maintain a home vegetable garden, unreliable (or nonexistent) admission to fresh produce is a significant drawback of rural living. In rural areas, the nearest grocery shop that stocks high-quality produce might well exist in the outer suburbs of the nearest big city. Ironically, the nearest farmers market might be in the nearest large town too.

And for logistical reasons and due to depression demand, grocery delivery services that bring fresh produce to urban and suburban residents' doorsteps tend not to serve thinly populated regions.

Of form, if you lot take a green thumb, you'll want to live in a place that affords plenty of room to exercise it. A pocket-sized container garden is fine for hobbyists and home cooks looking to top up their fresh herb supplies, but fully replicating your grocery store's produce aisle (during the growing season, at least) requires thousands of square feet of raised beds.

12. Town or City Size

Do you prefer the comforting cloak of anonymity to the glare of the small-boondocks spotlight? Y'all're a natural fit for big-metropolis life.

Or exercise you enjoy seeing folks you know effectually boondocks every twenty-four hour period and patronizing businesses whose proprietors know exactly what you want? You lot're a small-town person at heart.

Can you see the appeal of both? Possibly you'd do best in a suburban customs that's big enough to disappear into but shut-knit enough for your liking.

Simply recall that your preferences may well change. With age, the familiarity and solidarity of a close-knit pocket-sized town could come to outweigh the promise and possibility of a bigger, more than sprawling customs.

13. Wellness Care Facilities

Everyone deserves access to affordable, high-quality health care. This upshot is particularly resonant for families with young children, folks nearing retirement age, and people with chronic health conditions.

Generally speaking, major metropolitan areas have more health care pick and coverage than thinly populated parts of the country, though localized disparities are quite common within metro areas.

Smaller towns and cities with major research universities or hospitals typically punch above their weight every bit well. According to The Street, the two all-time U.South. cities for health care access are Rochester, Minnesota (domicile of the Mayo Clinic), and Burlington, Vermont (home of the highly rated University of Vermont Wellness Network).

14. Proximity to an Airdrome

If you travel a lot for business, pleasance, or both, you need easy access to a major airdrome.

Many smaller cities have regional airports with regular service to big-city hubs. Only flights out of these airports can be less reliable, especially in places with frequent conditions-related delays or cancellations. And door-to-door travel times are invariably longer due to required plane changes. I spent several years in a small, isolated city with just a handful of scheduled commercial flights per day, and allow me tell you: It gets onetime.

Similarly, consider the time and expense involved in getting to and from the airport. If you live in an exurban or rural area an hour or more from the nearest commercial airport, the most efficient fashion to get to the airport probably involves a personal vehicle. And unless you lot have a doting family unit member willing to drop y'all off, that ways parking at the airport.

That's a costly prospect. A week in a long-term lot can easily prepare you dorsum $150, $200, or more. For case, long-term terminal parking at Dallas-Fort Worth International Aerodrome costs $24 per day, or $168 per week. It's even more expensive at San Diego International Airport, at $32 per day, or $224 per week (though lower rates are available at certain terminals if y'all volume ahead).

If you alive closer to the airport, you have more affordable options: taxis, rideshare, public transportation, or — best of all — a free ride from a friend or family member.

Final Word

I've moved enough to have no illusions about the magnitude of the task. Even cross-town moves are stressful and logistically complicated. Moving across country lines, let alone international borders, is a truly heroic undertaking.

There's one silver lining amid all this stress: Though maxim bye to the people and places yous've come up to capeesh never gets easier, the process of moving gets a little more than painless each time.

And because it occurs early on and sets the tone for what'due south to come, choosing the correct place to move is one of the most crucial parts of that procedure. If you can smash downwardly near or all the relevant considerations earlier packing your first box, you'll take that much less to worry about when crunch time hits.

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Source: https://www.moneycrashers.com/where-should-i-live-decide-best-places/