Demographic breakdowns would be interesting, because there are always people going both way between any two states.
I remember reading that there were quite a few elderly Texans moving to California for a reason that you probably would not expect: taxes.
Texas does not have a state income tax. They make up for that with high sales tax and high property tax.
California does have a state income tax. It also has a high sales tax, which is about the same average rate as Texas (the state rate is lower in Texas but local rates are high so it comes out about the same). Property taxes are lower in California. It is #16 among states when sorted from low to high property taxes. Texas is #45. Rates are about 2.4x as high in Texas.
Thus if you are a retired homeowner in Texas considering moving to California it comes down to whether the lower property taxes will outweigh state income tax.
California state tax does not apply to Social Security, so if your income is mostly that and low tax investments (like a Roth IRA) it can quite easily turn out that you won't pay much if any California income tax.
Can you post a link to the article if you can find it?
I'm wondering if they're downsizing given median home cost in Texas is about $300k versus $750k in California, from a quick search. It's nice to have the extra money go to equity instead of taxes, I'm sure, but I'm not sure how moving to California without the bump in income would make sense from a pure cost of living perspective.
Maybe if they're coming from Austin and moving to somewhere cheaper in California they'd find apples for apples. Austin's always been a little expensive but never anything near where it's gotten the past few years.
Another few interesting facts about Texas property taxes:
- Your primary residence gets a "homestead exemption" that lowers the overall rate and also caps any tax increases to 10% a year.
- If over 65, you can defer paying property taxes indefinitely for a 5% yearly interest rate as long as you don't move. You still owe the taxes, but they'll be taken out of your estate.
I like the 10% cap as it makes costs way more predictable, while still not having the weird effects that a permanent capped tax does where people are still paying tax rates based on a home value from the 1980s.
I'm pretty sure it was a link in a comment on Reddit that I read several months or more ago, so there is pretty much no hope that I can find it again.
They are probably downsizing a bit. A little random checking on for sales houses on Redfin gives me the impression that someone with maybe a 2300 sq ft house in San Antonio could get maybe a 1500-1700 sq ft house for about the same price in the the central valley in California (e.g., in Modesto, Merced, or Fresno).
My guess is that it is mostly people who are not living in major cities in Texas moving to not major cities in California.
> If over 65, you can defer paying property taxes indefinitely for a 5% yearly interest rate as long as you don't move. You still owe the taxes, but they'll be taken out of your estate.
"Taken out of your estate" suggests they take the taxes when you die. If you move before you die to you have to pay when you move, or does it still come out of your estate when you eventually die?
No worries. That makes sense to me, about people moving from non-major to non-major cities.
I could see someone wanting to move for the difference in climate alone, honestly. There are a lot of people on Texas subreddits talking about moving after the recent heatwave. It was the most brutal one I've ever been in, having lived here off and on for a few decades. Having said that, it was interesting learning how adaptable the human body is after mentioning how "nice out" it felt once the high temperature started dropping below 100F consistently!
I'm not well-read on it, but I believe the taxes are due if you sell the property. It seems intended to allow people who want to live in their home forever to stay there if they have cash flow issues in retirement. In the event other assets couldn't cover the amount due, the state would get back the tax money from the heirs, if they wanted to keep the home, or sale of the house eventually.
I remember reading that there were quite a few elderly Texans moving to California for a reason that you probably would not expect: taxes.
Texas does not have a state income tax. They make up for that with high sales tax and high property tax.
California does have a state income tax. It also has a high sales tax, which is about the same average rate as Texas (the state rate is lower in Texas but local rates are high so it comes out about the same). Property taxes are lower in California. It is #16 among states when sorted from low to high property taxes. Texas is #45. Rates are about 2.4x as high in Texas.
Thus if you are a retired homeowner in Texas considering moving to California it comes down to whether the lower property taxes will outweigh state income tax.
California state tax does not apply to Social Security, so if your income is mostly that and low tax investments (like a Roth IRA) it can quite easily turn out that you won't pay much if any California income tax.