Wait – WTH!!! Living in the wrong state could TRIPLE my lifetime taxes?

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[i][b]Photo above [/b]- "Florida man remains behind bars for driving without a license, resisting arrest, and six other charges." No word on which high tax state he fled before arriving here. He may also have been a character in "The Last of Us", or possibly "Fallout" . . .[/i]

Okay, to avoid unnecessary aggravation, if you (as a reader) DO NOT pay any income taxes at all (you identify as a slacker, welfare recipient, or Door Dash driver) please stop reading now. The rest of us want to have a conversation about taxes. Okay . . . can we proceed?

I have to admit that when I ran into this article (link below) I had no idea that living in the “worst state” costs about 3X as much as the "best" (lowest tax) state. I mean, just how bad could the combined state and local income tax rates actually be?

Well, it's not just income taxes, of course. It's also real estate taxes. Sales tax. Gasoline tax. Auto registrations. Road tolls. Hotel taxes. Liquor tax. Casino taxes. Tobacco tax. Internet tax . .

Well, at least the highest taxed people get something great for their money, right? I mean, California actually has pretty nice weather, and a bunch of scenic outdoor spaces. [b]Wait . . . the highest tax state ISNT California? It's . . . frickin' New Jersey?????[/b] The armpit of America??

Okay . . . I should have guessed NJ would be way up there. But I didn't expect it to be the worst. NJ is worse to live in than New York, Taxachussetts, and Connecticut. California almost didn't make it into the 10 worst. If California jacks up their taxes again on real estate, gasoline, electricity, inheritances, and the new “exit fee” (1% of your lifetime savings just to get out of town), they could jump into #1, I suppose. But for now, it's Joisey.

The state with the lowest taxes blew me away, also. West Virgina! I was going to guess Florida (my state), or Texas, or some wasteland of barren tundra like North Dakota. In fact, NONE of those are among the 10 lowest tax states.

The two major things states are supposed to provide are roads and schools. New Jersey is actually ranked high for school quality. But it has amazingly bad roads, astonishing rent/home prices, and crime. How much of that would you be willing to endure for the sake of your kids' middle school?

Surprisingly, Florida, Texas, and California all had REALLY crappy school quality. Proving that there is no definitive link between tax rates and being able to name the state capitols. West Virgina, with its lowest of the low taxes, ranked mid pack for schools. I have no idea how the roads are there, though. Is the WV state animal a roadkill whitetail deer?

People are fleeing California, New York, and New Jersey for lower taxes, affordable housing and safer(ish) crime rates. But the homogenization of America might mean that new arrivals bring their home states' problems with them when they migrate. A penchant for more spending, more welfare, more graft and corruption, permissive attitudes on narcotics and crime. That's certainly happening here in Florida. The only trend going in the right direction here is (allegedly) falling home prices.

Florida's home prices have nothing to do with the sky-high Fed Funds rate. Or serial crimes by “Florida Man” (our own state animal). Home insurance costs are driving people away. I don't think this matters to people like Jeff Bezos, who apparently now owns TWO Florida mansions. At some point you probably reach an income level where no amount of homeowners insurance could ever matter more than California style income taxes.

I'm not thinking of moving to Beckley, WV. That's the state's 10th largest "city", with about 16,000 people. West Virgina is experiencing a net outflow of residents anyway. Despite all the free deer meat.

I'm just sayin' . . .

[b][u]Which states cost the most in lifetime taxes? (usatoday.com)[/u][/b]