Interested in moving out of NJ... where to?
 

Hi guys,

I've come to a point in my life (30yrs) that I want to experience another part of our great nation. The increasing cost of living in northern NJ (Bergen County) has really put the question into our (wife and myself) minds. I've been doing research on the subject and see the top states NJ people (65% of total moving in NJ is outbound) go to:

Oregon (suggested to wife, doesn't to move that far)
South Carolina (unknown opinion from myself or her, it seems nice)
Vermont (love snowboarding here, but hear there's not much of a job market)
Idaho (no thank you
North Carolina (hear its nice!)
Florida (father lives here, wife isn't exactly warming up to the lack of winter)
Nevada (not even an option)
District of Columbia (brother lives outside here, is looking to move out, so no)
Texas (Would love to move here, possibly Dallas, wife says too far)
Washington. (cousins moved here, now they moved back to NY, too far)

We recently backed out of a deal moving into Passaic county due to the taxes being 13000/year on a 350,000 house. We are financially capable of such a task but no money would go into our daughters college fund or our own retirement. Please any input on the matter would help.

Side note: any state with great driving roads would be a plus for myself. Any state with a good amount of diversity is always positive. I'm filipino and my wife is Colombian.

Thanks guys.

My wife and I moved to South Carolina from Jersey about 2 years ago. While I do miss NYC and Philly, I am glad that I don't have to deal with Jersey winters anymore.

I live in the Charleston area and I have noticed a lot of people from the Tri-State area moving to SC. The roads are a lot better than Jersey, however the drivers are terrible. The Beaches are a lot nicer than the shore as well. The water is actually warm, not freezing cold. There is diversity but it is still the south, so the southern culture is evident. My wife is Dominican and I am Puerto Rican and we are comfortable living here.

I hope this helps.

I also relocated to South Carolina from upstate NY about 9 years ago. I live in Greenville and really like it. It's fairly close to Charlotte, Atlanta, the beaches, and the cost of living is much, much lower than NJ. My taxes on my $170k house are less than $2k. We are also only a few hours from the Tail of the Dragon for the ultimate driving experience. No car inspections so you can do what you want with your car. :-)

http://www.eddykicker.com/Why-Greenville

Good luck with your relocation...

Relocated to Greenville, SC as well three years ago from Detroit. We have it all - mountains, beach, a few awesome lakes, and fairly sizeable cities (Atlanta, Charlotte, Asheville) all within just a few hours of each other. My house was around 265k and we pay about 2500 in taxes (it might actually be less now, I haven't checked to be honest)

It really depends on what fits your lifestyle, but I like have three seasons and the options listed above put the icing on the cake.

Where in the Charleston area if you don't mind. There are couple government jobs in Goose Creek that I qualify for.

My sister-in-law's parents just moved to Greenville from Maine. How do you like it being so inland compared to the Charleston area? Unfortunately the stereotype around here is that anywhere in the south is living in the past... I don't know how much of this is true and I don't mean to offend. Born and raised in NJ it's hard to imagine outside the bubble.

I live in Ladson. About 10 min from Goose Creek. I don't know what career field you are in but one the fastest growing job market in the area is Boeing.

I am in the Air Force so I don't know too much about the job market here.

Too bad your wife won't stretch those apron springs. Texas has low cost of living and isn't too stuck in the past. You can have four seasons in the northern part of the state.

Moved from NJ 12 years ago to Georgia and haven't looked back since. Come here and look at a $350k house compared to the one you live in now and that will be all you need to see. The car scene here is INSANE and probably only 2nd to Cali or Texas.

It's hard to say... I've only ever vacationed in Charleston, never lived there. I can say that downtown Charleston is awesome but ridiculously expensive to live in.

The south is a lot slower than the north, but I wouldn't call it living in the past. Certain counties don't sell alcohol on Sunday's around me which is annoying sometimes since some restaurants close on Sunday's because of it. Otherwise, people are nicer and it's less stressful once you learn to slow down a little bit.

I never lived in NJ but I'm across the bridge in Delaware are taxes are cheap for property and Middletown de has a great public school system for kids.

Delaware is kind of nice because u have a 2 hour drive to NYC, DC, beaches. 1 hour drive to philly or bmore and plenty of back roads all around to avoid traffic.

I live in bear, de and work in kennett square, PA I take back roads all the time it's pretty nice.

Good luck in your decision!

Texas is great for taxes :twocents:

Although, I'm not sure I'd be willing to live in any major city other than Austin.

Tennessee , no state income tax, cheap housing, cheap property tax, cheap license plates, cheap insurance, great roads, low stress. Once you get out of N.J. And relax you will actually see how much stress you live under! Oh yeah, great golf and beautiful lakes too.

I live in S.E. Mich. now,in 2years when I retire I'm out of this high tax crappy road state!

Austin would be my recommendation as well.

Houston and D/FW, while larger, have better job opportunities.