Why is it cheaper to live in Texas?

We have more land. There is room for growth. Supply isn’t low, unlike, say, NYC – so prices are driven up.

The lack of income tax is nice as well.

Is it true for the big cities and fashionable suburbs, too? And no state income tax? What about sales tax.

Now this article about Lubbock and dentistry made the news this week. I am not editorializing ,,,just reporting.

Lubbock and teeth

The economy is good, unemployment is low, craftsmen are available. I’m having the devil’s own time finding people to work on a project in Missouri, the costs will be at least 40% higher. Interesting! Gatekeeper has a point about no income tax! Yes, we do have a sales tax. State rate 6 1/4 percent. I’m happy here.

The quality of life is lower. Therefor the demand is as well, which directly affects the price.

I would definitely argue that the quality of life is not lower in Texas.

@Spargett: Don’t mess with Texas!

You get larger houses in Texas because everything in Texas is larger :D

I will also say the quality of life is NOT lower in Texas. I love Texas.

I know that Texas is a huge state; but are there areas where the heating bills are low or non-existent? I have a friend who is building a green house outside of Alpine and using his own sweat equity. The area is beautiful but lonely and stark. He calls his clothes line a “solar-powered dryer.”

He moved from my area in NYS – huge state and real estate taxes, 8.25% sales tax, no public transportation, long, long winters and enormous heating bills, even when burning wood.

yes Texas is good to go.

because no one wants to live with all the rednecks.
Hahaha gosh people im just kidding.
i liked the first answer the best.
ive lived in texas 3 times….
too hot for my liking

Doesn’t Texas have the most people in jail? or is it the most state executions? Either one might give a person pause about settling there, land or no land.

My wife and I moved from north Texas to Baltimore last year because of a job opportunity. While I agree that high sales taxes are very regressive and unfair to those with lower incomes, the addition of a state income tax has been painful. Plus, even with lower a sales tax, we have found that groceries, restaurants, gasoline and utilities are much more expensive in Maryland.

Compared to Texas, housing in Maryland is through the roof. We are paying twice as much in rent for our 10.5 foot wide rowhouse than we did for a mortgage on a large suburban house north of Dallas. The reason for the cheap housing in Texas is partially availabilty of land, as mentioned above. However, the biggest factor is uncontrolled growth. In Maryland, it seems like authorities consider whether an area has enough resources (road, school, health, power and water capacity) before they allow new construction. In Texas, virtually any undeveloped land is fair game for builders. There is little regard for the increased demand on resources, hence the awful traffic and annual water restrictions. This is incredibly apparent if you take off from BWI airport and fly to DFW. When you take off from BWI, you see lots of forest with patches of development. When you land at DFW, you see nothing but developed land for hundreds of square miles.

I do miss my parents, friends and the low cost of living in Texas. However, I don’t miss the lack of culture, or being surrounded by Bible-beating Republicans.

Don’t mess with Texas

@mcw

When I said the quality of life is lower, I meant that it lower than many other places that are more expensive. There’s are reason real estate is so much cheaper in places like Indiana and Texas, and it’s not just because there’s more space. I’ve been to Texas many times, and there are some great places, but IMO there a little too far in between.

And I honestly can’t stand the arrogance bred from that state. “YEAH DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS!! WHOO HOO!!!” I’ve never heard a compelling reason why.

Is Your City Stupid?

Make sure to check out the grades here in the “Do You Remember Me?” portion. The state of Texas came up strong.

Cute….

It’s supply and demand. Not as many people want to live in Texas as in Manhattan, and there’s more land available besides.

And I don’t think the quality of life is lower, but it’s definitely different.

Texas Population is larger than NY. Only second to California.

@spargett
“Don’t mess with Texas” began as an anti-littering campaign. Yes, some “meat heads” have adopted the slogan as a moniker of state pride, but it actually means keep Texas highways clean. It has worked. The highway system in Texas is much cleaner than I remember it in the 70’s.

Even though I’m a meat-head, I can see that some things can have two or more meanings. The original is not always the most important.

- Humble Texan Meat-Head