As a resident of a high income, high cost, high quality of life state, we’ve been losing population and I may have to join them in a few years. As an engineer, I could afford to live here, but

• my ex can only afford to live here because of my child support payments
• as my kids finish college, their careers are looking lower pay than engineering, so they will be challenged to afford to live here
• as I approach retirement, I need to reduce costs so may need to move to a lower cost of living area

Florida has traditionally been a retirement destination but is no longer cheap, plus is offensively MAGA.

So if we all need a cheaper place to live, where do we look? Hw much do we compromise quality of life?

This may be of interest locally, but over here in Europe most people don’t seem to care.

housing is cheap in those states and the there are decent jobs that let you afford the houses.

it's a deal coming from the coasts or expensive other parts of the country. esp if you want to raise a family. childcare costs on the major coastal areas are insane, 1 kid and a mortgage on a shack will cost you 6-8 grand a month, which is more than the median income in those areas.

those costs in texas are basically half what they are on the coasts, you can have 3 kids and a huge house for the same cost as 1 kid and a shack in the coasts.

midwest is also cheaper, but not as cheap as it was and continues to be economically stagnant, so the salaries are lower.