Best city for weather in a tax free state?

[Dawg52]

If I had enough income to really be that concerned w/ taxes I think I would be able to afford to live where I wanted to live. Besides, in many cases you are gonna pay one way or another.

True. And why not live where you want to live for most of the year and lease something in a different area of the country for the couple of months your home base has extreme temps? That is my plan, live here in the deep south where I have my friends and good golf for most of the year. But I do plan to escape some of the summer heat by heading to the mountains at some point. Family responsibilities keeping me close by for now.

 

[hankster]

We live in the income tax free (so far) state of Washington. The plan for the early part of our retirement is to seek favorable weather through the use of an RV. We don't want to permanently relocate due to all the family in the area, but we would like to escape the weather extremes of Dec. - Feb. and July - Aug. Spring and Fall in the Spokane area are usually quite nice.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I am looking for a place with the closest to "ideal" weather (little or no snow and subfreezing temps, mild, non-humid summers) in a state with no income tax. Is there a place like this out there?

 

[aaronc879]

I am looking for a place with the closest to "ideal" weather (little or no snow and subfreezing temps, mild, non-humid summers) in a state with no income tax. Is there a place like this out there?

No, I don't think so. The only place with "ideal" weather that I know of is coastal-southern california and it is not tax free or low cost of living. Looks like you have to decide what's more important to you; mild winter or mild summer. Florida and mid/south Texas have mild winters but hot and/or humid summers. All the others have more mild summers but snow and cold in winter.

 

[haha]

There are places in the San Juan Islands that have low rain and a temperate climate. But do you want to live on an island? Similarly, Sequim might have low rain but it takes a special personality to live there. And for all practical purposes you might as well be living on an island because it is a ferry ride to any significant city. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But it is not comparable to Reno or Spokane.

That is for sure. Almost no one there except retirees. Also, though it may not rain much, it sure is plenty cloudy. If one likes sensory deprivation, Sequim might fit the bill. I lived on the Peninsula a little over a year, and I don't often remember needing sunglasses to get through Sequim, unless of course it was one of the days when I would want them in Seattle too.

The NW is prone to long weather cycles. Recent history has been dominated by el niño conditions, which bring sunnier more pleasant weather, especially in summer.

Ha

 

[LOL!]

OK, why limit yourself to just one place? Our Canadian neighbors spend summer in Canada and winter in the southern US.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

No, I don't think so. The only place with "ideal" weather that I know of is coastal-southern california and it is not tax free or low cost of living. Looks like you have to decide what's more important to you; mild winter or mild summer. Florida and mid/south Texas have mild winters but hot and/or humid summers. All the others have more mild summers but snow and cold in winter.

aaron you said it best you have to pick you beast. I did not think of it that way but you are so right. Thanks.

 

[Spanky]

OK, why limit yourself to just one place? Our Canadian neighbors spend summer in Canada and winter in the southern US.

Yes.. how about overseas? Italy, Costa Rica, Malaysia?

 

[Spanky]

OH my - - this thread touches so many issues and I have a multitude of opinions on all of them. Please regard the following post as just that: my opinions and thoughts concerning your quest for the best city for weather in a tax free state. Really, this is four posts in one (what a bargain!) so I have numbered them.

(1) I can't imagine basing a choice of retirement location on only two criteria, no matter how important they are to you. I would suggest narrowing down the country to places that meet your top criteria to a reasonably satisfactory extent, and then looking at those places with all of your criteria in mind (not just taxes and weather).

(2) I think it would make much more sense to look at overall cost of living, than to look only at states with no income tax. Even if you plan to have a huge taxable income in retirement, your overall cost of living could make a much greater difference to your personal finances than whether or not some of those costs went to state income taxes. I would suggest a more in-depth cost of living approach.

(3) As to weather, I think you might want to consider what is appealing to you about living in good weather. Do you plan to spend much of your time outdoors hiking, surfing, or something of that nature? Then you need to have those activities available at your ER location. If you don't plan to do much outside, then consider the implications of that accordingly.

(4) There is no perfect ER location. We all have to compromise, based on how important our criteria are to us. Also, there is the intangible. We narrowed down the entire world to three towns but when visiting them found that factors we had not considered, such as how the town was laid out, traffic, how hilly the town was, and whether or not we felt at home there were more important to us than we realized.

That's a great list .. there's another consideration: culture and people.

 

[W2R]

That's a great list .. there's another consideration: culture and people.

Yes, that's a factor for many of us even within the U.S., and some prefer to eliminate countries other than the U.S.

It's been a while but as I recall, crime, cost of living, cost of housing, size of community, airports, hospitals, natural beauty, proximity to one's children, hurricane vulnerability, multifaceted thriving local economy, nearby colleges (especially those with free tuition for seniors), city water/sewage and high speed internet availability, median income, weather, walkability, and median age and educational level of the local population are some of the many factors we considered. I seriously doubt that any two people weight such criteria equally. The perfect location doesn't exist, but there are some very nice places out there and some are completely ignored in the "Best Places" articles that one may see from time to time.

 

[Rustic23]

First, I don't have a clue what the humidity is like in St. Louis. However, I was born and raised in Houston, and do know what the humidity is like there! I have also lived in the Florida pan handle, and on the east coast of Fl. near Cape Canaveral. I did not find either FL location as oppressive as Houston with regards to humidity. The beaches of northern FL well out weighs any minor humidity problems.

I have also lived in Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and California. In the dry climates of Idaho and Vegas we often had to run a humidifier in the house to be comfortable. So you may be asking for trouble if you go too dry.

For me, weather was really not a consideration. We chose family, friends, cost of housing for the type of place we wanted, and overall cost of living. And, it was pretty much in that order. Weather was not in the list.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

Rustic23 what was New Mexico like?

 

[winger]

Relative Humidity Map for the United States

Interesting map.

 

[braumeister]

I am looking for something with less humidity than ST LOUIS.

Doesn't that cover pretty much anywhere else on the planet?

More seriously, do take a look at Vancouver, WA for the reasons mentioned.

 

[kcowan]

OK, why limit yourself to just one place? Our Canadian neighbors spend summer in Canada and winter in the southern US.

We picked Vancouver Canada for the nice summers, and PV Mexico for the nice winters. We travel in the spring and fall, usually to Europe (Lucca at al this September). We like humidity in the 50%-60% range.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Not in US, but Cuernavaca is famous for its climate.

 

[Rustic23]

We were on the Texas border, Clovis, NM. It would be comparable to the pan handle of Texas. Dry, yes, cold in the winter, and hot as h@ll in the summer. But, hey, it's a dry heat, just like your oven.

 

[kyounge1956]

If the OP thinks that Spokane and Reno have the best climate, then that is so far from what I think that I cannot even comment

One thing I will say, is that folks tend to focus on the extremes, especially the high temps, instead of the average temps. For instance, I was working in Austin during the summer and it was definitely hot during the day. But the evenings were absolutely gorgeous. I loved going out in the evening in the summer there.

When I lived in San Jose, many of the mid-day temps were fine but it was cold as soon as the sun went down. It was uncomfortable to have almost any outdoor event last past dark most of the year without jackets, etc.(snip)

Just goes to show there's no accounting for tastes! I used to live in San Jose too, and to me the only thing that made the summers bearable is that it did cool off at night! I've been living on the west coast since I was six years old and now I'm so spoiled, I don't think I'd ever seriously consider living anywhere that it stays hot 'round the clock in the summertime.

 

[ziggy29]

Just goes to show there's no accounting for tastes! I used to live in San Jose too, and to me the only thing that made the summers bearable is that it did cool off at night! I've been living on the west coast since I was six years old and now I'm so spoiled, I don't think I'd ever seriously consider living anywhere that it stays hot 'round the clock in the summertime.

Yeah, another former SJ resident here (lived in and around it until 2003). I really miss the cooling at night -- even if it was sometimes hot during the day, you knew relief was only a sundown away. Here in Texas, relief comes in November.

 

[Nords]

I was thinking about retiring in a tax free state. I wanted to pick a place with good weather that was in a tax free state. So far I have thought about Spokane and Reno. Do any of you have any ideas for other cities in one of the seven tax free states.

Would you be willing to pay a little more for better weather, or does it have to be free?

 

[Spanky]

Would you be willing to pay a little more for better weather, or does it have to be free?

If you are hinting Hawaii as a possible place, the answer might be no.

 

[Spanky]

Relative Humidity Map for the United States

Interesting map.

Looks like the west coast is the place to live if low humidity is preferred. The humidity where I live is pretty high in the summer.

 

[ziggy29]

Relative Humidity Map for the United States

Interesting map.

Relative humidity is overrated. Dewpoint is really where it's at. If the typical summer dewpoint is in the 50s or lower, you have a nice climate. In the 60s... decent. If usually 70 or higher, you're in Hell.

 

[W2R]

Relative humidity is overrated. Dewpoint is really where it's at. If the typical summer dewpoint is in the 50s or lower, you have a nice climate. In the 60s... decent. If usually 70 or higher, you're in Hell.

OK, here's dew point (same source, lazy me):

Dew Points Map for the United States

 

[FANOFJESUS]

We were on the Texas border, Clovis, NM. It would be comparable to the pan handle of Texas. Dry, yes, cold in the winter, and hot as h@ll in the summer. But, hey, it's a dry heat, just like your oven.

Did the wind cool you down any?