I have a friend whose parents spend the winter in Florida and the warmer months back at their original home in Michigan. Most of their family is back in Michigan though, so when the parents get old enough to where they can't make the drive anymore, they're planning on giving up the place in Florida and staying full time back in Michigan.
As for me, I live in Maryland, which according to that income tax map is fairly high, with a median tax intake of $1144 (I wish...I had to cough up $6063 for 2012, although that did include state and local taxes as well). But, for all the horror stories of high taxes in places like NJ, CA, and NY, I thought the numbers would be worse. Of course, those numbers are simply averages, and probably affected greatly by people on various welfare programs.
And, there's more to the tax story than just income tax. As the original post brought up, there's sales tax, property tax, etc.
In my case, Maryland's sales tax is 6%, but excludes food items (unfortunately, beer isn't considered a food item
.) My property taxes were around $3100 last year, which I don't find too horrible. Like others have mentioned, there are so many other variables, other than taxes to consider. Family, friends, things to do, climate, and so on. When I retire, I know I'll enjoy traveling about, but I don't know if I'm ready to give up on Maryland as my home base. Plus, the house I live in has been in the family practically since the dawn of time (Grandmom's Uncle Luther built the original part of the house in 1916, but I'm sure the land was in the family long before that), so giving it up would feel like losing a piece of my history.
I have fantasized about getting a second home somewhere warm, when I retire. But, in the long run, it might be easier to just rent a place for a month or two, rather than get tied down.