Where in PA though. Since my son has been living in Pittsburgh I have been checking RE listings. Any house that we'd consider living in is as much as here in NJ. Sure there are plenty of less expensive houses available but they all need a few hundred thousand dollars worth of renovations.
That gap between philly and pittsburgh is BIG and is filled with small towns with industry that moved out and a shell of a town remaining. The further north you go, the cheaper it gets. Unfortunately it is the PA story. However some areas of Philly (that you may actually want to live) have incredibly lower property taxes, so that is a factor too. Yes, i understand Pittsburgh's south side is a total crap hole, but you can buy a house for a very low cost with $1500 in property taxes. Makes dropping money into a renovation easier to handle.
@Carson can advise on where all the Lehigh Valley inexpensive housing is.
PA is such a weird sideways move from NJ. It's not like the weather is better or the pricing that much better. There should be a better draw for moving somewhere than just cheaper houses. Good biking though.
Because don't tax retirement income, meaning if you want to live in the same area (for family or just because you like it):
Also, PA has a straight income tax of 3%, unlike NJ's graduated scale. And yes, PA/ NJ have a tax reciprocity agreement so while my office is in NJ, I pay PA income taxes (roughly 3% less). In
@Dave Taylor 's case, it looks like Maryland does not have tax reciprocity with NJ, so he has to do some extra tax calcs, regardless, Maryland is higher than PA.
Tax Information for Individual Income Tax
For tax year 2021, Maryland's personal tax rates begin at 2% on the first $1000 of taxable income and increase up to a maximum of 5.75% on incomes exceeding $250,000 (or $300,000 for taxpayers filing jointly, heads of household, or qualifying widow(ers).
www.bankrate.com
