Hello Karen:

I found this article for you, which will also show you by city within the state if you want. This is especially a nice link for you because you are looking for places where you might move to.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/10/pf/taxes/taxfriendly_states_…

and for big cities
http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/10/pf/taxes/taxfriendly_cities_…

And here is Money Magazine's best places to live:
http://money.cnn.tv/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/snapshots…

Sylvia

Hey Karen, Great question, a new study shows that of the 45 states that have a state sales tax Colorado's 2.9 % rate is the lowest. More than half of the states with a sales tax have a rate of 5.5% or more. Marlene and Jeanette is right you have to look at ALL the taxes to be fair.

Find below a web site link and some statistics on the states with the lowest property Taxes. One thing the report and this site point out is "other" taxes a state may charge which could remove any advantage of lower property taxes. Check it out:
"Best and Worst States: Based on data from the 2002 census, the following five states have the lowest local property taxes per capita/year. They are Arkansas ($191), Alabama ($285), Kentucky ($376), New Mexico ($380), and Oklahoma ($425). The states with the highest local property taxes per capita/year are: New Jersey ($1,871), Connecticut ($1,733), New York ($1,402), and Rhode Island ($1,369)." This information is from this web site: http://www.retirementliving.com/RLpropertytaxrate.html

Karen....it's all relative. Property taxes are based on the value of the property. Sometimes lower taxes go along with lower values and services. In California are taxes are based on 1% of the purchase price plus any bonds or assessments.

Great question.Have you considered that a state that has high property taxes, like California, also has one of the highest rates of appreciation? What you pay in property taxes you may be getting back many times over in appreciation.

Karen:
I think in terms of relativity. It's all relative to the cost of living, the actual wage base, etc. Taxes are higher for me in Georgia - where they were lower in California for a home with a much higher assessed value.

I also live in a county with one of the lowest millage rates - so go figure. The up side is we have much more home at a lesser cost - so it all evens itself out. We could've gone with an older smaller home & gotten a lower tax - but at the end of the day - we found it all rounded out relative to all the other factors.

So, to answer your question - you need to look at more than tax base - it really takes doing a side by side comparison - to get a real budget or bottom line dollar for true savings. You can't base a decision on tax alone.

Karen,
Judging by the influx of people to the Atlanta area, GA has to be affordable compared to other states.

Hello Karen,
That is a tough question. The old you get what you pay for. Of course better services and schools are just the start.
To answer your question, Welcome to South Dakota, a far cry from South Beach.
Below is a link to the top 50, Most expensive to least expensive, per the 2005 Census.
Have a tax free day.

Alabama probably has one of the lowest tax structures. Most states come out about the same, because you have to look at ALL the taxes. Florida's recent reputation for high taxes is not totally fair--while they have changed from what they once were (very inexpensive), Florida still is one of few states that has no occupational privilege tax or state income tax. When considering where to escape to to avoid state taxes, be sure to look at ALL the tax structures in that state to be sure to compare apples with apples.