Idaho is cheaper than Texas. And no, Texas is not 3-10x cheaper than even California. In addition, you get paid less in TX than in CA.

TX doesn't have state income tax, but CA does. TX has close to the cheapest fuel prices in the country while the bay area has the most expensive fuel prices in the country. Food costs less in TX and there is no sales tax on retail food purchases in TX.

Yes, you get paid less in TX. For an average software developer you tend to get paid about 40-60% less. Since the cost of living is probably 3x more in CA getting paid a little less in TX still puts you at a huge financial advantage.

I am not guessing at this. I am looking at the numbers and performing very simple arithmetic.

Gas is more in CA (2.89) than in TX (2.03). Our property tax rate is 0.81%. Yours is 1.90%.

The #1 employer in TX is Walmart. In CA it's UC. Not that that really matters. [1]

You haven't shown that the COL is 3-10 times higher in CA than in TX. A reliable cite would help. More, yes. 3-10 time more? No, that's not even remotely true.

[1] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-are-the-largest-emplo...

* I already linked to a site that does city by city comparisons, but there are so many online.

Payscale sure isn't saying 3-10x.

http://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/Texas-Aust...

If you move from San Francisco to Austin TX, you can take a 45% pay cut and live the same, I don't think this accounts for income tax which comes out to probably brings it to a 50% pay cut.

So I would say 2x