California is not Palo Alto for a majority of its residents. My point was just that you can’t just look at the state tax rates in isolation to make an accurate comparison. There are definitely cheaper places to live but the differences are not as pronounced as they might seem - usually within a couple percent. Property costs where you want to live are likely to be a far greater impact on your budget.

It’s like when Americans say they pay less in taxes than Europeans without factoring in that our healthcare costs are paid separately. Systems built around different models need to be compared carefully.