Just looked into what your actual take home pay really looks like on a 100k salary depending on where you live, and honestly it's pretty eye-opening. Like, I knew taxes varied by state but didn't realize the spread was this wild.

So if you're making 100k gross, you're not actually keeping all of that obviously. After federal taxes, FICA, Social Security, and state taxes (if your state has them), you're looking at anywhere from like 70k to 78k depending on where you are. The difference between states is actually significant - some places you keep almost 79k of that 100k salary, other states you're down to 70k or 71k.

The states with no income tax hit different. Texas, Florida, Nevada, Washington, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wyoming - if you're making 100k in any of those, your take home pay is around 78,736. Meanwhile, places like Oregon and Hawaii? You're looking at closer to 70-72k after everything. That's like 8k difference just because of where you live.

I think what gets people is they don't realize how much of that 100k salary actually goes away before it hits your account. Federal taxes alone are eating a chunk, then you've got FICA, Social Security, and depending on your state, state income tax on top. So yeah, six figures sounds great until you actually do the math on your take home pay. Makes sense why people are always talking about cost of living and where to relocate.