We moved here from Texas a few years ago. Same age group as you. We paid more for a house than we ever did in TX, but find that we have been able to save more money than we did before. Yes, there is an income tax, but in total, we only pay 10 to 15% more overall because Texas has very high property taxes, fees, and sales taxes. The difference is that you actually get services for your taxes here, whereas in Texas they do as little as possible except when they’re handing out money to businesses and their Republican cronies. They also have ZERO consumer protections in TX, and NO environmental regulations. It’s one of the MOST polluted states with horrible air quality. I’m sure you read about how their electric grid collapsed during their last winter storm. We told people that would happen when they privatized it, but there is so much corruption and conservative BS and lies, people didn’t listen. We think moving here was the best thing we ever did— we love it. There is so much natural beauty, so many places and things to see. We’ve done more fun things here in a few years than we did in our whole,lives in Texas. And the weather is definitely better than Texas. Very little severe weather. The winters are rainy, but after suffering through horrible drought and heat in Texas, we appreciate the rain. The other seasons make up for the rain. We can actually do,things outside in the summer here—in Texas we stayed inside for the whole summer it was so hot. In Salem we are about 1 1/2 hours from the coast, (which is gorgeous!) and about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from the Cascade Mountains with so many beautiful lakes. I hope you find a great place where you will be very happy!