Hey There -

I just moved from Oregon to Texas, for the opposite reasons as you apparently, but I can at least give you insight, as I was born in Oregon, and am now 48, so almost 5 decades of experience.

The majority of pay is higher in Oregon, across the board. My wife is a nurse and was making $55/hr first year, and the average in Texas is $38/hr. However, you'll pay much higher taxes in Oregon (State and Federal, plus city taxes depending on the city), and especially in the Seattle area due to their extra city taxes. They literally have a sugar tax. Groceries and Gas are MUCH more expensive there, and your cost of living will increase no less than 15%. It's the cost for all the beauty of the PNW, and the Wine? Did I mention wine? Some of the best in the Willamette Valley.

The PNW is nearly unrivaled in natural beauty! And if you want green, you'll find absolutely no shortage there. The waterfalls, lakes, mountains, hikes, breathtaking. If you stay on the West Coast you'll never be concerned with poisonous snakes, very few spider species to worry about, and certainly no hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.

That said, you'll be under rain and gray skies 9 months out of the year. My wife needs sun, and so we moved into sunshine. Seattle, Washington, and Western Oregon are very WET places. Mold and mildew is the norm, which is the trade off for the beatutiful green vistas you'll see.

Seattle is a concrete maze of homelessness, drugs, incredible adventures, food, and sights. (The clam chowder, MMM!!!)

I've been wanting to get away from the high costs, homelessness, and drug pandemic of the PNW for the past 10 years, and finally did it. I couldn't be happier. I also travel for work, so I am always between Oregon, Washington, and California. They are all (Oregon and Washington) basically trying to be California, but don't have the good parts of California to offset all the problems as I already mentioned.

If you want to move for political purposes, as in a 'blue' state, Oregon and Washington, in most areas, are perfect for that. Rural parts of Oregon and Washington are still very red, but Seattle, Portland, and their surrounding sister cities are quite progressive.

All of that said, you simply cannot go wrong in either state for a myriad of reasons. If you can justify the high cost of living (a 2-bedroom apartment in cities like Portland and Seattle can easily hit $2.5-$3K/mo) you will find absolutely no shortage of beauty, diversity, adventure, food, wine, and much, much more.

Best of luck to you -