User blog comment:Carlos2295/Moving to a New State/@comment-3242362-20170512021905/@comment-1915803-20170512024822

Actually, and this is nitpicky, but the effective tax rate in North Carolina is higher than in California as a % of income for the median US household (10.63% of median household income in NC versus 8.79% of median household income in CA). This appears to be because NC's state income tax rate takes up a larger share of m h income, but it appears sales taxes and property taxes are roughly comparable in both states.

Overall cost of living is indeed higher in California than North Carolina, though.