I don&#x27;t (and won&#x27;t) live in the Bay Area, but I live on the west coast, in an area a lot more expensive than Atlanta. When I got serious about moving to a &quot;low cost of living&quot; area and started doing the math, I found it to not be nearly so cut and dried. While housing and taxes are cheaper, many other things cost the same or more. For example, it&#x27;s often MORE expensive to go on vacation from a cheaper area because the airport is smaller and there aren&#x27;t direct flights to as many places (granted, not an issue in Atlanta). And of course everything on the other end costs the same regardless of whether you&#x27;re coming from SF or Des Moines. Buying a car costs roughly the same (sales tax and car registration may make a small impact). Gadgets and electronics cost the same. Food may cost slightly less, but not in proportion to the pay difference. Cable, internet, cell service, health insurance, etc. all cost about the same.<p>When I put everything on a spreadsheet, the lower housing costs in other parts of the country didn&#x27;t sufficiently make up for the drastically lower salaries. YMMV, but I encourage everyone to very carefully do the math before making these kinds of decisions.<p>(I do think that SF may be a special case, since it&#x27;s SO expensive, but even then it&#x27;s worth doing the math.)