California ends up being inexpensive for its long time residents due to Prop 13 and its steeply progressive income tax, which comes out to a total rate of 3.45% for $92,788 of taxable income for a married couple with Social Security not taxable. The recently passed Prop 19 adds to this… you could inherit a parent’s home’s assessed value, live in it for a couple years as your main residence, and use it as a base value for Prop 19 transfers after 55 to a much more expensive home and save thousands of dollars on property taxes for the rest of your life, including up to three transfers (from the previous one).
Nevada and Washington are cheaper due to their lack of income tax. For those who like to eat out and buy things Oregon’s lack of sales tax may also work, although their income tax is steeper at lower levels. The 3.45% rate in California listed above goes up to 8.2% in Oregon. On the other hand, a single person with $500,000 in taxable income pays 9.4% of it in California and 9.8% of it in Oregon.
Arizona has a fairly low income tax, topping out at 4.5%, and a relatively low rate - the example married couple would pay 2.9% of their $92,788 taxable income in Arizona. The sales tax is kind of high, on par with California, and it’s also a low service state. Property tax fluctuates based on tax levies and the housing market and are not capped to acquisition value like California or some mythical 1995 base year value like Oregon.
Nevada also has a fairly high sales tax but no income tax, but an economy extremely dependent on gaming and hospitality - 40% of the general fund. This is why Vegas opened relatively quickly in June, and have stayed open despite California being crushed by the virus. I’ve talked to many Californians who have gone to Vegas so they can go clubbing, eat indoors, or gamble, although most shows and large gatherings have closed.
One idea I have is move to Nevada after retirement, do 457 to Roth conversions there, then move back to California to inherit the family home, live in it for a year or two and transfer the base value to an oceanfront condo, thus locking in thousands of dollars in property tax savings for life while still having plenty of Roth money growing untaxed.