We moved out of CT to MA about 11 years ago.
My wife made very good money and I was had been looking for a job for about 9 months in the field of Pharma IT. I was going to start looking in the insurance industry in Hartford, but the pay was less than 1/2.
My wife was recruited by the largest biotech company in the state (not hard to figure out) for about 50% more than she was making. We sold our $500k home that I had purchased 20 years earlier for 160k and had continually renovated and expanded myself, that had not increased in value in years because of the stagnant CT real estate market and bought a place in MA for about $150k more.
I found a job in my field within 2 weeks after we moved up here and started work about 3 weeks after that.
Since then
1) my wife now makes MULTIPLES of what she made when we got here and since she made the switch to running her own consulting firm, works as much or as little as she wants without a boss.
2) we have been able to afford a home in a truly free state nearby. This was especially important because when covid hit we bugged out to that state and hiked, hunted, swam, biked, shot guns and generally played to our hearts content as a family.
3) most importantly I was able to stop working for several years to be a stay at home dad (think 1950s house wife) and put a 5h1t ton of time and energy into raising two amazingly strong, resilient and independent kids. Plus no rat race. The house always has groceries, the bills are paid
JHB Removals, the cars are serviced the clothes are washed and the house is clean.
4) our MA home here has appreciated beyond our wildest expectations. We will be able to sell it and use a small portion of its worth to expand our place in the free state once our kids are out of school in a few years. The rest will go into our retirement savings.
For us, moving to MA has been fantastic. It gave us
1) access to job markets that allowed us to achieve true financial freedom.
2) the financial ability to buy a home in a truly free state
3) the ability for one of us to stay at home with the kids and give them all the time we wanted.
So yes, I guess it all boils down to money. But if you use that extra money to save more, work less, and spend more time with the kids, then it's a big deal. If you use that extra money to just live in a fancy house and drive an expensive car, then it's meaningless and stupid.