• Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      Oh no! #1 in cost of living and #1 in quality if life? And among the lowest poverty?

      Do people really just need social support to thrive? No way! It’s gotta be stuff! Cheap stuff! That’s what life’s all about!

        • zeppo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          It’s pretty difficult to find anywhere in the US currently that has good jobs, good entertainment and restaurants, access to healthcare, good schools, and isn’t expensive. Sure, you can get a house cheaper in rural Kansas or something but then you have to live in rural Kansas.

        • frostysauce@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Very well said. I live in the other state from the meme and I’m broke af. I could be living in a better state and still be broke af but getting things from my taxes rather than them being used to put Bibles in schools.

      • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
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        11 months ago

        Pretty easy to have high quality of life and low poverty if all the poor people leave because there priced out.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          if all the poor people leave because there priced out.

          What an utterly bizarre take.

          • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
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            11 months ago

            You got a better explanation? People are leaving Massachusetts and the cost of living is high . The most likely reason is that poorer people who can’t afford to live there any more are leaving. Otherwise why would you leave a state with such a high quality of life?

            • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              The people leaving largely aren’t the poor, though. They’re the middle and upper class looking for lower taxes. They’re leaving because the high quality of life there benefits those with less money disproportionately compared to those with more money; public transport and good public schools matter less to the wealthy than to the poor.

                • AA5B@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  Every company I know are careful to watch where their employees live and adjust wages appropriately. That’s probably the real reason most are hybrid: if you have to come into Boston twice a week, can you really live up in the mountains somewhere cheap?

            • AA5B@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              I only know that my town has high population of immigrants and if blue collar jobs and we’re growing like crazy.

              I mean all the land was developed a couple hundred years ago, so we’re getting taller

            • Freefall@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Supply and demand. High quality state is going to be more desirable and so more expensive, where the dumpster states that noone WANTS to live in are so cheap anyone can afford to live there, even if they don’t want to. I would rather bring the whole country up to MA standards, increasing supply of QoL, instead of bringing it down to OK standards because “bUt iT CheEp ThEir”.

      • tetris11@lemmy.ml
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        11 months ago

        Well, all it does is drive up the cost for the working class who live there who are then forced to move out.

        If you were born there, that does indeed suck. If you bought your way in there, it’s a win. If you were born there and can afford to keep living there, also a win

        • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
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          11 months ago

          Not the worst but top 10 in inequality

          Also with the high cost of living most of the poor move out so that would make it seem lower then if you look at the inequality to the neighboring states where people may move to or the u.s. as a whole. Probably harder to find but it would be interesting to see inequality among people born in Massachusetts, including those who left. Would be interesting to see if there system is actually creating successful people, or if they’re just kicking out unsuccessful people and attracting already successful people from other states.

          • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago

            It’s why I left 25 years ago, as much as I liked living there, I couldn’t afford it. The house i grew up in is currently on the market for $2.5mil… my mom sold it for $400k in the 90s. All my high school friends have moved away, though some farther than others…

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            The data certainly deserves a deeper look. It may also be because we just have that much more well paid jobs than what people generally think of as wealth inequality.

            I realize that looks inconsistent so let me explain. Most people think of wealth inequality as the different between the Bezos of the world and them. However in this case, I see their measuring by quintile but we have a ton of software and medical- maybe we just have bigger quintiles three and four. Still wealth inequality mathematically but very different from what people expect that means

    • Peck@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I have also thought that before I moved from Mass to Oregon. Just my experience of course, but my state taxes increases 2x and everything seemed to be more expensive.

      • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I moved from CA to NC and the taxes were absolutely worse.

        EDIT: They were, I even had a check that was half in one state and half in another, and guess what? The CA check was bigger.

      • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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        11 months ago

        How is Massachusetts being outrageously expensive not diametrically opposed to “quality of life”? The average person can’t get ahead in Massachusetts which is why they are leaving to go elsewhere.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Because quality of life is that much higher to make up for the cost, at least mathematically

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yeah, I alternate between proud that we have a $15 minimum wage and horrified at what it probably should be