Go to main Forum page »go here for more discussion
AUTHOR: R Quinn on 4/01/2026
Income, living P to P, even retirement security is relative. You can’t apply just one set of numbers, but HD folks know that. I intuitively knew it too, but I never looked closely at some variables. Relocating and downsizing are often a part of retirement and can have positive or negative financial consequences. It’s something to think about.
For example:
In New Jersey the lower limit of middle class is nearly $70.000 a year, but in Mississippi it is about $40,000. A retiree moving to MS may find themselves upper class without trying. The reverse is unlikely and probably not practical.
Median household income: Mississippi $56,000 and NJ $103,556. Living paycheck to paycheck can have a very different meaning. There is a 54% difference between MS and NJ
Such diversity makes it difficult to make comparisons or assumptions. When someone writes they are living comfortably in retirement, their location is generally a factor – Sometimes indirectly
For example, many people feel teachers are underpaid, but the reality is teacher pay reflects the community incomes in which they work. In New Jersey about 30 school districts in New Jersey now have a median teacher salary of $100,000 or more. Clearly MS or most of the South couldn’t afford to do that, nor do they have to. Mississippi pays a median teacher salary about $48,000 and New Jersey $82,780.
Differences are largely tied to cost of living. NJ teacher salaries mean funding schools equal 50-60% of property taxes thus placing an extra burden on senior retirees which, contributes to NJ having the highest property taxes in the Country and also explains why NJ has several tax relief programs to encourage seniors not to leave the state.
The average monthly Social Security benefit in New Jersey is about $2,170. Property taxes on our condo, not a house, equal $1166 per month – over 50% of average SS income. That would have been true even if we hadn’t moved from our house of 40 year less than a mile away. It would have been true even if our retirement income were a lot less. That is a problem for some retirees.
Average monthly SS benefit in MS = $1,816.00
No doubt those regional differences impact the ability to save as well, but as we say, it’s all relative. The median net worth and retirement savings in MS isn’t quite as bad as it may seem-assuming retirement stays in Mississippi. While there are many variables, NJ has a cost of living estimated 50% higher than Mississippi. Similar differences apply among many states.
Estimated median net worth – MS $87,280 NJ $312,400
Retirement savings – MS $35,000 NJ $137,179
Median Home Equity – MS $108,000 NJ $319,020
Median Bank Deposit Balance – MS $2,000 NJ $21,268
So I guess the basic question is, how do we really determine quality of financial life? Who lives better, the MS or NJ resident…or AZ or ME or TX resident?
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
As Al said, markets work very nicely. In Atlanta metro, the average teacher salary is about 71,900 versus about 54,000 for the other areas of Georgia. You can get different numbers from different salary surveys but my quote is well within the ball park. The cost of living is higher in Atlanta than rural Georgia but when considering ability to save for retirement (teachers have a nice pension plan but still retirement savings add greatly to retired life) and the need to buy things that aren’t discounted because you’re in a lower cost of living area, the effect of lower income is felt. My point is that when I see articles here and there saying, Ten places in America where you can retire on 2000 per month, I don’t believe it one bit. You can live on less in many areas but quality of life will suffer.
I say this as someone who worked many years in Atlanta and then embarked for the hinterlands. Living is easier in the sticks but still costs to live.
LikeLike
Money, cost, etc. is certainly important in retirement. So are other factors – family, other relationships, etc. individual decisions on how to maximize standard of living in retirement, without limiting it only to “the quality of financial life”
One thought, when you mentioned moving from MS to NJ.
You stated: Median household income: Mississippi $56,000 and NJ $103,556. Living paycheck to paycheck can have a very different meaning. There is a 54% difference between MS and NJ.
Actually, for someone moving from MS to NJ, $56,000 needs to be in the denominator of the comparison, so, the difference isn’t 54% but 85%.
Happy Easter, Passover to all.
LikeLike
Ah, yes, of course you are right. Good thing I’m not moving from MS
LikeLike
Al Lindquist:
The U-Haul Index tells it all–why are folks leaving the Garden State to head to MS and other locales? Markets work very nicely–they tell us so much about quality of life.
LikeLike