Just ran some numbers on what you actually need to earn to pocket 150k after taxes, and man, the state you live in makes a huge difference. Like, if you're in Texas or Florida, you're looking at around 201k gross. But California? You need to pull in 226k to take home the same amount. That's a 25k gap just because of taxes.

The worst hit seems to be Oregon at 35.1% tax burden - you'd need 231k gross to net 150k. Meanwhile states with no income tax like Texas, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, and Wyoming have the lightest load at 25.5%. Even within similar regions the numbers vary - Alaska at 25.5% versus Hawaii at 33.3% is wild.

I was surprised how much the standard deduction and FICA taxes factor in. Basically, if you're targeting that 150k take-home, you can't just look at salary alone - gotta factor in where you're actually living. Some states are eating almost a third of your gross income before you see it.