For people who live right on the border of two states, does crossing that invisible line actually impact your daily life with different laws and taxes, or do you barely notice it?
Posted by Necessary_Angle2117@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 106 comments
As an outsider looking at a map of the US, cities like Kansas City (split between Kansas and Missouri) or Lake Tahoe (California/Nevada) fascinate me.
If you live in a border town or commute across a state line for work, how complicated does it get? Are you dealing with completely different sales taxes when you buy groceries, or weird differences in traffic laws? Do people actively choose to live on one side of the street instead of the other just to save money on taxes?
Inkspotten@reddit
I live in Pennsylvania across the river from New Jersey
NJ:: The gas is cheaper than PA and they pump the gas for you in NJ, which is great in winter
NJ: liquor stores have a better selection of liquor than PAs “state stores”
Roads are FAR better in NJ than PA.
mmbg78@reddit
NJ also has a certain type of store you cannot go to on PA...🪴
Individual_Check_442@reddit
Vancouver, WA, pay no state income tax, drive into Oregon to buy stuff and pay no sales tax
Accomplished-Fun215@reddit
I used to live in the DC metro area, where the core region is two states + DC. I hardly noticed crossing day to day to see friends or go out, though there are different liquor laws. You do notice when going to college (different options for in state tuition) and when moving between them (reregister car, transfer driver's license, change healthcare if you're on medicaid or Obamacare etc). Taxes also vary a lot, and school curriculum changes a bit. High schools won't generally play sports across state lines either, if that matters to you. Moving for work between them isn't a huge deal, but you'd have to think about it for half an hour once a year to file.
mmbg78@reddit
Lololol my son lives in DC and I am always asking him which state we are in when I visit him and we are driving around
MangoSalsa89@reddit
Sometimes I notice that the quality of the roads changes but that’s about it haha. I know I’m back in PA when I hit a pothole.
allysonismyholmie@reddit
I live on the boarder of North and South Carolina. A lot of people live in SC and travel to NC for work. The taxes are lower in SC but a lot of the corporate jobs are in NC. I believe if you live in one and work in the other, you have to pay income tax for each state. Gasoline is less expensive in SC, also.
Scurvy_Pete@reddit
That's wild. For a while I was working for a place in Indiana while living in Kentucky, but there's a tax reciprocity agreement between them so I only had to file income taxes for the state I lived in (KY). Idk if Kentucky has this with the other 6 states it borders, but I just kinda assumed that most/all bordering states had some kind of agreement like this.
o93mink@reddit
DC/MD/VA all do it too
Derwin0@reddit
PA does it with MD and NJ as well.
Excellent-Practice@reddit
And MD has a much more favorable rate than DC. One year payroll accidentally withheld both for me. That was a fat tax return
Wolfsburg78@reddit
I live in RI and work in Massachusetts. I have to file taxes in both, but get a credit in RI for what I paid Mass. This year I owed RI $15, but got $200 back from Mass.
bandit1206@reddit
Try living in KY and working in TN and getting a surprise the first year. Didn’t expect to get a bill from KY since I didn’t work there, and Tn has no state income tax
CommercialWorried319@reddit
Same with Indiana and Ohio
riggles1970@reddit
Me, too (hey, from Charlotte). Right over the border, you do have cheaper gas, fireworks stores (you can buy almost any firework in SC) and liquor stores (they are state run in NC). And, the roads have more potholes.
averagejosh@reddit
Crossing from NC into SC and the roads always turn into complete garbage.
HappyJoie@reddit
Why wouldn't you think this is true? Cities within states even do it. I don't live in the major city I work in, but I have to pay a specific tax to that city for the 'privilege' of earning there even though I live in the burbs.
sunny_elle@reddit
Exactly this. Some cities in the state have an income tax and some don’t. The city I physically work in, but do not live in, does. I have to pay a reduced, non-resident percentage, income tax to that city. It is supposed to cover usage of city services while in the city. Cost of traffic lights, roadway lighting, emergency services, etc.
While filing for the year there is a mechanism to exempt the tax for any days you do not physically report to the city for work, and therefore did not use city services.
ramblinjd@reddit
Same - other things I noticed, when NC had legal sorts betting, I got a bunch of draft kings advertising despite it being technically illegal in SC. Also NC passed a pornography ID requirement that SC didn't have but applied in SC because my ISP routes through Charlotte.
KartFacedThaoDien@reddit
There is no way that income tax for each state thing is true
Oenonaut@reddit
State income tax. You’d only file one federal return though.
CommercialWorried319@reddit
One federal return and a state return in Indiana
allysonismyholmie@reddit
Sorry, yes! State income tax.
riggles1970@reddit
It is, but generally you receive a deduction for income tax paid to another state. So, you don’t pay double, just slightly more.
My daughter works for a consulting firm and has to file taxes for multiple states, for each location where she worked.
AcadiaRemarkable6992@reddit
My buddy lived in New York, worked in Connecticut and always got fucked at tax time.
TruCat87@reddit
Its completely true. I used tonlive on the NC side and knew tons of people who lived and SC and came up to NC to work. I also used to go down to SC for gas cuz it was usually cheaper.
pixeequeen84@reddit
I live on the border of SD and WY (on the SD side). I work with several people who live in WY but work over here because SD doesn't have state income tax.
Derwin0@reddit
When I lived in Southern PA, co-workers that live in MD didn’t notice as the two States had a reciprocal agreement to allow employees to have income taxes based on where they lived.
Basically the only time you’d notice is if you lived in one and worked in the other and the two States didn’t have a reciprocal agreement in taxation.
_pamelab@reddit
I live in Illinois and work in Missouri so the line isn’t invisible.
I have to file taxes in both states and the taxes on marijuana and gas are way lower in Missouri. That’s about it. Traffic and most day to day laws are the same.
ZaphodG@reddit
I had 15 years where I had a condo at a ski resort in Vermont, a house and boat on the ocean in Massachusetts, and my legal address was New Hampshire. I worked for a New Hampshire company for a number of years and then telecommuted. New Hampshire has no state income tax. Lots of out of staters own second homes at Vermont ski resorts and coastal Massachusetts. It’s normal to have an out of state license plate on your car.
I dropped the New Hampshire property when I retired. I still buy expensive things in New Hampshire because there is no sales tax.
I’m 10 miles from Rhode Island. I drive 30 minutes to IMAX in Providence. My iPhone needs a new battery. The Apple Store is in Providence. All the luxury car dealerships are in Rhode Island. Lexus. BMW. Mercedes. Volvo. I live in the Providence metro. Back when television was over the air and 3 commercial networks, the stations were in Providence. You needed a fancy antenna to get the Boston stations.
I’ve lived in 4 of the 6 New England states. My mother lived in the other two. I’ve had long term relationships with women who lived in New Jersey and New York City. We were at the same Vermont ski resorts on weekends.
Careful-Blood-1560@reddit
New England be like that. Our boats are registered in NH, cars in CT and we primarily live in RI.
growing_fatties@reddit
Offsale alcohol sales stop at 1am in Nebraska and 2am in Iowa. We're a little over an hour away from Iowa. Sometimes when people try to buy after 1, if they're being a dick about it I tell them they can buy in Iowa till 2. They usually get all excited and run to the car. Eventually they'll realize they'll never make it in time.
triplealpha@reddit
Nebraska corn goes on the table, Iowa corn goes into your gas tank
iPoseidon_xii@reddit
What? No. Both feed livestock and make biofuel. Very little corn in this country is grown for human consumption.
iPoseidon_xii@reddit
Don’t notice it. I live on the Iowa side because taxes are much, much cheaper. But the Nebraska side has all the amenities thanks to Omaha. I can literally see downtown from my front porch. It’s my house, a couple streets, the Missouri River, then Omaha. It’s convenient to have access to a mid sized city while paying taxes and cost of living of a smaller municipality.
frickenfantastic@reddit
I work in one of the border cities in Missouri.
Every year filling out federal and state income taxes is more complicated than it seems like it should be. I have to file state taxes in the state I work in and the state I live in. It doesn’t feel great having to pay tax to the state I work in and the state I live in.
People in my area, deliberately drive from one state to the other to purchase certain things like gasoline the gas tax is considerably lower in one state versus the other
Driving in traffic rules are practically the same between the two most of this is because the federal government requires compliance with certain rules about traffic signs if a state is going to receive any federal money and that causes the signs to be similar in the various areas so you understand what the rules are in various areas
Crayshack@reddit
The road quality is noticeably different between MD and PA. Other than that, I don't really notice much of a difference.
CraftFamiliar5243@reddit
I live very near Virginia and North Carolina. I do most of my grocery shopping in Virginia. Virginia is a shorter drive because of the mountains but Virginia has no sales tax on food and lower sales tax on everything so major purchases, such as appliances or furniture are made in VA as well. Gas is cheaper in TN so I buy gas there when I can. I live in Tennessee because there is no income tax and property tax is low. We are on a pension so ever little bit helps.
Ok_Umpire2173@reddit
Border of Maryland/Delaware. There’s not much on either side till you get to the beach, so no you don’t notice a difference. Tobacco tax is much higher in Maryland so people buy their stuff in Delaware, but Delaware has weird alcohol sales so it’s a wash probably in the alcohol/tobacco context.
Delaware has no sales tax which Delawareans are super weird about, like they’ll refuse to go to a store in Maryland 5 minutes away to avoid sales tax so they end up driving halfway across Delaware instead. I don’t think they understand basic sales tax is like pennies unless is a special category.
No_Performance_4465@reddit
People in New England go to NH specifically for no sales tax and no tax on alcohol.
North_Artichoke_6721@reddit
We used to drive to a neighboring state to buy big ticket items to pay less sales tax but now the price of the gas to drive there is too much.
Many years ago, the drinking age was different by state. (18 vs 21) It was common to cross over to drink.
needmoarbass@reddit
You don’t notice it at all. It’s just like going into any other city/town, whether that city/town is in the same state or different state.
Genepoolperfect@reddit
Yep. We're on the NY/NJ border. No drama.
jw8815@reddit
I live on the border of Iowa and Illinois, right across the Mississippi. Gas is $1 cheaper per gallon on the Iowa side. Same population cities on both sides of the river, same size malls, Illinois side is an almost dead ghost town while the Iowa side is thriving. Both these examples are from Illinois politics taxing too much and bad policy.
Important_Canary6766@reddit
I live in Pennsylvania just above the border with Maryland. Gas is a lot cheaper in Maryland due to lower taxes so I try to always fill my car up in Maryland, but Pennsylvania does not tax clothing so I try to buy clothing in Pennsylvania. Milk is also cheaper in Maryland. Overall, the sales tax is the same.
TrumanD1974@reddit
In addition, any major highway going from MD to PA will have numerous billboards for fireworks shops; going the other way, there always seems to be a liquor store just inside Maryland when traveling south from Pennsylvania.
machagogo@reddit
Each state has it's own constitution with it's own laws. So yes, there are different laws to follow and taxes will differ.
Generally laws are pretty similar, but here are a few examples of differences that could immediately impact you.
I live in New Jersey, with 9 million people it is fairly populous. But itbis small in area. Many people live in NJ but work in New York or Philadekphia, and crossing into these states for work, or to go out, or to see a sporting event, or whatever is common. It is common for people from NY or PA to cross into NJ for work or play as well.
Pretty much everywhere in the US you can make a right on red after a complete stop unless a sign notifies otherwise. Except in New York City you cannot. NJ drivers often forget this and may get a ticket if/when they do this.
NJ used to not issue carry permits at all, and did not recognize other states permits for its citizens to do so. Pennsylvania did/does. Pennsylvania also has a duty to notify, meaning if a polic officer pulls you over when driving you most notify that you are in possession of a weapon. One day a woman made a wrong turn in PA accidentally got on a bridge to NJ. Once on the NJ side she made an illegal U-Turn to go right back to PA but was pulled over. When the police officer approached her window she gave her license and notified she was in possession of a weapon as she is supposed to in PA, and was promptly arrested as that was illegal to do in NJ.
In NJ it is illegal for a fuel station to allow you to pump you own gas/diesel. Out of staters oft don't know this and you will see service station employees running to stop them from doing so. (The station would get a fine for doing so, not the customer)
Sales ans fuel faxes in New York, then even .ore in New York City are higher than in New Jersey etc, but otherwise, by and large crossing is unnoticed and simple save for a significant saying "Welcome to XYZ" and roads having been paved at different times, slightly different signage etc.
rolyoh@reddit
I live 5 miles from a tri-state border (Utah/Arizona/Nevada). When I drive across, it's an hour earlier in Nevada all the time and an hour earlier in Arizona during Daylight Savings Time because Arizona doesn't observe DST. Differences in laws are also significant. Utah is a very puritanical nanny state where a religious organization wields a lot of influence. Nevada and Arizona are more wild west rugged individualism and much more open when it comes to allowing vices and adult behaviors.
Unhappy-Ad-3870@reddit
I lived in Connecticut about half a mile from the NY border for many years. I’d go out for a run and cross the state line. There was no difference. I’d do things equally in both states.
ramblinjd@reddit
The biggest thing I've noticed is gas prices being different because of taxes, or alcohol not being available at certain times or days in one jurisdiction. Most other things that are different are barely noticeable in that close proximity.
throwfar9@reddit
Sales taxes aren’t only at the state level in all cases. There can be city/county extras to pay for big infrastructure like stadium bonds, or just because the county spends more. The sales tax in the county seven miles from us is higher enough that we don’t buy big items like furniture there.
WillGrahamsass@reddit
The only difference in Ohio is that everything is taxed. Pennsylvania has weird tax laws so you only pay tax on certain items.
Grand_Raccoon0923@reddit
It isn't that big of a deal. Generally, you pay taxes for where you live.
A bigger pain in the butt is living, working, etc, across time zone lines.
AwarenessGreat282@reddit
It's not difficult but you notice the differences and deal with it. I was raised in MA along the CT border. CT people swarmed north to shop because MA had no sales tax on clothes or food. CT had no income tax, but MA would collect theirs if you were a MA resident and worked in CT and MA would collect MA income tax if you were a CT resident working in MA. One of the many reasons it is known as "Taxachusetts". I also lived in Oregon across the Snake River from Idaho. OR has no sales tax so it was a huge shopping destination.
Dapper_Raspberry8579@reddit
I live on the border of Oregon and Washington. Oregon has no sales tax and Washington has no income tax, so lots of people who live across the river will hop over to Portland to buy furniture, electronics, or anything else expensive enough for the sales tax to make a big difference in the cost. Oregon also has gas station attendants who pump your gas for you, which is weird if you're not used to it, and irritating as hell when you are parked at a pump when the station is busy and you have to just sit and wait for the attendant to get to you rather than just do it yourself.
Cardinal101@reddit
I heard Oregon recently made it so people could pump their own gas, no? But yeah, when I visited there a few years ago I hated not pumping my own gas. So awkward to have someone else do it.
Courwes@reddit
Yes it’s no longer illegal to pump your own gas
Dapper_Raspberry8579@reddit
I live on the Washington side and never stop for gas when I'm in Oregon. I know that it's "no longer illegal to do it yourself" there, but it was when I moved back to the PNW a couple of years ago, and it was when I grew up there.
Calculusshitteru@reddit
Yeah I lived in Seattle but my boyfriend lived in Eugene. I used to do all my big shopping sprees while visiting him.
MissMurderpants@reddit
I live where I can drive through 4 states in about an hour.
The only difference is the road actually, especially in winter. Mainly in his states treat the roads in bad weather conditions.
OkTransportation6580@reddit
I'm close enough to the border of Michigan and Indiana but in a tiny town. Someday I get to decide if I want to drive an hour south to indiana to go shopping or an hour north to the next biggest town in state. Everything is country back roads so the only real difference is the speed drop.
Seidhr96@reddit
At most you’ll notice the roads went from shit to amazing in pavement quality, or vise versa and that suddenly there are different license plates and that’s about it lol
Now if you work in one state and commute into another you do see some differences in taxes, but I wouldn’t say anything substantial
I live on the GA/FL border on the GA side and currently our state has a gas tax freeze, so gas is about $3.50-3.60. FL has not froze their gas taxes so when you cross the border it’s like $4.00 or thereabout, so there is that too I guess. Buying a car is also cheaper in Florida for some odd reason in my experience, but you’ll still pay the GA tax rate because of how our tags and taxes work. Thats about all I can think of
No-Donut-8692@reddit
Lived in MD and worked in DC for 15 years. You don’t really notice except sales tax is different when you buy lunch and speed cameras are literally everywhere. (Ok, maybe i do notice because i slow down lol) Many states have tax treaties so in my case I didn’t even have to file income taxes with DC.
SkittleCar1@reddit
I live on the NY/VT border. Once you go over the bridge on the other side of the lake, you'll see the license plates change color. That's about it.
Fuckspez42@reddit
I grew up in one state, could get to another in literally under a minute, another in about 15 minutes, and a third in under a half-hour.
The biggest differences I saw were surrounding the laws about selling alcohol: one state would refuse to sell alcohol at all on Sundays. Another would sell unlimited alcohol on Sundays, but was limited to only beer & wine. The third was the same as the second, but only for beer (and the beer was less expensive), and the fourth just didn’t GAF about Sundays so long as it was before midnight.
humanofearth-notai@reddit
It matters when a tree is down and blocking a back road.
HoyAIAG@reddit
I know a bunch of people that drive to Michigan from Ohio to buy cheaper weed.
DigTheDunes@reddit
I'm right on Ind/Mich border and there is a time change to deal with also, no big deal.
Trinx_@reddit
I had to think about this for a second. You must be by Michigan City because there's no time change for most of the border. It's crazy how they decided to do different time zones in different counties in Indiana. Honestly we had it right way back when we just didn't participate in the idiotic Daylight Savings. The rest of the country should have gone our way instead of us joining in the idiocy.
DigTheDunes@reddit
Correct. Actually the time zones make sense. The three counties on Lake Michigan are in the central (along with the one right below Lake County IN). Those are actually considered in the Chicago market. There are a few at the bottom of Ind that are in the central also. The counties in Michigans UP that border Wisconsin are also in the Central time zone.
CloudedLeopardDaemon@reddit
I live in Southeastern Massachusetts, and you barely notice it. Like Tiverton, Rhode Island is basically a neighbourhood of Fall River, MA.
Medium_Tomatillo2705@reddit
A good example is the tri-state of NY, NJ and CT. There are other areas with the same multistate area. We don't even notice or think about it. News coverage esp weather covers the whole area so we hear news around the area.
Maybe you think about taxes come tax time, but there are other more important reasons for choosing residence like rent (NY expensive) schools if you have kids (this is more granular by zip codes sometimes) owning a car (needed if further out in NJ and CT) etc.
Trinx_@reddit
There's liquor stores along borders for this reason. Used to have to drive to Michigan if I wanted wine on a Sunday. Likewise, there's fireworks stores on the Indiana side, since you can't buy them in Michigan. Gas is cheaper in Michigan. Hell, now that I'm in Chicago, gas is significantly cheaper as soon as I cross into Lake County due to local taxes. I know there's a difference in cigarette prices too but I don't smoke. It's kinda funny seeing billboards advertising dispensaries in Michigan when it's still an illegal drug in Indiana.
The biggest issue of course is abortion laws. You'll see billboards along the highway shaming Indiana girls driving into Chicago for an abortion. Not an every day occurrence, but very significant impact. Sometimes it means going to a hospital on the other side of the border means you'll be less likely to die.
urquhartloch@reddit
I used to live on the California/Nevada border in Reno. You do notice it because its a lot easier to get gambling permits in Nevada than in California and washoe county is one of two counties in the US where prostitution is legal.
Also, in spite of their best efforts gas was still cheaper there than in California.
Affectionate_Big8239@reddit
We live in PA near DE, MD, & NJ.
In PA, we have state run liquor stores, so for better selection, we head to NJ or DE.
NJ also has legal dispensaries, so some people go there for those.
There is no tax on purchases in DE, so we drive there for really big purchases to save on the tax when possible.
Beyond the alcohol, weed, & taxes, the states are the same.
roastedandflipped@reddit
Yes there is a diffrence. Some states dont fix there roads or mow the grass they all tax diffrent things.
little_runner_boy@reddit
It depends. I live around Boston so regularly go into several other states. Road quality changes. The vibe can change. Massive signs for New Hampshire's state run liquor stores. But it doesn't change very much. People getting a new car definitely ask which state is "best" to purchase in. Taxes will be based on where you live but other laws can make things very different
loweexclamationpoint@reddit
Absolutely. We live on the IL side of the Cheddar Curtain and make weekly trips to WI to buy gas, which is up to $1 per gal cheaper. Also for major purchases because sales tax is lower.
Safer driving in WI too because there aren't red light & speed cameras.
Courwes@reddit
Yes you pay more taxes if you live on the other side from where you work. Otherwise the only difference I notice are the drivers are worse and the cops have nothing better to do so they are every fucking where and will stop you if you hit 10 over.
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
When I enter Rhode Island my driving skill automatically decreases.
/s
CommercialWorried319@reddit
It can be interesting, I lived in Indiana by Ohio and Michigan, Indiana doesn't charge a can deposit, Michigan does, to get your Michigan deposit back you had to take your cans to Michigan, there's separate UPCs for deposit vs no deposit and some stores right by the border would have cans that could be taken to Michigans nearest Walmart and ran through the machine to get that 10¢ most people didn't bother or even know unless you had other reasons to go to that town.
Indiana also had lower taxes on cigarettes so there were "State Minimum" stores right across the border.
Also Indiana, at least where I've lived, didn't allow hard porn so across the border on the Michigan side a few miles was a sex shop with porn, toys etc.
We also had a good butcher with good prices so 3 states of EBT was used there (SNAP).
And honestly some of the back roads without signs that you had crossed a state border you could tell by the quality of the roads.
Laws were essentially the same, for a long time just crossing a state border would put you an hour different but I think that part of Indiana now changes time like everywhere else.
Jolee5@reddit
We notice it. We work in a state with no income tax, but high sales tax, and we do all our shopping minutes away in a state with no sales tax.
No-Pickle-8200@reddit
If you live in one state and work in another, or have 2 jobs in the two different states, it can make your taxes SLIGHTLY more complicated.
For people who tour, like musicians or whatever, they may need to file for each state where they earned money… that can be more complicated to the point where they need to hire someone to handle their taxes. I worked backstage on a tour once and had to file in several states. “Luckily” I was earning so little that I only met the minimum requirement to file in a couple states…
reyadeyat@reddit
This is going to be really annoying for me next year because I'm going to have income in four states and I'm probably going to move so I'll have been a part-time resident in two states. Most years I have to file in two or three states but this is the first time that I'll have to file in four.
upnflames@reddit
I live right next to NYC in NJ. Taxes are a lot lower in NJ so I don't really do much shopping in the city. I only go there for like, restaurants and entertainment, or to see clients.
lissalissa3@reddit
I live on the border between two states and work in the other one from where I live. On my daily commute, I can tell exactly where the state line is because the road quality changes. When my husband and I were looking to buy a house, we purposely kept to this state because property taxes are way way less. Sales tax is also cheaper in my state, but not enough for me to notice a big difference on every day items. Year end taxes are slightly more complicated, but not bad enough to make a big difference.
OrganizationSouth481@reddit
The only time I noticed it was when I lived in PA and worked in NJ. And even then I noticed it on tax refund day and that’s it. 😒
AcadiaRemarkable6992@reddit
I live about 15 min from a state line and there’s no appreciable difference when I cross borders. No extra tolls and everything doesn’t look different all of a sudden because you’re in another state except maybe the license plates
jackaroo1344@reddit
I lived in Kansas City for years, you don't notice the Kansas/Missouri line at all and crossing back and forth is nbd.
I also lived in Saint Louis, and the Missouri/Illinois line was extremely noticeable. You have to cross a mega-sized river and the city has a completely different look and vibe on the two sides.
STL feels more like two separate cities facing eachother across the river/state lines, whereas Kansas City felt like one big city that straddles a river and state lines.
asteriskelipses@reddit
In Bristol, youre an imposter if you're from the other state
_leira_@reddit
I live right on the border of Washington and Idaho. Idaho gas is almost a dollar cheaper, so it's worth it to travel the 15-20 min just to get gas. Taxes are slightly cheaper in Idaho, but groceries are tax free in Washington so I don't worry about that. A lot of people live in Idaho and work in Washington because housing can be slightly cheaper but Washington wages are higher, but there's no income tax in Washington so I always argue with people that it's cheaper to live in Washington and not pay income tax and the extra gas.
As for laws, weed is legal in Washington and not in Idaho. But nicotine products and alcohol are way cheaper in Idaho.
Forsythia77@reddit
I was born and raised in Michigan City Indiana. Yes it is on the IN/MI border. Michigan City is in the central time zone. Michigan is on the eastern time zone. That one hour time difference was the only major thing. As a kid we also used to collect aluminum cans and take them back to the grocery store in New Buffalo to get the $0.05 aluminum deposit refund. Indiana doesn't have that.
Freyjas_child@reddit
I live fairly close to a state border. Yes, people do choose where to live based on what state they would be living in. The income tax and property tax situation is very different. In my case public services including public schools are funded differently and their quality is dramatically different.
Any difference in traffic laws are minor and you just learn them when you learn to drive. In my situation the difference in sales tax is significant and it is very common to drive across state lines to buy something to save the money on sales tax.
ima_mandolin@reddit
There are only minor differences. I live in Pennsylvania but when I go to New Jersey I can't pump my own gas. I'll be in Delaware today but can't think of any noticeable differences.
Silently-Snarking@reddit
Barely notice it/used to it.
travelinmatt76@reddit
The laws are pretty similar between states, mostly just common sense stuff. But some states don't allow radar detectors, or a police scanner in your car
Calm-Vacation-5195@reddit
I live on the border between Indiana and Kentucky. The border itself is a large river (the Ohio), so it’s hard to cross between the states accidentally, but there is virtually no difference. There are a couple of toll bridges and many people choose where to live based on those bridges.
Traffic laws are nearly the same in every state, with only minor differences here and there, although Indiana has started investing heavily in traffic circles while Kentucky generally avoids them. The biggest difference between Indiana and Kentucky these days is that you can buy wine and liquor in a regular grocery store (even Walmart) in Indiana, but in Kentucky, you have to go to a separate liquor store (or non-grocery store) if you want anything that isn’t beer. Target is a big chain store here in the States, and many years ago, they decided they wanted to be grocery stores to better compete with Walmart. Except for a few “Super Targets,” they couldn’t sell enough food to be considered a grocery stores under Kentucky law. Because they aren’t legally grocery stores, they can (and do) sell wine and liquor, which is really weird in Kentucky.
techieman34@reddit
You don’t notice anything physically other than maybe a sign that says you’re leaving one state and entering another. There is also usually a change in the quality of the road as well since you’re going from an area maintained by one road department to another one. And they are almost never maintained/replaced on the same schedule.
There are tax differences which can affect things like the price of fuel, tobacco, and alcohol that often have specific taxes associated with them and are included in the marked price. There will also be a difference in sales tax on anything else that you buy. So a lot of people will cross to the state that is cheaper, especially for large purchases.
Then there are things like marijuana and fireworks that may be legal in one state and illegal in the other. So people will cross state lines to go buy them. There will often be stores setup to sell those things just on the other side of the state line.
JustAuggie@reddit
I live in a state that has no income tax, right next-door to a state that has no sales tax. We often cross the border to do our shopping. The negative part is that if you work in the neighboring state, you have to pay that state’s income tax, even if you don’t actually live there.
Bcatfan08@reddit
You'll never notice the difference. People in Ohio go into Michigan almost every day to avoid traffic lights on the Ohio side. People on the Michigan side go into Ohio almost every day for the shopping and running errands. Lots of people live in one state and work in another. Pretty common.
jackfaire@reddit
Yes. It can be cheaper to buy things on the other side of the river where they don't have sales tax so some people will go over there to shop.
MajesticBread9147@reddit
I live close to Maryland and Virginia.
The transition for both is obvious. Going from Virginia to either involves crossing a bridge, or a slightly longer than normal time between metro stations. On land, DC's borders with Maryland are roads that are pretty clearly marked.
A big thing is that DC is ahead of much of the country on a lot of things largely due to being very educated and very diverse. They got legal weed before anywhere else on the East Coast so people would go to DC for weed for a long time even though it's highly illegal to bring it back across state lines.
Labor laws are different between jurisdictions. For example If you have a security guard license, you need a different one in DC or Maryland to work jobs needing it.
The minimum wage is different in each place. DC requires employers to give paid sick leave, so my father accrues a fraction of an hour of paid sick leave for each hour he works in DC, but not in Maryland or Virginia despite all being for the same employer.
mindcontrol93@reddit
There is no sales tax on prescription glasses in Kansas. It is also harder to buy alcohol in Kansas.
The suburbs with good schools are closer to the city on the KS side as well. Housing costs are more because of that and other factors.
MenuPsychological853@reddit
I live on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. It’s pretty obvious when you cross the state line into Kentucky. Everything is cleaner and the roads are better. Their road numbers are annoying and they suck at doing road names and addresses which makes no sense to me.
ChessieChesapeake@reddit
Not on the border, but I’m in Maryland and go over to Virginia or into DC frequently. You’ll pay their sales tax if you buy goods, but there is no big difference between the two.
I know a lot of people in the St. Louis area who live on the Missouri side because taxes are cheaper, but I also know a few who live on the Illinois side because they’d rather live in a more liberal state.
tracygee@reddit
Not really.
The only way it would affect you would be if you live in one state and work in another. Your state taxes then have to be figured differently.