However, some high schools in Texas have policies that make it hard for incoming transfer students to get a high class rank, in order to protect the class ranks of “native” students. Class rank is the most important factor in Texas public university admission.
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I was thinking the same thing until I saw the house price and crossed all of Southern California straight off the list.
I was also thinking Oregon and Colorado until I saw the sunshine requirement and then the no long dark winters.
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I’ve lived in northern cali, fl, ny, md, now sc. sc is my favorite so far though I’m planning on moving to fl as soon as i can. Kids start college in august. Sc has clemson, u of sc, and college od charleston. Beautiful weather. Not bad winters (though still too cold for me). Love hilton head for vacations. Home prices going up due to migration since the pandemic started. My next door neighbor sold her house within a day, and about 250k above what we thought our homes’ value should be. Look on zillow. Charleston leans more to the left. But SC is a red state. Politically, North carolina might suit you better, if you avoid more rural areas. NC is beautiful too and unc can’t be beat though i’ve heard difficult to get accepted.
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Denver, CO has 300+ days of sun/year. No long dark winters ; )
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Winters in Denver are neither long nor dark.
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Do they have a dream school - because if you go to a state where admission is easier.
Otherwise, Arkansas would check boxes - but more for skiing, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
I’ll say this - if I was moving - I’d move to a no income tax state - like TN where everyone is moving - but house prices are NUTS (at least in Nashville) and we still have 5K Oracle and 5K Amazon employees to come.
But Knoxville is reasonable and close to all that - although the skiing isn’t great.
I have a co-worker - moved from SF to Bozeman Montana - because of the flexible working - and loves it.
What a great opportunity.
Good luck to you.
Yes, I’d like that.
I’d also like a low property tax state. Tired of paying $20k a year in property taxes 
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I may be a bit of a drag, but from where I sit (to the north and east of you) Rutgers and NJIT look quite good to me. Staying in-state for them seems likely to set up a potential deal.
Otherwise the Wiche/WUE states look like a possibility. However, at least some of them have suffered from an increase in housing prices recently.
Wanting to avoid long dark winters would preclude moving up to our corner of the USA.
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Rutgers is a great school!
Somehow it doesn’t get much love or attention but has many well respected programs.
I work in NYC and I’ve lost count of how many excellent Rutgers graduate we’ve hired over the years (many times, in place of Ivy grads).
NJIT - pretty good too.
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I pay no income tax. My most recent tax bill was $3300. Not sure how Tn does it. It’s x times .25 x whatever.
Lets say .5% of assessed value.
Housing is not cheap if you are in a good school district.
Sales tax is high. 8.75 I think and on food but a small price to pay.
The views…very conservative. As my wife says, California os sending us all their nuts :). She says…not me.
Btw we came from CA and while it’s expensive you won’t find a nicer city than San Diego. And great skiing is but 7 hrs away. Not great skiing 3.5. Best city in the country !!
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It seems like job market would be a factor, but maybe you are retired(?).
Tip - Consider putting a few places into your cellphone weather app, look at them each day. That’s what we do sometimes for upcoming vacations, can be helpful. Also weatherspark is awesome. Lots of useful charts, Denver example - Denver Climate, Weather By Month, Average Temperature (Colorado, United States) - Weather Spark.
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My mom lives in Tennessee. She loves the weather. The no state income tax and low property taxes. I’m not sure you would find the schools to be what you have in New Jersey. It would take a lot of investigating or opting for private schools.
It’s more than Nashville.
It’s funny, I’ve been on CC for far too long and I’ve heard the knock on Rutgers. My daughter’s boyfriend and his entire family went there. All very successful, smart and accomplished. They are HUGE Rutgers sports fans. I’m mildly amused.
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Thanks for saying that, @Poochie21 . I respect the OP’s reasons for new choices, but I love the heck out of New Jersey and will die here. Both my kids are confirmed Jerseyans, too. Not saying people shouldn’t leave who want to, just tired of being trashed.
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Virginia has good weather and excellent state schools. Be aware though admission to UVA, Wm & Mary and VA Tech is very competitive. It’s also gotten more competitive for some of the other in state publics such as JMU and VCU. Northern VA is very expensive housing wise but if you don’t need to commute to DC area, there are other parts of the state where the housing costs are much lower. Someone upthread mentioned Charlottesville, but that area may have also gotten pretty pricey, too.
Since taxes were mentioned, VA does have a state income tax. It’s been my observation that states with no state income taxes usually have high property taxes or the schools aren’t great. I mean the money has to come from somewhere.
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San Diego was going to be my suggestion until I saw house $ figure.
We are considering NC and VA as retirement locations. I’d consider Colorado, but my husband wants little snow.
When checking locations, make sure you look at the weather and the charts that show when the weather is “oppressive.” I’ve found as I’ve gotten older the extreme heat/humidity is as hard or harder to deal with than cold.
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NC is starting to reduce their income tax rate. In a few years it will be down from 5.25% last year to 3.99% in 2027. RTP area has great public schools. Since NC limits OOS to 18% if you want to go to college in NC, it is a great advantage to live there.
My biggest issue with NC is my allergies. I was tired of being sick from March- November. We are trying out other places because being there year round is miserable for me.
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Texas.
If I were going to consider moving to NC for college, I would suggest moving a few years early and trying to get into NCSSM if you have a STEM kid. If you are not familiar with it, look it up.
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There used to be a parent poster who packed her large family and moved to NC get the in-state tuition and merit benefits. @katwkittens I think?
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Do you have any desire to live near your children when they’re adults? If you’re planning on moving, you might consider waiting until they’re out of college and seeing where they’re located.
But when reading what you were describing, my first thought was western North Carolina checks all your boxes. VA, GA, SC also would seem to be possibilities.
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