Today I'm going to talk about five great places to live in the United States if you’re a
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You Can Live in the USA As A Digital Nomad!
If you've ever researched becoming a digital nomad then you've probably come across one of those lists that have the best places in the world to live for digital nomads. Predominantly all of those places are outside the United States. That's because the cost of living outside the United States is so much lower in a lot of cases.
Since I'm a drop shipper I have a location-independent job. I could be a digital nomad but I don't want to leave the United States. So I created a list and started going through all the places in the United States that I could live that makes sense for me.
I've narrowed it down to five locations. I'm going to show you all of them and the pros and cons of each. We're gonna look at things like the weather, if it's a good place for digital nomads, if the taxes are good in those places and of course I'll reveal to you where it is that I'm going to live very soon.
Washington State
The first place we have here is Washington State. The pros of Washington is that there is no state income tax. Also, statistically, people are pretty happy in Washington.
There’s also plenty of good places to work (when I say places to work I mean like co-working spaces and coffee shops). It's also just very beautiful – there are so many places to go hiking and to spend time outside.
If you know about the software SpotNPaste, the owner Jenny lives there and loves it.
Now some of the cons for me is that parts of Washington can be a bit expensive, although certainly not as expensive as New York City where I live now. It is also a little too cold there for my taste.
So although Washington seems like a great place, it’s just not for us.
The Austin, Texas Digital Nomad Scene
The next place I want to look at is Texas, specifically Austin, Texas. There are a few great places in Texas (like Dallas) but I want to focus in on Austin for a few reasons.
First, I’ve heard it’s a real hotspot now for digital nomads. They also have no state income tax!
My sister lived there for about a year and had great things to say about it. People there tend to be really happy and there is a great food scene there.
There are also a lot of co-working spaces and coffee shops and startups. Now I won’t be working at a startup, of course, but it’s great to be surrounded by like minded people trying to build a business.
Although living in downtown Austin can be pricey, if you live outside the city it can be really affordable.
Overall, Austin just seems like a very fun city for digital nomads.
Las Vegas, Nevada for Dropshippers
Nevada is a great place to live for dropshippers. Besides having no state income tax, Las Vegas also provides a ton of entertainment for people.
It can be expensive to live in Las Vegas, but if you live outside it, there are more affordable places. A friend of mine who dropships moved there and loves it. He goes hiking and rock climbing in the desert every day now.
The Puerto Rico Tax Advantages
The last place I wanted to speak about is Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico isn't a state but it is a territory of the United States.
Because of that unique situation, Puerto Rico is a huge haven for digital nomads and that's why it had to make this list.
Puerto Rico is a beautiful country. There is also a huge digital nomad scene because of the tax advantages of living there.
See, in Puerto Rico there's a flat corporate tax rate of 4%. That’s it! Now there are a lot of rules around when the tax rate applies. I’ve even heard that it doesn’t apply to dropshippers. So for that reason and it's it's not the best choice for me as a drop shipper.
Bonus: RV or Sailboat
I do have a bonus one for you. Don’t live anywhere specific! Instead, live in something like an RV or a boat.
This is one of the huge benefits of being a dropshipper. You are completely location independent. You could run it living on a boat just sailing around the world or in an RV driving around the country.
We debated doing this. We even took sailing lessons and rented an RV for a week. If you're a drop shipper it's actually perfect – you can explore while running your business.
However, because I make so many of YouTube videos and that require space and equipment, it doesn’t make sense for me to live in a small space like a van or boat.
If you are interested in living a life like this and becoming a dropshipper, I want to give you a heads up that I do have free dropshipping courses:
So now it’s finally time to reveal where I’m moving and why. Drumroll please….
Florida
Florida is obviously very beautiful. If you go to Orlando, there's also a ton of entertainment there.
This is also going to give us the chance to do more of the things we love like scuba diving. In fact we’ll be about 15 minutes from a beautiful snorkeling spot.
The other huge benefit of living in Florida is that there is no state income tax! Coming from New York City, this is going to save us about 10% each year!
The cost of living is also much lower in Florida. The amount we paid for a small apartment in New York City can buy us a house in Florida with a pool!
Conclusions
So as you can see there are some fantastic places to live in the United States if you’re a dropshipper or digital nomad. You don’t need to move out of the USA!
For us, the best choice is Florida. It still has the warm weather we want but we’ll still be close to our family.
I’m really excited for our new adventure in a new state. If you want to follow along for a more behind the scenes, follow me on instagram!
See you next time!