re: Cost of living -- Richardson/Garland, TX vs Baton Rouge

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You can't deduct tuition.

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LA gives you a deduction on state taxes. I think up to 5k or something like that

Rockwall for the win.

Top schools--
Good restaurants
Close to everything you need

We moved to Rockwall from Garland five years ago.

Trust me, you don't want to live in Richardson or Garland, especially if you're single or have school aged kids.

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Yes. Close to Cityline.

Also single and no kids. Don't want a long commute. Would rather pay higher rent/mortgage and have shorter commute.

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I was going to suggest uptown since you are single but I was thinking 635 not the Bush.

However, you could consider something back toward downtown, be heading opposite traffic or you could take the train depending on how close your job is to a station.

I also had some commutes across town when i was on the north side of Dallas that weren't bad, rather than N-S like everybody else.

Those could widen your target area. Good luck!

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Also single and no kids

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You might look at The Village which is at Greenville and Lovers. There are a lot of new, nice apartments there as well as some older stuff. Tons of single people and close to all the going out spots in Dallas. It's easy access to 75 or you could even drive straight up Greenville to Richardson. Also close to a DART train station and I think there is a station at Cityline. If I were single I wouldn't want to live in the burbs....I'm old and married and still don't want to live in the burbs.

Garland and Richardson are basically Dallas these days. To the untrained eye, you’d have no idea when you left Dallas and entered McKinney driving up 75. Yes, it is easily that much higher than Baton Rogue.

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I was going to suggest uptown since you are single but I was thinking 635 not the Bush.

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I’ve had Plano as a territory and live around Knox Henderson. It’s really not that bad. Can be as little as 15 minutes on a good day, and 25 minutes on a bad (minus a terrible car accident). The afternoon rush can be a bitch though, but morning is fine.

I'll be real with you for minute. Others can chime in.

That area isn't what you would call a party paradise for the young... you will be able to eat very well, drink with friends at cool places and find nice, safe, clean places to live but be selective.

Where you will be there are some areas you would be insane to consider. Any suggestion of The Colony, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Coppell should be ignored. Any suggestion of south of 635, totally ignore. West of DNT North? Ignore. McKinney, while "close" is simply an arse-whipping during the morn/eve commute NtoS then StoN. North of Legacy/75 is a new crowded world.

Your best bet is to look at the GB corridor from, say, Preston/GB to the West and towards Firewheel/GB to the East. Honestly, there are some new places sprouting up all over the place between Coit back to 75 due to Raytheon/State Farm. Mix of families and singles if I had to guess. Staying on the W side of GB/75 makes for an easier access to DNT, which you will have to take more times than you think.

Save your drive time for destinations other than work. Fun shite. Don't screw with a crappy commute M-F. Brave traffic to get somewhere you want to go.

Rent for a year, save your cash and look for a home to buy over time. No snap decisions.

You need to lock down the whole exchange (Richardson costs vs BR costs) and add to that your cost to move for the 'promotion' (any decent company will pay you this anyway, but make sure you let them know you expect to be fully compensated for relocation costs) Take that to the manager who is offering to promote you. Let them know your research numbers. Remember this above all else; a 'promotion that doesn't take you a step up in lifestyle isn't a promotion. It's a demotion and put simply, YOU are receiving more responsibility, more work, more hours and doing it for less. If your employer doesn't understand this, you need to make sure they do. If you tell them, and they don't care, then you need to re-evaluate your comfort with your current employer, because they would have identified themselves as just using you, at a lower wage than they'd have to pay a local guy to do the same work. The local guy would know better than to accept a 'promotion' for less than he's making now.

Also, if you're moving away from being close to relatives, how much are you going to have to budget to go back X times a year to visit?

Lots to consider. Losing being close to your local friendships sucks, too. I can attest. Dallas people are pretty full of suck, sometimes. Cowboys this, Cowboys that. Blah, blah, the Cowboys... Jerry Jones. All-the-time. No REAL Mardi Gras. Traffic so bad. Metro area is just huge. Expect your car's fuel bill to rise. Cost of new tires and more maintenance costs are needed more frequently. Your car's value will go lower, and lower and lower from miles and miles of traffic that'll suck out your soul and leave you filled with road rage!

Hey, enjoy the fruits of your new promotion. Really.

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Cost of housing is crazy in Dallas these days

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In the surrounding DFW areas, it's really not that crazy especially when you factor in everything that you get out of living in the area.

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On top of that, Property taxes are very high percentage wise

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Yea, those are high af.

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I live in Dallas
you call this living?

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Compared to BR please, OP get the frick out of Louisiana especially BR if you have the chance.