Hi Mark! You're right; I meant you can compare them, and I also meant they're roughly the same.

That 7.25% is California's sales tax, and the 0.7% is California's property tax, at least according to what I found online.

You're also right that sales taxes are less progressive than income tax, and sales taxes are generally considered one of the most regressive taxes, for the reason you said: you have to spend all of your income when you have a low income, but it's easier to save when you have a high income.

I tried to sidestep that discussion to focus on cost of living, but I did want to mention it in the article in case anyone had "no state income tax" as their number one reason to work remotely.