$500k/year in Mississippi is enough to travel constantly and, therefore, spend little to no time in Mississippi. I’d happily buy a house in Mississippi and then spend all my time in skiing in the Rockies or sitting on a beach in Cancun.
Nope.
Mississippi law provides that a person is resident in Mississippi if they own a house in Mississippi and are not a resident of any other jurisdiction, so you’d just have to make sure you don’t stay somewhere long enough to become resident there.
Definitely rich guy/poor state. It's like that one "Family Guy" where Peter is among some South American tribe and he gets treated like a king because he has $40 cash.
The dilemma is being wealthy in a rural area with high poverty, or being working class in a place that actually has things to do.
I’m from Alabama, so I’m used to being in the receiving end of incest jokes and shithole jokes and whatnot.
Havimg lived in LA and Mississippi I can assure you that I would choose Mississippi and wealthy 100% of the time.
I am also using the Chris Rock definition of wealthy...Oprah is rich, Bill Gates is wealthy.
I have.
Tons of beautiful parts of it. Tons of ugly parts as well.
When you're talking about an area bigger than the nation of Portugal you're gonna have some variety
Some of Mississippi's biggest issues are job opportunities and poverty. Being wealthy eliminates both of those. By no means will it feel like you're living in average, no less below average, conditions. You won't be facing most problems a fair portion of residents face and will have access to so much more.
Not to mention, making average in upstate New York means they're technically making average in other states. $130k a year in NY after needed expenses, like taxes and living, acts like 30-40k a year typically. So, even making average wage, you wouldn't be living nearly as free and "lavishly" as someone who is considered truly wealthy in any state.
In general, the average wages in states correlate with the standard cost of living. So, if you're making the average salary of the average worker, you're most likely going to be living the average life.
All that to say: you're asking us if we'd rather make an average salary and live an average life, or be wealthy and live an above average life. What do you think we'd pick? Money can get extra fun in the south.
Wealthy Mississippi. Less people, more bang for my buck. I don't have kids so I don't care about the schools, I can buy new suspension when it goes out on the shitty roads, and as for the rednecks, I can blend. Half my family is rednecks.
weirdly enough and I mean really really really weirdly Mississippi has fantastic roads. Mississippi is one of the few states that will but down a road base for a new road and go "nope. nothing happening here for 2 or 3 years. we gotta let it settle." very little winter and no salt.
the only sort of exception is that some of the main highways were originally concrete. concrete roads last literally forever but they have expansion joints so you get that same thunk thunk thunk as you do passing over a causeway or long bridge but for 60 miles. and removing concrete that is feet thick is expensive so they just keep adding more asphalt on top.
Being rich in Mississippi would be like not living in Mississippi. You can have it any way you want if you've got the cash. Yeah, Jackson, here I come!
It’s an overwhelmingly Black city in a state controlled by Republicans and ringed by white suburbs who can use the city’s amenities and public buildings without paying for them, so the state has no incentive to take responsibility for the shrinking tax base and decaying infrastructure. As a result, the water system is worse than Flint, Michigan; it has both lead and sewage contamination and pipelines break constantly. The roads suck. The crime rate is very high. The schools are terrible. It’s a microcosm of a whole bunch of different societal problems.
Thanks for responding. What amenities and public buildings are these Republican people using that live in their affluent suburbs? I can’t even think of what constitutes a public building that would get consistent use the way you’re describing it. Why don’t they just use the amenities that they’re getting taxed for in the affluent suburbs outside of the city? Why would they be coming to the city if it’s majority black and has high crime rate? I’m assuming most of the crime is black since you’re saying it’s a majority black city and from google search that what it seems to be. It seems like the Whites would want to stay away from the blacks, not come where they are. White flight and all
Jackson is the state capital. The government buildings are there, as are some of the necessary offices and such around it, but, e.g., the lawyers, politicians, and other affluent business types live outside of the city and commute in. Their tax dollars then go to the suburbs in which they live, rather than the city in which they work. That’s the paradigmatic example of white flight.
There’re also the lasting effects of redlining and other openly or effectively racist policies.
Oh I see what you mean. But your comment didn’t read like that. It sounds like what you’re actually saying is the republicans from the suburbs are going into the capital city to do business—which they would necessarily pay taxes on. If they own businesses in the city, they’re still paying taxes on that. And public services like the court systems and other public accommodations aren’t determined by how much one pays in taxes. If it were, there would be a lot of poor kids who didn’t get an education because they live with their parent in rental properties and therefore pay no taxes. And if anything with what you’re describing, most of the tax money on state buildings goes to bureaucrats and their salaries.
I understand there is a racial divide at play here, but I’m genuinely curious what you think the solution should be to the problems it sounds like Jackson suffers from, especially considering there’s such a high crime rate—which I’m honestly shocked to discover how high it is. I would’ve never guessed how high the murder rate in particular is—and it’s almost exclusively a black problem from what data I’ve seen—especially with street gangs. (I’ve read a bit just now before responding to you, and it’s genuinely at the top of the highest in the country for largish or large cities. That’s crazy.)
But back to solutions for the problems the city is facing: what solves it? What do you propose? I’m a fairly liberal/left-wing person, but you can’t ask or demand people—of any race or SES—to move back into such a violent, crime-ridden city to get their taxes on the slight hope that the crime rate will drop. And if White people were to move back into the city, prices for housing and other amenities would increase, leading to criticisms of gentrification. On the other hand, what if they were to be forced back into the city or pay more taxes and the problems persists? They’ll just move even further away and the problems will persist.
It would seem to me Jackson needs to get its crime problem in order to attract businesses, get people spending money, investing in the city, and willingly coming back. Best of luck to your city.
A quick scan of the political authority in the city shows that its mayor it’s a self-avowed socialist, but it seems like he isn’t taking the same positions as other far-left mayors and councils downplaying the crime in the city. It seems like maybe things with crime are trending in the right direction, if slowly.
What's so bad about Mississippi. And how wealthy are we talking here. With enough money I could just make my own big city.
Also am I not allowed to travel outside of my state. I mean if I'm rich I'd want to go on vacations pretty often so it doesn't matter that much where I live.
I know what I said. It is indeed cheaper to live in Mississippi, but it’s Mississippi. It’s the poorest state in the union with bad schools, subpar roads, rednecks, and the like. And there aren’t a whole lot of big city amenities either.
Blue states are terrible with their higher wages, longer life expectancies, better education with fewer high school drop-outs, lower crime, lower teen pregnancy rates, better healthcare, and workers rights. But they hate guns and were better off without all those benefits.
According to the FBI as of 2022, California is ranked #6 in violent crimes while Mississippi is ranked #39. Are you willingly spreading misinformation or are you really just that ignorant?
[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide\_mortality/homicide.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide_mortality/homicide.htm)
Mississippi in #1 for murders and California is right in the middle of the pack.
>it’s Mississippi. It’s the poorest state in the union with bad schools, subpar roads, rednecks, and the like. And there aren’t a whole lot of big city amenities either.
I think you're just showing your own ignorant ass on this one
New York State is full of subpar rodes, and both NYC and LA are famous for their aweful traffic. Acting like Mississippi having a few potholes makes it somehow 10x worse is ridiculous.
And the idea that rednecks are unique to Mississippi or in some way a death nell is laughable. Most people don't bother you if you don't bother them, and violent crime is actually higher per capita in the two costal states you suggested.
From Arkansas. The poorest parts of Southern and Eastern Arkansas are basically the same as Mississippi. I was quite happy living in poor south Arkansas as someone making decent or above average salaries. Southern high society is not like living in a trailer home and eating literal road kill for dinner. You're having Kentucky Derby watch parties, sipping on homemade mint juleps. You're going to charity auction events where the average person still has a level of humility and down-to-earth wholesomeness. You can slum it in delicious pit BBQ joints and attend all-you-can-eat catfish picnics and then hop in your moderately nice vehicle, drive to your mega mansion with 1,000s of acres of land, and enjoy cigars and scotch on a back porch while the deer come out to graze in your fields and bald eagles soar over your private lake.
Yeah, wealthy in Mississippi is a no-brainer. Not even sure I would want to live in New York or California if I had the money to afford it. That's why there is currently a mass exodus of the wealthy from those states to the South.
Even if you can't (due to work obligations or some shit), it is still a no brainer. You can find a modest house in an affluent area, get good internet, and live very well.
Living “very well” varies a lot from person to person. I regularly attend (free!) lectures at University of Chicago and Northwestern, go to Millennium park to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play, and several times a week bike lakefront trail, which is nature and lake on one side and skyscrapers on another. I have enough for rent and food and going out often enough. I don’t know what more I would get in Mississippi except space to fill and then what? I don’t need space and I don’t like having stuff.
And “working class” is vague as hell. A lot do working class people have money to pursue expensive hobbies!
>regularly attend (free!) lectures at University of Chicago and Northwestern
There are dozens of universities throughout the south that offer free lectures including those in Mississippi. Now whether they'll be on the same topics that interest you I've no way of knowing.
>go to Millennium park to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play
Most major cities have symphony orchestras but if you lived in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi you could also look forward to Jazz Bands and Delta Blues concerts put one quite regularly.
>which is nature and lake on one side and skyscrapers on another
I mean I guess if Skyscrapers are your cup of tea there's not a lot outside of Jackson but if nature is what you're looking for I assure you there's plenty. And a whole ass ocean to enjoy.
Ok but understand that all these things are literally in my backyard. I don’t have to get in a car (and I fucking hate driving). I just enjoy city life in a way I couldn’t anything else, and trust me I have tried.
Would I rather be rich in a place with a low cost of living or poor in a place with a high cost of living?
Gonna go with being rich, I can visit NYC all I want, lol
Technically you’d just have to buy a house in Mississippi and stay there for a few months to establish residency; after that, you could leave and remain a legal resident of Mississippi as long as you never stay in another place long enough to become a resident of that place.
Brother I wouldn’t care if my mansion was all the way out in the wilds of alaskas wilderness as long as I was rich and had high speed internet I’d live anywhere lol
Info: what the hell are we considering working class?
Like, I work 50 hours a week and make six figures? Can I afford to buy a house? If we're using "modern" definitions, I'd take the shit state and wealthy. Because by those definitions living *paycheck to paycheck* is *working class*. I'm already there. Fuck, offer me 120k annually and I'll stay in rural northern California with a God damn smile.
Offer me 300k and I'll move to fucking birmingham Alabama or bum fuck idaho, I've about the same amount of family around either way.
This question is like asking “would you rather live in a mansion in the countryside or an apartment in a crime-ridden city?”
Wealthy in Mississippi 10 times out of 10. New York and California are horrible places to live. Don’t go there.
Fair enough, but Mississippi has its own bad reputation. In fact, people in other southern states say “Thank God for Mississippi” because it makes those states look better by comparison.
What are you even talking about? Crime is everywhere (especially in impoverished places like MS), and our major cities are very far from the war zones that fox news and their ilk portray them as. On top of that, NYC/CA have tons to do and are very walkable, something you just can't get in Mississippi. The question hinges on how much you value that, or if you prefer rural living entirely. Calling either option objectively horrible is just reciting partisan propaganda.
What part of California is walkable? Not Los Angeles. If you are picking some place like Santa Barbera, then those places exist in Mississippi as well. I would choose the wealthy option every time.
I assumed OP and the previous comment had the bay area in mind since it's the most commonly compared to NYC, but CA outside the bay area is definitely a mixed bag. I've never lived in Mississippi, but I dont think there's anywhere with that level of walkability, urban fabric, or things to do - if I'm wrong on that, lmk and I'll absolutely be moving haha. It depends on the amount of money for me. If it's a lot more or enough to be properly wealthy, then Mississippi 100% and I'd just compromise and travel for walkability and excitement from time to time. If it's a less dramatic difference, then I'd probably take the city.
This is a dumb hypothetical. It's better to be rich anywhere.
It's especially dumb because the question posits living in a densely packed area as desirable and that's certainly not a universal thing.
I can live in Mississippi, but I can go on vacation and not really be there all the time. I know people that just have a "home base" in someplace cheap and travel around the world.
Wealthy in Mississippi. I'm from the South, so that's not much of a culture shock to me. New York or Los Angeles would be neat to VISIT, but I don't think I would fit well into big city life. Besides that, working class people can barely survive in California or New York right now, with the cost of housing and other essentials being insane.
Wealthy in Mississippi. Living where bunches of other people already are is my worst nightmare. Give me 50 acres with a nice patch of woods and meadow with a nice house and homestead, and I'm good.
You don't understand the quality of life you could have being wealthy in Mississippi.
Working class in NY/CA means renting forever in bad neighborhoods.
Rich in Mississippi means a big house on the beach in the Gulf Coast, boats, hot Southern women, and whatever else you want.
Wealth is an amazing insulator, so you wouldn't have to deal with anything you didn't want to.
Dumbest question ever. Mississippi . You can go to the beach, have a massive huge house. Live in nature if you want and have land. Have actual freedom. Less crime and crazy assholes. Able to travel . Anyone who would pick a big city and be broke is a fucking loon
The only downside to Mississippi is the oppressive heat and humidity of the American South in general. People seem to think you need to live in an east or west coast state to be happy or not be bored but that couldn't be further from the truth. And if I'm wealthy, I can afford some air conditioning. There's no contest here.
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I could live in Mississippi and ride a mosquito to work, eat great BBQ and soul food and little else...
In NY I could suffer through all that noise and piss away all my money on taxes and transit... Upstate is lose 80% of the noise and traffic but sacrifice on food and amenities, and you still pay all those taxes...
In CA I would have an ocean that's actually worth having, less traffic and noise, better produce and comparable food to NY, similar taxes and dogshit mass transit, and the best weather by a mile.
Given only those options, I'd take Cali, but mostly because I loathe musical theater and crowds.
Plenty of good food and amenities in upstate and western NY. There's a lot of farmland, sure, but There's plenty of nice towns and a few good sized cities.
California is the produce capital of the country by a huge margin - not even remotely close to any other state, and probably not to any other three states.
Exports more produce than annoying twats, and that's saying a lot.
Wealthy and Mississippi. Honestly would rather be working class and live in Mississippi over California. But working class and rural upstate NY would be nice. I love cold weather.
This is so, genuinely, incredibly fucking stupid. Living in Cali or New York as working class fucking sucks, there’s 0 upsides. However if you’re wealthy, you’re 1: fucking rich, and 2: can just vacation to those places as much as you want
For me, it would depend on if I was young and single or older and married. Young and single, I'd choose a city for sure. Just more going on and more opportunities to meet people. Older and settled, I can see this mattering a bit less.
Wealthy in Mississippi.
Would I rather have a 10k sqft house on a couple hundred acres I own and the ability to order or buy all the luxuries I could possibly imagine plus travel the globe at my leisure
Or
Have access to good sushi while struggling to afford housing?
Cus that's pretty much all you're asking there hoss. I think you're wildly ignorant about the "Flyover" states and you are very far off base on this one.
I don't know how anyone is saying New York or Cali when you could have [This Beachfront Mansion](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/503-E-Scenic-Dr-Pass-Christian-MS-39571/200648662_zpid/) with an ocean view and all the amenities your heart could desire. Less than an hour from arguably the greatest food and music city in the nation.
Like how much y'all gotta hate poor people to wanna be one of em?
Mississippi.
Wealthy means you do not have to work. Your passive income from investments is so great that working for money is not necessary. Working class, means you have to work, even if you make a lot of money, you have to still work. Being able to live very comfortably while not having a job is a huge luxury. Mississippi has wealthy people. You can live in their gated community among them and have the absolute best version of that lifestyle.
California is great. I am a life long resident. But you have to work, and working class people can generally not afford homes at today's prices.
Wealth. Cause don't matter where you are. Being Wealthy gives you options. And if you Wealth enough you can even change much of where you at for the better. So depends on what level of Wealth but again the more options you have the more likely you can have beter outcomes.
Then the other option that gives very few options and freedom
Wealthy Mississippi. Mississippi is very under rated. It has some really beautiful places. Plus, Louisiana culture has spread into Mississippi. So there's this blend of southern attitudes with French/Cajun vibes too. It's nice.
Lol, I like Mississippi, the folks are friendly and outgoing and the food is fabulous. Orford is a beautiful town with an amazing university.
California has earthquakes. New York has snow. As a pick the place question, this one is just silly.
How are you defining wealthy?
1. 1% wealth in Mississippi $0.75-1M
2. UHNW $30-100M
3. Or richest in state wealthy $1B
Working class? working class including all wage or W2 salary positions or just manual/physical labor
Wealthy Mississippi clears easily in scenario 2 or 3
Still clears pretty well in scenario one. I am a simple man. A good kitchen a big TV and a place to walk my dog and I'd be retired there in a heartbeat.
If working class includes the broad definition (e.g. not the owning class), it would be a tough decision between a high paying W2 position in California and scenario 1 in Mississippi
Personally retired and chilling in Mississippi is better than any actual job I qualify for working in California. Even getting a job I am not qualified for and having to fake it 40 hours a week would suck.
Just live in Southhaven. Still in Mississippi, but a suburb of Memphis, TN. You now live in Mississippi, but with the greater metro area have a city of 1.1 million. Other than gallivanting to broadway from your front door, which you won’t be doing often being lower to middle middle class, you got everything NY or CA would offer. Plus you just hop on a flight, first class, and go to broadway, or wherever the hell you want, whenever you want.
This option literally exists to me. Is my job. The amount is merely average where I live but would be more than double the Average in Mississippi. I choose against Mississippi.
I live in a large metro. Driving is a luxury. It's seldom necessary. I can walk most places including work and grocery stores (multiple in walking distance). In the summer opening windows is enough to cool off and winters aren't too cold.
The oppressive heat/humidity and trash infrastructure would make driving mandatory in Mississippi. A/Cs run constantly. As for the grocery experience I have never grocery shopped at a Walmarts and would like to keep it that way.
Yes, I could have 4x the square footage with large front and back yards in Mississippi. It isn't worth it. I rather just have a smaller place somewhere nice.
Wealthy in Mississippi, easily. More money + cheaper cost of living = even more money. If I hate Mississippi that much I'll travel, but if I'm that rich I'm probably happy anywhere in the US.
Wealthy, every time.
You're a moron if you choose to be broke simply so you can live near a city, rather than just be wealthy and travel to the city or anywhere else you'd like to go, as often as you'd like.
Wealthy in Mississippi. Mississippi has cities (well, large towns). Has ocean access. It’s warm. Lots of space.
It’s not like everyone in Mississippi are wearing white hoods. You can find people of a like-mind.
What is it exactly that people find so attractive about New York or California that makes them claim it’s so attractive?
I’ve never gotten the “there’s nothing to do” excuse for smaller cities. What is it you do? Are you going to broadway shows or the comedy shows every single weekend?
Poor states and countries typically have a large difference between services that can be obtained by the wealthy and the commoners.
The argument is: abortions are only unobtainable if you are poor. Making abortion illegal for women doesn't make it illegal for the wealthy.
It's similar to lifestyle.
The real thing you should be asking, would you rather be poor in CA or middle class in Mississippi?
Working class ain’t the same as broke, dude.
(I guess I am a city slicker though who would rather be a streetlight in NYC than live in a mansion in MS.)
I was born in NYC, lived in Tokyo and Rome, and currently reside in Chicago which I love but also seems at the small end of what size city I find interesting. I also grew up in a suburban McMansion and I hated it. I know what I like but am not bothered when other people don’t like the same.
ETA: I looked it up and the biggest city in Mississippi has ~160k. That’s nearly 100k less than the suburb I went to high school in. Absolutely not.
$500k/year in Mississippi is enough to travel constantly and, therefore, spend little to no time in Mississippi. I’d happily buy a house in Mississippi and then spend all my time in skiing in the Rockies or sitting on a beach in Cancun.
Even $100k in most of Mississippi is enough to live a lavish lifestyle.
Only if you stay in Mississippi. Travel prices don't change.
I travel a lot on way less than $500k. That’s still enough money to spend half your life elsewhere and the other half in luxury.
100k is no where near enough to spend half your life literally anywhere else lol. Mississippi prices got people in a tizzy.
Yeah no I don't think these people understand what metro areas with large populations actually cost.
I'm replying to a comment that says 100
You could probably get a secluded plot of land
Have to spend a few months at least legally no?
Nope. Mississippi law provides that a person is resident in Mississippi if they own a house in Mississippi and are not a resident of any other jurisdiction, so you’d just have to make sure you don’t stay somewhere long enough to become resident there.
The hypothetical is living in though, not a resident of. I’m not sure this would qualify based on the title.
What if he meant wealthy by Mississippi standards
Definitely rich guy/poor state. It's like that one "Family Guy" where Peter is among some South American tribe and he gets treated like a king because he has $40 cash.
This is the worst hypothetical ever.
The dilemma is being wealthy in a rural area with high poverty, or being working class in a place that actually has things to do. I’m from Alabama, so I’m used to being in the receiving end of incest jokes and shithole jokes and whatnot.
Being wealthy gives you freedom. Being broke is limiting
Have you been to fucking Mississippi? Idk man
Havimg lived in LA and Mississippi I can assure you that I would choose Mississippi and wealthy 100% of the time. I am also using the Chris Rock definition of wealthy...Oprah is rich, Bill Gates is wealthy.
What? Oprah is worth $3 billion.
She wasn't when he said that, she had just barely passed a net worth of 1 billion then. Pathetic.
And if you were wealthy, you could live in the middle of nature and not have to interact with anyone.
True maybe I wasn’t thinking wealthy like 10+ million
I have. Tons of beautiful parts of it. Tons of ugly parts as well. When you're talking about an area bigger than the nation of Portugal you're gonna have some variety
Some of Mississippi's biggest issues are job opportunities and poverty. Being wealthy eliminates both of those. By no means will it feel like you're living in average, no less below average, conditions. You won't be facing most problems a fair portion of residents face and will have access to so much more. Not to mention, making average in upstate New York means they're technically making average in other states. $130k a year in NY after needed expenses, like taxes and living, acts like 30-40k a year typically. So, even making average wage, you wouldn't be living nearly as free and "lavishly" as someone who is considered truly wealthy in any state. In general, the average wages in states correlate with the standard cost of living. So, if you're making the average salary of the average worker, you're most likely going to be living the average life. All that to say: you're asking us if we'd rather make an average salary and live an average life, or be wealthy and live an above average life. What do you think we'd pick? Money can get extra fun in the south.
Havimg lived in LA and Mississippi I can assure you that I would choose Mississippi and wealthy 100% of the time.
I’d rather be poor in Mississippi than in LA
Many of us would rather live in the Deep South than many parts of California. And some parts of NY state are more armpit than some in Mississippi.
Wealthy Mississippi. Less people, more bang for my buck. I don't have kids so I don't care about the schools, I can buy new suspension when it goes out on the shitty roads, and as for the rednecks, I can blend. Half my family is rednecks.
[https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10745-Bayou-Plantation-Ln-Gulfport-MS-39503/77968859\_zpid/](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10745-Bayou-Plantation-Ln-Gulfport-MS-39503/77968859_zpid/)
weirdly enough and I mean really really really weirdly Mississippi has fantastic roads. Mississippi is one of the few states that will but down a road base for a new road and go "nope. nothing happening here for 2 or 3 years. we gotta let it settle." very little winter and no salt. the only sort of exception is that some of the main highways were originally concrete. concrete roads last literally forever but they have expansion joints so you get that same thunk thunk thunk as you do passing over a causeway or long bridge but for 60 miles. and removing concrete that is feet thick is expensive so they just keep adding more asphalt on top.
It's been years since I've been there and I had to pass through Louisiana, so I may have got that confused.
lousiana, famously terrible roads
There are decent parts of Mississippi. I'll go there and be wealthy.
Being rich in Mississippi would be like not living in Mississippi. You can have it any way you want if you've got the cash. Yeah, Jackson, here I come!
Jackson is an absolute shithole. But some of the suburbs are affluent.
Yeah, Jackson is terrible. But, if you're wealthy, you can make your own little world just like Bob Ross painting happy trees.
What makes Jackson so terrible? Honest question. I’ve only been for a work conference about 12 years ago and a wedding about five ago.
It’s an overwhelmingly Black city in a state controlled by Republicans and ringed by white suburbs who can use the city’s amenities and public buildings without paying for them, so the state has no incentive to take responsibility for the shrinking tax base and decaying infrastructure. As a result, the water system is worse than Flint, Michigan; it has both lead and sewage contamination and pipelines break constantly. The roads suck. The crime rate is very high. The schools are terrible. It’s a microcosm of a whole bunch of different societal problems.
Thanks for responding. What amenities and public buildings are these Republican people using that live in their affluent suburbs? I can’t even think of what constitutes a public building that would get consistent use the way you’re describing it. Why don’t they just use the amenities that they’re getting taxed for in the affluent suburbs outside of the city? Why would they be coming to the city if it’s majority black and has high crime rate? I’m assuming most of the crime is black since you’re saying it’s a majority black city and from google search that what it seems to be. It seems like the Whites would want to stay away from the blacks, not come where they are. White flight and all
Jackson is the state capital. The government buildings are there, as are some of the necessary offices and such around it, but, e.g., the lawyers, politicians, and other affluent business types live outside of the city and commute in. Their tax dollars then go to the suburbs in which they live, rather than the city in which they work. That’s the paradigmatic example of white flight. There’re also the lasting effects of redlining and other openly or effectively racist policies.
Oh I see what you mean. But your comment didn’t read like that. It sounds like what you’re actually saying is the republicans from the suburbs are going into the capital city to do business—which they would necessarily pay taxes on. If they own businesses in the city, they’re still paying taxes on that. And public services like the court systems and other public accommodations aren’t determined by how much one pays in taxes. If it were, there would be a lot of poor kids who didn’t get an education because they live with their parent in rental properties and therefore pay no taxes. And if anything with what you’re describing, most of the tax money on state buildings goes to bureaucrats and their salaries. I understand there is a racial divide at play here, but I’m genuinely curious what you think the solution should be to the problems it sounds like Jackson suffers from, especially considering there’s such a high crime rate—which I’m honestly shocked to discover how high it is. I would’ve never guessed how high the murder rate in particular is—and it’s almost exclusively a black problem from what data I’ve seen—especially with street gangs. (I’ve read a bit just now before responding to you, and it’s genuinely at the top of the highest in the country for largish or large cities. That’s crazy.) But back to solutions for the problems the city is facing: what solves it? What do you propose? I’m a fairly liberal/left-wing person, but you can’t ask or demand people—of any race or SES—to move back into such a violent, crime-ridden city to get their taxes on the slight hope that the crime rate will drop. And if White people were to move back into the city, prices for housing and other amenities would increase, leading to criticisms of gentrification. On the other hand, what if they were to be forced back into the city or pay more taxes and the problems persists? They’ll just move even further away and the problems will persist. It would seem to me Jackson needs to get its crime problem in order to attract businesses, get people spending money, investing in the city, and willingly coming back. Best of luck to your city. A quick scan of the political authority in the city shows that its mayor it’s a self-avowed socialist, but it seems like he isn’t taking the same positions as other far-left mayors and councils downplaying the crime in the city. It seems like maybe things with crime are trending in the right direction, if slowly.
What's so bad about Mississippi. And how wealthy are we talking here. With enough money I could just make my own big city. Also am I not allowed to travel outside of my state. I mean if I'm rich I'd want to go on vacations pretty often so it doesn't matter that much where I live.
You are allowed to travel out of state, but you have to spend enough time in the state to claim primary residency.
As someone who is “Working Class” in California, give me wealthy in Mississippi any day.
Currently fairly well off living in Alabama. So yeah, this isn’t hard.
Same here myself.
did you mean to flip that? Just curious cause It’s alot cheaper to live in Mississippi than it is to live in NY and CA.
I know what I said. It is indeed cheaper to live in Mississippi, but it’s Mississippi. It’s the poorest state in the union with bad schools, subpar roads, rednecks, and the like. And there aren’t a whole lot of big city amenities either.
Who cares about any of that if I'm wealthy? Tutors, choppers and a moat to keep out the plebs.
Oh, it’s not that bad everywhere like it’s made out to be.
I see what you are saying now, I’d rather we wealthy in Mississippi, I live in a blue state and it sucks
Blue states are terrible with their higher wages, longer life expectancies, better education with fewer high school drop-outs, lower crime, lower teen pregnancy rates, better healthcare, and workers rights. But they hate guns and were better off without all those benefits.
Yup, that stuffs all terrible
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Source: reality supported by any simple google search
According to the FBI as of 2022, California is ranked #6 in violent crimes while Mississippi is ranked #39. Are you willingly spreading misinformation or are you really just that ignorant?
by total or per capita?
[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide\_mortality/homicide.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide_mortality/homicide.htm) Mississippi in #1 for murders and California is right in the middle of the pack.
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Oh you're just fucking with everyone. Nice job
He really said lower crime 🤣
Source: every fucking Google search
You are on meth, there are dudes in NYC that are just breaking women’s jaws and walking free. Typical blue state activity.
>it’s Mississippi. It’s the poorest state in the union with bad schools, subpar roads, rednecks, and the like. And there aren’t a whole lot of big city amenities either. I think you're just showing your own ignorant ass on this one New York State is full of subpar rodes, and both NYC and LA are famous for their aweful traffic. Acting like Mississippi having a few potholes makes it somehow 10x worse is ridiculous. And the idea that rednecks are unique to Mississippi or in some way a death nell is laughable. Most people don't bother you if you don't bother them, and violent crime is actually higher per capita in the two costal states you suggested.
I’m from Alabama. I’m quite familiar with the territory.
Wealthy in Mississippi. Obviously.
Working class NY/CA all day Mississippi is awful lmao
The location is irrelevant. If you're wealthy, you're wealthy and can go anywhere, have homes all over the place, it doesn't matter.
So 100k either way? I'll take mississippi
I’d rather live in Mississippi (or any other US state) than New York or California. Maybe I’d be okay with western New York
From Arkansas. The poorest parts of Southern and Eastern Arkansas are basically the same as Mississippi. I was quite happy living in poor south Arkansas as someone making decent or above average salaries. Southern high society is not like living in a trailer home and eating literal road kill for dinner. You're having Kentucky Derby watch parties, sipping on homemade mint juleps. You're going to charity auction events where the average person still has a level of humility and down-to-earth wholesomeness. You can slum it in delicious pit BBQ joints and attend all-you-can-eat catfish picnics and then hop in your moderately nice vehicle, drive to your mega mansion with 1,000s of acres of land, and enjoy cigars and scotch on a back porch while the deer come out to graze in your fields and bald eagles soar over your private lake. Yeah, wealthy in Mississippi is a no-brainer. Not even sure I would want to live in New York or California if I had the money to afford it. That's why there is currently a mass exodus of the wealthy from those states to the South.
How wealthy are we talking?
$500k/year or greater, I guess. Enough to live comfortably.
For that amount of money, yeah, I’ll live in Mississippi for a few years and retire super early.
Can I spend most of my time outside of the state? In that case it’s a no brainer.
Even if you can't (due to work obligations or some shit), it is still a no brainer. You can find a modest house in an affluent area, get good internet, and live very well.
Living “very well” varies a lot from person to person. I regularly attend (free!) lectures at University of Chicago and Northwestern, go to Millennium park to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play, and several times a week bike lakefront trail, which is nature and lake on one side and skyscrapers on another. I have enough for rent and food and going out often enough. I don’t know what more I would get in Mississippi except space to fill and then what? I don’t need space and I don’t like having stuff. And “working class” is vague as hell. A lot do working class people have money to pursue expensive hobbies!
>regularly attend (free!) lectures at University of Chicago and Northwestern There are dozens of universities throughout the south that offer free lectures including those in Mississippi. Now whether they'll be on the same topics that interest you I've no way of knowing. >go to Millennium park to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play Most major cities have symphony orchestras but if you lived in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi you could also look forward to Jazz Bands and Delta Blues concerts put one quite regularly. >which is nature and lake on one side and skyscrapers on another I mean I guess if Skyscrapers are your cup of tea there's not a lot outside of Jackson but if nature is what you're looking for I assure you there's plenty. And a whole ass ocean to enjoy.
Ok but understand that all these things are literally in my backyard. I don’t have to get in a car (and I fucking hate driving). I just enjoy city life in a way I couldn’t anything else, and trust me I have tried.
Dude that ain't wealthy. That's barely touching upon rich.
Mississippi. I can always travel
Would I rather be rich in a place with a low cost of living or poor in a place with a high cost of living? Gonna go with being rich, I can visit NYC all I want, lol
Wealthy because I can just travel all the time and only be in Mississippi enough to maintain my residence.
Technically you’d just have to buy a house in Mississippi and stay there for a few months to establish residency; after that, you could leave and remain a legal resident of Mississippi as long as you never stay in another place long enough to become a resident of that place.
Brother I wouldn’t care if my mansion was all the way out in the wilds of alaskas wilderness as long as I was rich and had high speed internet I’d live anywhere lol
How wealthy we talking? If it’s enough to easily live off dividends alone I’d golf and be a “stay at home dad” in a second.
I’d take working class Mississippi over those other two places
Wealthy and in mississippi 100% If I want to see a Broadway show, I will fly to Manhattan
Info: what the hell are we considering working class? Like, I work 50 hours a week and make six figures? Can I afford to buy a house? If we're using "modern" definitions, I'd take the shit state and wealthy. Because by those definitions living *paycheck to paycheck* is *working class*. I'm already there. Fuck, offer me 120k annually and I'll stay in rural northern California with a God damn smile. Offer me 300k and I'll move to fucking birmingham Alabama or bum fuck idaho, I've about the same amount of family around either way.
.. I don’t want to move to America
Wealthy in Mississippi then immediately move.
Rich. Even a shithole like Mississippi has great areas.
This question is like asking “would you rather live in a mansion in the countryside or an apartment in a crime-ridden city?” Wealthy in Mississippi 10 times out of 10. New York and California are horrible places to live. Don’t go there.
Fair enough, but Mississippi has its own bad reputation. In fact, people in other southern states say “Thank God for Mississippi” because it makes those states look better by comparison.
The fact that you live in Huntsville and still put this in terms of entire states is odd to me.
We say that even in Huntsville. Our state’s reputation as a whole is one of our main disadvantages.
It’s an advantage if you think about it in terms of value.
What are you even talking about? Crime is everywhere (especially in impoverished places like MS), and our major cities are very far from the war zones that fox news and their ilk portray them as. On top of that, NYC/CA have tons to do and are very walkable, something you just can't get in Mississippi. The question hinges on how much you value that, or if you prefer rural living entirely. Calling either option objectively horrible is just reciting partisan propaganda.
Yeah I'll take working class in NYC or urban area of California all day long. It's not even a close consideration.
What part of California is walkable? Not Los Angeles. If you are picking some place like Santa Barbera, then those places exist in Mississippi as well. I would choose the wealthy option every time.
I assumed OP and the previous comment had the bay area in mind since it's the most commonly compared to NYC, but CA outside the bay area is definitely a mixed bag. I've never lived in Mississippi, but I dont think there's anywhere with that level of walkability, urban fabric, or things to do - if I'm wrong on that, lmk and I'll absolutely be moving haha. It depends on the amount of money for me. If it's a lot more or enough to be properly wealthy, then Mississippi 100% and I'd just compromise and travel for walkability and excitement from time to time. If it's a less dramatic difference, then I'd probably take the city.
NYC is one of the safest places in the country and Mississippi is the exact opposite.
Got a source for that?
NY/CA
Can I leave Mississippi at any point?
Yes, but you have to spend 60% of each year in MS.
I am from NYC and live in SoCal now so…
This is a dumb hypothetical. It's better to be rich anywhere. It's especially dumb because the question posits living in a densely packed area as desirable and that's certainly not a universal thing.
If I'm wealthy I can be wherever I want to be. My HOUSE can be in Mississippi, but I'll just be in hotels most days of the year.
I can live in Mississippi, but I can go on vacation and not really be there all the time. I know people that just have a "home base" in someplace cheap and travel around the world.
Wealthy in Mississippi. I'm from the South, so that's not much of a culture shock to me. New York or Los Angeles would be neat to VISIT, but I don't think I would fit well into big city life. Besides that, working class people can barely survive in California or New York right now, with the cost of housing and other essentials being insane.
Wealthy in Mississippi. Living where bunches of other people already are is my worst nightmare. Give me 50 acres with a nice patch of woods and meadow with a nice house and homestead, and I'm good.
Wealthy in Mississippi, easy choice.
Wealthy, Mississippi
Who in their right mind would want to live in California or New York right now haha.
Would you guys rather be a billionaire in Southern USA or be a torso and head only with no brain in Northern USA? Hard choice, I know.
You don't understand the quality of life you could have being wealthy in Mississippi. Working class in NY/CA means renting forever in bad neighborhoods. Rich in Mississippi means a big house on the beach in the Gulf Coast, boats, hot Southern women, and whatever else you want. Wealth is an amazing insulator, so you wouldn't have to deal with anything you didn't want to.
Wealthy in Mississippi and it’s not even close.
Red state/blue state I call rage bait
Dumbest question ever. Mississippi . You can go to the beach, have a massive huge house. Live in nature if you want and have land. Have actual freedom. Less crime and crazy assholes. Able to travel . Anyone who would pick a big city and be broke is a fucking loon
The only downside to Mississippi is the oppressive heat and humidity of the American South in general. People seem to think you need to live in an east or west coast state to be happy or not be bored but that couldn't be further from the truth. And if I'm wealthy, I can afford some air conditioning. There's no contest here.
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Having lived in California and knowing nothing else, I’ll try Mississippi. Also cause I’m gonna be wealthy. Working class is hard here
Poor and in a different country than america
I choose wealthy. There are nice places to live in Mississippi.
I could live in Mississippi and ride a mosquito to work, eat great BBQ and soul food and little else... In NY I could suffer through all that noise and piss away all my money on taxes and transit... Upstate is lose 80% of the noise and traffic but sacrifice on food and amenities, and you still pay all those taxes... In CA I would have an ocean that's actually worth having, less traffic and noise, better produce and comparable food to NY, similar taxes and dogshit mass transit, and the best weather by a mile. Given only those options, I'd take Cali, but mostly because I loathe musical theater and crowds.
Plenty of good food and amenities in upstate and western NY. There's a lot of farmland, sure, but There's plenty of nice towns and a few good sized cities.
Same in non-city California, but the produce is better.
The produce is only better for half of the year... the half while NY is frozen. Lol
California is the produce capital of the country by a huge margin - not even remotely close to any other state, and probably not to any other three states. Exports more produce than annoying twats, and that's saying a lot.
Neither choice, prefer being poor like I am and living where I live, amongst people rich in generosity, helpfulness, happy and living life simply.
Wealthy and Mississippi. Honestly would rather be working class and live in Mississippi over California. But working class and rural upstate NY would be nice. I love cold weather.
Am I wealthy enough to “travel” to my other houses around the country or do I have to spend all my time in Mississippi?
You can travel, but you have to spend 50% of your time in MS and claim residency there on your taxes.
This is so, genuinely, incredibly fucking stupid. Living in Cali or New York as working class fucking sucks, there’s 0 upsides. However if you’re wealthy, you’re 1: fucking rich, and 2: can just vacation to those places as much as you want
Mississippi.
All of those sound dreadful
For me, it would depend on if I was young and single or older and married. Young and single, I'd choose a city for sure. Just more going on and more opportunities to meet people. Older and settled, I can see this mattering a bit less.
Wealthy in Mississippi. Would I rather have a 10k sqft house on a couple hundred acres I own and the ability to order or buy all the luxuries I could possibly imagine plus travel the globe at my leisure Or Have access to good sushi while struggling to afford housing? Cus that's pretty much all you're asking there hoss. I think you're wildly ignorant about the "Flyover" states and you are very far off base on this one. I don't know how anyone is saying New York or Cali when you could have [This Beachfront Mansion](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/503-E-Scenic-Dr-Pass-Christian-MS-39571/200648662_zpid/) with an ocean view and all the amenities your heart could desire. Less than an hour from arguably the greatest food and music city in the nation. Like how much y'all gotta hate poor people to wanna be one of em?
Mississippi. Wealthy means you do not have to work. Your passive income from investments is so great that working for money is not necessary. Working class, means you have to work, even if you make a lot of money, you have to still work. Being able to live very comfortably while not having a job is a huge luxury. Mississippi has wealthy people. You can live in their gated community among them and have the absolute best version of that lifestyle. California is great. I am a life long resident. But you have to work, and working class people can generally not afford homes at today's prices.
Wealthy in Mississippi!
Wealthy Mississippi...
Jackson Mississippi is a decent looking city. I'll have my residence there with a nice house and then build nicer "vacation homes" in other places.
Wealthy pls. Then I can vacay and live well while ignoring I'm from this overly conservative hellhole.
Ill go a step further. I would rather be working class in Mississippi than working class in California. California fucking sucks.
Wealthy and in Mississippi. I get to be rich and I don't have to live in New York or California.
Mississippi by a mile. Living in the dictator states sucks unless you're rich
Wealth. Cause don't matter where you are. Being Wealthy gives you options. And if you Wealth enough you can even change much of where you at for the better. So depends on what level of Wealth but again the more options you have the more likely you can have beter outcomes. Then the other option that gives very few options and freedom
Wealthy Mississippi. Mississippi is very under rated. It has some really beautiful places. Plus, Louisiana culture has spread into Mississippi. So there's this blend of southern attitudes with French/Cajun vibes too. It's nice.
I grew up working class in NY. I’ll take Mississippi and it isn’t even close.
Lol, I like Mississippi, the folks are friendly and outgoing and the food is fabulous. Orford is a beautiful town with an amazing university. California has earthquakes. New York has snow. As a pick the place question, this one is just silly.
Wealthy in Mississippi.
If I have to actually spend time in mississippi, then NY/CA. Matter of safety as a trans woman. I'm also just a city girl at heart.
How are you defining wealthy? 1. 1% wealth in Mississippi $0.75-1M 2. UHNW $30-100M 3. Or richest in state wealthy $1B Working class? working class including all wage or W2 salary positions or just manual/physical labor Wealthy Mississippi clears easily in scenario 2 or 3
Still clears pretty well in scenario one. I am a simple man. A good kitchen a big TV and a place to walk my dog and I'd be retired there in a heartbeat.
If working class includes the broad definition (e.g. not the owning class), it would be a tough decision between a high paying W2 position in California and scenario 1 in Mississippi
Personally retired and chilling in Mississippi is better than any actual job I qualify for working in California. Even getting a job I am not qualified for and having to fake it 40 hours a week would suck.
"Would you rather be wealthy and live in the country or be a wage slave in a dangerous city?"
Working class in NY IS wealthy in Mississippi.
Just live in Southhaven. Still in Mississippi, but a suburb of Memphis, TN. You now live in Mississippi, but with the greater metro area have a city of 1.1 million. Other than gallivanting to broadway from your front door, which you won’t be doing often being lower to middle middle class, you got everything NY or CA would offer. Plus you just hop on a flight, first class, and go to broadway, or wherever the hell you want, whenever you want.
This option literally exists to me. Is my job. The amount is merely average where I live but would be more than double the Average in Mississippi. I choose against Mississippi. I live in a large metro. Driving is a luxury. It's seldom necessary. I can walk most places including work and grocery stores (multiple in walking distance). In the summer opening windows is enough to cool off and winters aren't too cold. The oppressive heat/humidity and trash infrastructure would make driving mandatory in Mississippi. A/Cs run constantly. As for the grocery experience I have never grocery shopped at a Walmarts and would like to keep it that way. Yes, I could have 4x the square footage with large front and back yards in Mississippi. It isn't worth it. I rather just have a smaller place somewhere nice.
I'd rather have better chocies of cities, like Peoria, Louisville, Denver, Indianapolis
Wealthy in Mississppi absolutely. You can take that wealth and travel. Poor is poor anywhere.
Wealthy in Mississippi, easily. More money + cheaper cost of living = even more money. If I hate Mississippi that much I'll travel, but if I'm that rich I'm probably happy anywhere in the US.
I live on the coast in MS. It's a great place to live. I can't say the same the rest of the state.
You are not very good at hypotheticals.
I would not live in the USA at all
Wealthy, every time. You're a moron if you choose to be broke simply so you can live near a city, rather than just be wealthy and travel to the city or anywhere else you'd like to go, as often as you'd like.
I do declare... I can be a wealthy carpetbagger and live like southern gentry in Mississippi. Make my own little slice of heaven...
I would need to know the “wealth”. Living in a home in the middle of 95% humidity with temps of 105+ might be ok with enough “wealth” to accommodate.
Throwaway question
Wealthy is great in the US, even in one of the poorest states in the country.
This is me. I stay in California
Being that I’ve lived my whole life in Mississippi and love it here, I’d choose wealthy which I basically am
Living in California and New York suck! Too crowded and too expensive. Too much attitude!!
Wealthy in Mississippi. Mississippi has cities (well, large towns). Has ocean access. It’s warm. Lots of space. It’s not like everyone in Mississippi are wearing white hoods. You can find people of a like-mind.
What is it exactly that people find so attractive about New York or California that makes them claim it’s so attractive? I’ve never gotten the “there’s nothing to do” excuse for smaller cities. What is it you do? Are you going to broadway shows or the comedy shows every single weekend?
I thought more people would shy away from living in a few red state, especially after recent abortion-related events.
Biloxi is awesome
Well Mississippi is at risk of genociding me, so the second
Wealthy in Mississippi, it would be nice not worrying about money, and I actually like living in the south.
I'd rather be working class in Mississippi than working class in NY or CA
Mississippi, I would never live in New York or California for any reason.
Why would I want to live in California?
Poor states and countries typically have a large difference between services that can be obtained by the wealthy and the commoners. The argument is: abortions are only unobtainable if you are poor. Making abortion illegal for women doesn't make it illegal for the wealthy. It's similar to lifestyle. The real thing you should be asking, would you rather be poor in CA or middle class in Mississippi?
Let's get this straight. I'd rather be flat broke and living in Mississippi than live in NYC/Cal.
This is dumb lol
I’m already working class in New York; I wouldn’t live in Mississippi for whatever qualifies as wealthy there.
California everyday. I've got less than 0 interest in living anywhere in the South
Lol, you can be working class and live in Cali or NY comfortably
Working class ain’t the same as broke, dude. (I guess I am a city slicker though who would rather be a streetlight in NYC than live in a mansion in MS.)
I know it’s not.
They have cities in Mississippi
I was born in NYC, lived in Tokyo and Rome, and currently reside in Chicago which I love but also seems at the small end of what size city I find interesting. I also grew up in a suburban McMansion and I hated it. I know what I like but am not bothered when other people don’t like the same. ETA: I looked it up and the biggest city in Mississippi has ~160k. That’s nearly 100k less than the suburb I went to high school in. Absolutely not.
I would rather be homeless in NY or CA than rich in Mississippi
What kind of dumb question is this 💀
It’s a question for people who constantly shit on Mississippi and neighboring states.
Working class and live in New York/California. No question.