The temperature has fallen to 12 degrees and I’m writing this on the heels of a few acquaintances recently telling me that I’m nuts to still live in Michigan. “On the contrary,” I tell them.  Set aside the occasional deep winter chill and let’s remind each other of how livable the state is. It’s extremely diverse. It houses some of the best colleges and universities in the country. It’s family friendly with walkable schools. Most commutes are reasonable – I can get to the office in just 10 minutes.

Michigan is also a vacation mecca with award winning beaches and resorts, trails for biking and running, professional and top sports teams, hundreds of breweries, a real wine country, ski resorts, one of the best hospitals in the world, and the largest 25K foot race in the country. My hometown of Grand Rapids was named among The 25 Best Affordable Places to Live in the U.S. in 2019 (U.S. News & World Report).

Not a lot of other places can rival our affordability. U.S. News has Michigan listed as the 5^th most affordable state after Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, and Oklahoma. Compared to residences in East Lansing, the median home cost in San Diego, CA is 211% more and in Austin, TX it’s 78% more!

A few other factors that highlight Michigan’s competitiveness:

• Our individual income tax is a flat 4.25%, the 12^th lowest rate;
• Our corporate income tax is a flat 6%, and the Tax Foundation ranks Michigan 12^th for best business tax climate;
• Our sales tax rate is 6%, the 9^th Michigan is heavy on tourism and it makes sense to grab more on consumption;
• We have restrictions in place on local units of government instituting a local sales tax and also restricting them from regressive taxes on food and beverages.

It’s not all rosy, I admit. We fall short in a number of important areas, such as college degree attainment, infrastructure, crime, and income disparity. Policymakers are honing-in on those and hopefully can move the needle.

Setting all rankings aside, the one factor that really sits with me are the testimonials from travelers, family members, and business executives that come from other states to work or vacation in Michigan. Over and over I hear how friendly, walkable, enjoyable and livable the state is.

While the winter freeze can give anyone reason to have a wandering eye at times, the affordability and uncrowded areas for recreation make Michigan an easy place to call home.

Michigan Legislative Consultants is a bipartisan lobbying firm based in Lansing, Michigan. Our team of lobbyists and procurement specialists provide a wide range of services for some of the most respected companies in America. For more on MLC, visit www.mlcmi.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.