But the majority of them will be leaving the state to apply their educations in a career with good opportunities. Our universities produce well-educated, marketable students. As a CPA, I have recommended more than once that someone consider moving to Texas before they sell a lifetime business, because Texas has no income tax. Affluent individuals all over Oklahoma are moving to Texas, with taxes being a driving force in the decision. This is only a problem if you care about losing affluent taxpayers.
Few people hold their wealth in real estate today.
It is in the stock market through direct investment or retirement plans. Oklahomans have high taxes because we tax our citizens' income and investments at a high rate. As you would guess, almost exclusively our neighboring states had higher personal income. This is the term professional business site placement firms use when finding business sites for their clients. My hometown of Duncan recently acquired a distribution center which we were able to grab from a Texas location when we found they were looking for a plant site.