FWIW, I think the comparison is fair if you swap out CA for the insanity of housing prices in the bay area. I do think that the brutal winters of Idaho should be accounted for though. If you're trying to convince people to move to Idaho, you might need to pay a little closer to sunshine salaries to make up for negative degree weather.
Idaho weather really isn't brutal unless you are in the north or way up in the mountains. Its really quite nice in Southern Idaho. Hot summers, absolutely perfect long falls and springs and occasional snow in the winter but it rarely sticks for more than a few days. Negative degree weather is also pretty rare. Very dry and little precipitation, again unless you are up in the mountains. The number of Californians that have moved to Idaho over the last 10 years is pretty staggering. The weather didn't stop them!
I'm actually impressed! Sounds almost as nice as Colorado weather. ;)
And yes, we also get a lot of people (myself included) who are escaping from California for various reasons. Considering the number of people who leave California, it's almost surprising that California's population is still growing, though I believe it is.
