Living on the State Line

I live in Vancouver, Washington ... which is basically a suburb of Portland, Oregon. I've been told by a couple of companies that they aren't hiring out of Washington right now, but if I were to move over the river and get my Oregon license, they would hire me in a heartbeat.

What difference does this make? Is it worth it to get an apartment 2 miles away from my house?

I know one difference ... Oregon has income tax, Washington doesn't. Why would that matter to a company though?

I also wonder, if I were to get hired out of (for instance) Salem, Oregon, would I then have to pay out-of-state resident income tax? (My wife pays about 2x more in Oregon state income taxes because she lives in Washington). If I were to be hired out of (for instance) Seattle, Washington, would I ever get to Portland to spend time with my family?

 

I appreciate everyone's responses. I've already found several companies who say they would hire me, and now have several more to check out. Can never have too many options!

I'm still left wondering about the "why's" of the situation though. I'm still wondering about state taxes and home-time.

The school I'll be attending says there are tax loopholes I should check out. Something about spending more than a certain percentage of my work-time out of state makes me exempt from state taxes. They couldn't explain why a Washington resident, working for a nation-wide company, would have to worry about Oregon state tax loopholes though.

The school's excuse for home-time made more sense. They said I should check with the companies. Even a NY based company could be able to get me home to Washington regularly ... it just depends on their routes and policies.

As I re-read this thread, I realize my question has kinda changed. What would be a better forum to post state tax related questions?