Where should I move?

Scores compare the states (or metro areas) with each other (100 = best on everything you picked). Data: Census ACS 2024, BEA RPP 2024, EIA, NAIC, Child Care Aware of America, NOAA climate normals (1991–2020), BLS unemployment (2025) and wages (May 2025), FEMA National Risk Index, AAA, KFF and 2026 tax rules. Climate, jobs and disaster risk are included, but schools and crime are not, so use this as a starting point.

How the score works

For each factor, the best place (cheapest, mildest or lowest risk) gets 1 and the worst gets 0, with everything else in between. We multiply by how important you said each factor is, add them up, and scale to 100. Taxes are calculated on your salary with 2026 federal and state rules, so the ranking changes with income. A place with no figure for a factor counts as average on it.

Ranking metro areas uses each area's own rent, home prices, property tax, everyday prices, climate, unemployment, wages and disaster risk, and adds the main city's income tax where it has one. Electricity, home and car insurance, gas, child care and health premiums are state figures, so metros in the same state tie on them.

Low income taxes

Federal and state income tax (plus county tax in Maryland and Indiana) and payroll taxes on your salary, for a single filer under 2026 rules.

Low everyday prices

BEA Regional Price Parities for goods and for services other than housing and utilities.

Cheap rent

Median gross rent (Census ACS).

Affordable homes to buy

Monthly cost to own the median home with 20% down: mortgage at the current 30-year rate, property tax and insurance.

Low property tax

Median property tax as a share of median home value (Census ACS).

Cheap electricity

Average residential price per kilowatt-hour (EIA).

Cheap home insurance

Median yearly homeowners insurance paid by owners with a mortgage (Census ACS).

Affordable child care

Average price of full-time center-based infant care (Child Care Aware of America). New Mexico has no figure.

Mild winters

Average January low, from NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals at one weather station per metro area (usually the main airport). A state's figure averages the metro areas we cover in it, weighted by population; Delaware and West Virginia use the Wilmington, Del., and Charleston, W.Va., airports.

Mild summers

Days a year with a high of 90°F or more (NOAA normals, same stations).

Low unemployment

Unemployment rate, 2025 average (BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics). The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.

High wages

Median yearly wage across all jobs, May 2025 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics). Higher pay often comes with higher prices, so weigh it with them.

Low natural-disaster risk

FEMA National Risk Index score, averaged over each state's (or metro area's) counties by population.

Cheap car costs

Average yearly auto insurance spending (NAIC) plus gas for 12,000 miles at 25 mpg (AAA state averages).

Low health premiums

Benchmark silver Marketplace premium for a 40-year-old, before subsidies (KFF).