Are you thinking about finding a new home in the United States?
Relocating can be one of the most exciting and meaningful decisions you’ll ever make, and one of the most important for your financial well-being.
Whether you’re drawn by affordability, better schools, or a new lifestyle, the first step is to find the right state.
Our interactive app helps you compare U.S. states using reliable data to include housing affordability, groceries, childcare, taxes, weather, and more.
Click on the factors that matter most to you and see instantly how each state ranks. You’ll quickly discover which ones match your budget and your dreams.
Once you’ve identified your favorite state, visit the Find Your Community page. And start travel plans to visit.
USING THE APP
Each heading in the app is ranks the US States from 1 to 50 where 1 is the highest or best rank.
The best way to use the app is to click on a heading that is important so that the states are ranked from 1 to 50 for that heading and then see how the other columns perform for each row.
The cost of housing is the most expensive part of any budget. And the index “groceries” is an indicator of the cost of living.
To help find the best affordable lifestyle for your family, here are the links to the data sources used in my app.
The link to BANKRATE which has been used for weather is a recommended link.
Here are the sources used to build the App:
Home Value (Occupied): Data from the US Census.
Weather: BANKRATE – Best and worst states for retirement
Groceries: DELISH – Grocery prices
Childcare: Child Care Aware America
Tax Competitiveness: TAX FOUNDATION – 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index
Property Tax: TAX FOUNDATION – Property Taxes by State and County, 2025
Healthcare Affordability: US News – Health Care Affordability
Low Violent Crime Rate: US NEWS – Low Violent Crime Rate
And here are some interesting articles:
Visualizing How Americans Spend Their Money
How Much Americans Spend on Groceries in Each State
Infant Child-Care Costs by U.S. State
NEXT STEP
Most of the indexes per column provide a warning to research or reconsider those items where the ranking for that State is low.
And the items Home Value, Weather and Groceries would probably be best when in the ranking 1 to 25.
And in many cases there are personal reasons for choosing particular States.
Once you’ve found your best-fit state, your next step is VISIT our FIND YOUR COMMUNITY page and explore specific communities where you might buy or rent a home.
And start travel plans to visit.