I've lived in California, Florida, and Texas, so here's my perspective:
1. Most to least transient: Florida, California, Texas
Florida is a "revolving-door state" like Arizona and Nevada--very transient. California and Texas have way more native-born residents than Florida, hence the tremendous amount of state pride you find among the residents of those states. However, I would venture to say that people tend to have more civic pride in Texas than California.
OTOH, people in Florida--whether they were born there or not--are prouder to have parents from New York than to be from Florida. Some of former colleagues and neighbors in South Florida, most of whom were from New York, would tell me that their kids would tell people they were from New York, even though they were born in Florida. Obviously, civic pride is non-existent in Florida, but that goes without saying. Please, spare me.
2. Most to least beautiful: California, Florida, Texas
California is the most beautiful state in the entire country. IMO, Florida is up there, too--maybe not top 5 or 10, but maybe top 15 or so. If you don't automatically equate scenery with mountains or topographical features, then Florida could rank higher, for all intents and purposes. In addition to its beautiful beaches, Florida also has something else most other states cannot lay claim to--year-round greenery in much of the state. The coastal (and inland) subtropical marshes and savannas are very beautiful, too--again, not something you'd find in many other states.
Texas is a hideously ugly state--the northern half is flat, barren, uninspiring prairie. Greater Houston is the most disgusting metro area in the entire U.S.--dirty, smelly, polluted, etc. Even Los Angeles seems cleaner than Houston.
3. Best to worst people quality: California, Texas, Florida
Californians are simply much easier to live around than people in Florida or Texas. West Coasters tend to be very casual; polite; tolerant, even if not approving; and generally aloof, but pleasant if engaged. OTOH, people in Florida, especially South Florida and increasingly Greater Orlando, are, for the most part, angry; rude; arrogant; selfish; and, in many cases, just plain bizarre. Most of the time, people in Florida are just looking to "one-up" you: cut you in line, beat you to the stoplight, etc.--very East Coast-like, but without the more redeeming qualities of the Northeast (i.e., people with core family values, civic pride, and traditions that run deep; tight-knit communities; stellar K-12 and higher education offerings; etc.). Look up the "FloriDUH Blog" published in the Sun Sentinel. If that isn't enough to scare you, then I don't know what it is. I would venture to say that Florida is, perhaps, home to the worst quality of people in the nation.
Don't even get me started on Texans--nosy, pretentious, overly-religious, very conservative, etc. I never found Texans to be nearly as friendly and welcoming as they're purported to be. People in Houston and San Antonio always seemed warmer and less WASP-y than people in Dallas. FWIW, I'm Italian-American.
4. Best to worst culture: California, Florida, Texas
California, by far--most progressive, most tolerant, most live-and-let-live, most welcoming/"come-as-you-are"-type place of the three. Parts of Florida aren't too far behind either, but lots of retirees/snowbirds, Panhandle residents, African-Americans, and Cuban-Americans suppress the true liberality of the place, IMO.
California might be broke, but it sure as Hell ain't heartless. That became overwhelmingly clear during the Nevada "patient-busing" scandals. Please.
Texas has the worst culture of the three. The whole extremely conservative/gun-obsessed/camouflage/megachurch/Bible-quoting/bigot-centric/restrictive (alcohol, gaming, etc.) culture was truly a poor a fit for me.
5. Best to worst weather: California, Florida, Texas
Florida has warmer winters than most of California, but May through November is much more pleasant in California than Florida--hardly any rain to speak of; no threat of hurricanes or the tornadoes they spawn; significantly less cloud cover; and, of course, considerably less humid and buggy. No tornadoes, thunderstorms, hailstorms, or hurricanes in California unlike Florida and Texas, and no ice storms or snowstorms in most of California either, unlike Texas.
6. Best-looking people: California, Texas, Florida
Lots of stunningly beautiful people in Southern California and even Northern California. Texans tend to be more striking than people in Florida, too.
I'm Italian-American who grew up in Southern New England and lived in South Florida for years, so I'm quite tired of the dark hair/dark eyes look found in much of Florida (Latin, Jewish, Italian, etc.).
7. Best to worst economy: Texas, California, Florida
Texas has a stronger, more diversified economy than Florida in addition to many more corporate HQ's and regional offices--that goes without saying. Texas certainly has a stronger pro-business regulatory environment than California--again, something that goes without saying--and, to a lesser extent, Florida, although Gov. Scott is trying his hardest to compete with Texas/Gov. Perry on that front.
As an aside, I actually applaud Gov. Scott on his attempts to make Florida one of the best states in the U.S. for business. Unfortunately, most people in Florida don't care about stimulating the state's economy and creating high-paying jobs, mostly because so few residents of Florida have a vested interest in the state.
Like Florida, Texas has no state income tax, which is very alluring for high-income earners. However, unlike Florida, wages are much more proportional to COL in Texas, which are abysmal in Florida.
All of these factors, in turn, foster a stronger competitive ethos in Texas than Florida and help make Texas a better choice for corporate ladder-climbers and white-collar professionals in general. Better than California? No, there isn't a single state--save, perhaps, New York--that's better than California for white-collar professionals, IMO, but Texas is now in the same neighborhood.
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