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My favorite states to live in have been Maryland and Rhode Island. I have toyed with the idea of living in Maine as we have seasonal property there, but the winter has kept me away. Though I enjoyed living in Maryland you could not pay me enough to live in Baltimore. Neither Maryland nor Rhode Island have a low cost of living. I prefer a small state to a large one in general.
I lived in California and was not a fan. No thanks to Texas or Colorado. North Carolina holds no appeal either.
High quality of life states:
Washington
Colorado
Minnesota
New Hampshire
Oregon
Massachusetts
Yes, you have to earn more to live a solid middle class lifestyle in the above mentioned states, but it is well worth it.
High quantity of life states, but lagging the other states mentioned in quality of life:
Texas
Florida
Arizona
Georgia
Somewhere in between:
North Carolina
Virginia
Wisconsin
California
States I would never live in or buy real state at this point in time:
Illinois
Ohio
New York
New Mexico
Louisiana
Mississippi
Arkansas
Nebraska
Missouri
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Connecticut
Delaware
South Carolina
Tennessee
Utah
Nevada
Idaho
North Dakota
New Jersey
Hawaii
Kentucky
Kansas
Alabama
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Iowa
Maryland
Washington, unless you live outside the I5 corridor, is terrifically expensive. Housing and general cost of living.
It's cliche for both being one of the big "move to" states AND because I live here as a Realtor...but seriously...NC is kind of the ISH.
Here in the Triangle area (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) we have a ridiculously diverse and thriving economic base in three major universities, the largest research park in the world, and the seat of state government; we are 2 hours from beaches that are sandy, only moderatly developed, and have water you can actually swim in without a wet-suit from June-October....and also 2 hours from mountains that have very temperate summer weather, perfect fall foliage, and snow in the winter. We get all 4 seasons (sometimes in one week).....and we have a really moderate cost of living (people from the NE and West Coast think it's "cheap" while people from the midwest and deeps south think its "expensive").
Can the amount of people moving here cause some strain and is it sometimes annoying? Fo sho. But I get it. We kind of rock.
TX and CA? I get it...they are big and (to a degree) glamorous. I've enjoyed time visiting both.....living there though? Pass.
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