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The answers to this question will be as varied as the person answering. The correct answer for you will wholly depend on what you need, want and can afford.
Everyone has their own opinion as to what makes 'best'.
I think that the weather in most regions allow you to grow food and raise animals.
There are many places with no [or little] regulation / laws
It is getting harder to find, but there are still places with very low taxes, and low land prices.
One big problem you will find is that among your list, there is one contradiction. You cannot have low land prices, low taxes, low government regulation, and also have high paying jobs.
Where the good jobs are; pretty much defines high COL, high taxes, and micro-managing laws / HOAs.
Another problem that shows in these discussions is normalcy-bias.
People who grew-up and stay in a given area, will insist to their dying breath that their home-town is the best place on earth. My siblings and most of my highschool classmates all live in the same area where we were born and grew-up. 40 years later they are still there. When asked why? They will all insist that it is the best place on earth to live.
Having lived in a dozen other states/nations, my perspective is very different.
Ok Best state/province/area for homesteading with these factors
-Weather for growing food and raising animals
-Regulations, laws, taxes, other govt interferences
-people/culture
-jobs
-land prices
Do your own research.
Weather- many places for growing food, but what can you tolerate/not tolerate?
Regulations- Almost nowhere is totally free of government influence these days, maybe the sea? Liberty is relative, too. What do you consider an encroachment? Gun laws, income taxes, building codes, etc.? Not all of these things matter to everyone, but some are deal breakers for others.
People/culture- VERY subjective. Are you a diversity nut, or a race bigot, or somewhere in between? Love redneck life, of need a symphony concert once a week? what works for you?
Jobs- Jobs and homesteading are not mutually exclusive, but most homesteading occurs in less regulated, less populated areas. These are not where the jobs are. What kind of jobs? Farm work for low wages, stock trading for high wages, or what point in between? Again, depends on what you want/need.
Land prices- There are CHEAP places, and EXPENSIVE places, and everything in between. Land for homesteading is generally not the cheapest in a given area, unless you want that rock pile for farming rattlesnakes. But you don't need 250 acres on the edge of Jackson Hole, either. Some folks think 1000 dollars an acre is high, others are comfortable paying 10,000 or more. What is your comfort zone?
Again, do your own research. If you make a move based on someone else's opinion, you stand a good chance of being unhappy. We are all different, and have different needs and wants. No one can be a good substitute for your own research and opinions. Google, City-Data(both the state forums and the data section), State websites, climate data, jobs and economic data, and more, are all at your fingertips to help you find what's right for you. You just have to make the effort. I promise, it will help you a lot more than asking me...
Not trying to be a smart aleck, really, but where, who, is giving away land for 100 dollars?
(Other than Siberia)
And waterfront for $1 ?? Oh you tease.. where?
I had a friend who bought very cheap desert land, sight unseen, off grid, but it was too barren to live on. (Not the brightest bulb...)
Fortunately, the government wanted it and made an offer a few years later and they were glad to reconcile their mistake.
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