We spend a lot of time trying to help people find the best place and best states to live around the country. A lot of our advice takes into account research, which measures a variety of factors. But we realized that sometimes, YOU need to pick your perfect home. So, instead of answering emails every day from people asking us for advice on where they should live, we thought - why not make an interactive calculator to help you decide!
Research has shown that people are most interested in weather, jobs, affordability, schools, and things to do. To make it even more personal, we added in politics and your tolerance for crowds.
For each category, we determined which states fell into each group. For example, "Ocean" states included Florida and California. Every time a state met a criteria it got a point, with 3 extra points being given to that biome question.
We then limited the possible results based on which climate you choose -- cold/mild/hot -- and whether you said retirement was a requirement.
Of the remaining states, the state with the most points was the winner and we also listed your top five.
Hopefully, this calculator helps add a personal touch to figuring out which state is best for you.