Good and Bad States to Relocate and/or Retreat To
Where should your retreat be based?
There are lots of issues to consider in answering that question, and depending on the respective importance people give to the different factors to be considered, you will see a group of people, all given the same raw facts, come to completely different decisions with no two people reaching the same conclusion.
One factor to consider is the economic health of the state you are choosing to live in ‘normally’ and/or choosing to retreat to if all goes wrong in the future.
The good sense in living in an economically prosperous state in ordinary normal times is obvious. But we suggest that even after ‘the end of the world as we know it’ you’ll still be better off in a state that was, until that time, prosperous.
In general, prosperous states interfere less with their citizens, and their citizens in turn are content to enjoy their own good lifestyles without obsessing too much if their neighbors have it better than them or not. Prosperous states, by definition, tend to have more people employed and fewer people on benefits, and if you had to choose between having people on state benefits or successful fully employed people living in your area, you’d probably prefer the latter.
Prosperous states also tend to have lower rates of crime, probably because more people are working and getting a good living honestly.
We’re not saying this is the most important factor by any means when choosing locations, but it is one of the many factors to consider, and we mention it now due to the release of the fifth annual ranking of states in terms of their economic outlooks. This study – ‘Rich States, Poor States’ and published by the American Legislative Exchange Council lists the ten best states as being :
1 Utah
2 South Dakota
3 Virginia
4 Wyoming
5 Idaho
6 Colorado
7 North Dakota
8 Tennessee
9 Missouri
10 Florida
And the ten worst states? They are :
41 Pennsylvania
42 Rhode Island
43 Oregon
44 Illinois
45 New Jersey
46 Hawaii
47 California
48 Maine
49 Vermont
50 New York
The entire 125 page report can be downloaded from ALEC’s site for free. It includes detailed analyses of each state’s economic condition and policies, and lots more information too.
