Some of the most expensive places in the US also have ideal weather — Hawaii, California, etc. I lived in Hawaii for 2 years and it was glorious. But have we been misguided? is North Dakota really the best place to live? And where do you get the most comfort for your dollar? This is the perfect guide for the remote worker who is interested in optimizing for cost and comfort.

What’s the general correlation of cost and comfort?

When you look across all metro areas across the United States, the data is clear: Nothing is clear. Why would anyone live in Key West Florida? (2.5 comfort, 149 cost). And outside of the CA Bay Area (the three dots in the top right) and LA (a few dots below that), there’s BARELY a correlation between comfort and cost. How is this possible?!

Also of note, there are a LOT of data points with seemingly perfect comfort and low cost.

Please Note: A 100 Cost Score is average cost of living in the US. A 10 Comfort Score is essentially 70–80 degree weather year round with zero humidity. Both numbers came from an external source, not calculated by me.

If you remove Florida from the ratings? There’s a MUCH stronger correlation.

Which states in general are the most comfortable?

When it comes to straight comfort, North Dakota, Michigan, and Wisconsin reign supreme. I even had to show three decimals just to differentiate. But be careful. This metric is based on the frequency of 70–80 weather with a penalty for excess humidity. Those locations can get frigid during the winter.

Personally, I’d much rather spend time in high heat than dealing with too much ice, so I can’t imagine favoring much of these top 10 most comfortable states.

Note: The average comfort in a US metro area is 7.8

Which states have the lowest cost of living?

Despite my personal opinion on accepting warmer weather more than ice, the top 10 best places in terms of cost of living has zero overlap with the top 10 comfort.

Clearly there is something, even if the metro area data doesn’t show a strong trend. To me, this indicates that there are gems

Where do you get the most comfort for your dollar?

Ohio has the best ratio of Cost of Living to Weather Comfort hands down. And the Midwest and Great Lakes region dominates the Top 10. If you want to see the metro-level detail of these reports, click here

Conclusions and Thoughts

I live near Reno, NV which isn’t the top of any of these lists. And we love it here! My wife and I moved here partially because of the number “days of sunshine” on Best Places. We’re basically human solar daisies.

1. More things matter than cost and comfort. This completely ignores average wages, education, jobs, proximity to family, health care, and amenities. Plus, there’s obviously no personal preferences present.

2. Despite personal differences in how I’d calculate a comfort score, there’s relatively little bias. These scores are based on imperial evidence, not opinions. So if you want to maximize your days in 70–80 degree weather with the lowest cost of living, your best chance is Ohio.

3. Seasonality is real. It’s extremely difficult to aggregate a year’s worth of data points into one number. When you come up with numbers to compare multiple items, don’t forget to include the nuances of those items.

Business Lessons Learned

Some numbers might be useless.

Don’t believe everything at face value.

You might be looking at the wrong numbers despite pretty charts.

It’s better to figure out what you want and then optimize.

Don’t use the wrong aggregation in your analysis.

ANAF is a fun insightful series brought to you by WIPP Data, a Data Agency bringing you custom data solutions for any business. 
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Data Source: Best Places (which I highly recommend)