State Matchmaker: Find the Best States for Your Rural Move

Six questions, your five best-fit states.

Use the tool

Choosing a state is the biggest decision in a rural move, and most lists of the “best states” are opinions. This tool ranks states with official numbers instead: farmland value from USDA, property tax from the Tax Foundation, home insurance from the NAIC, rain and temperature from NOAA, and wildfire risk from the U.S. Forest Service.

Tell us what matters to you, from mild winters to low yearly costs on a fixed income, and the tool weighs each factor the way you answered. Each of your five states comes with the reasons behind it, so you can see why it made the list.

AHO Buyer’s Toolkit · Free tool
State Matchmaker

Not sure which state to search in? Answer six quick questions and see the five states that fit you best, and why.

1. Winters
2. Water and land
3. How much does a low land price matter?
4. How much do low yearly costs matter? (property tax and insurance)
5. Wildfire risk
6. Parts of the country you would consider
How we match you
  • Land price: farm real estate value per acre, USDA NASS Land Values 2026.
  • Property tax: effective rate on owner-occupied homes, Tax Foundation 2026 (2024 data).
  • Insurance: average HO-3 premium, NAIC (2022 data). FAIR Plan: whether the state has an insurer of last resort, Insurance Information Institute.
  • Rain and temperature: 1991-2020 state normals, NOAA NCEI.
  • Wildfire: risk to homes by state, USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities (v2.3, 2026).
  • Each answer changes how much each factor counts. Averages hide big differences inside a state: a “dry” state can have green valleys, and a cheap state can have expensive counties.

A starting point for your search, not a recommendation. Visit, talk to locals, and check the county you are looking at.

Good to know

A state average can hide big differences between counties. Once you have a short list, use the County Value Finder to see where the land is cheapest inside each state.

This tool is part of the free AHO Buyer’s Toolkit, a set of tools for people buying an affordable home with land in the United States. For the full checklist before you make an offer, get our free Rural Property Buyer’s Field Guide.