Alabama vs Iowa
Twenty measures that tend to decide a move, side by side. Every figure is the same one the map shows, from the same source.
Alabama comes out ahead on 3 of them and Iowa on 11, but that tally is not a recommendation: it weighs a difference in class size the same as a difference in house price. Read the rows that matter to you.
MeasureAlabamaIowa
Home price$241,517$241,255
Rent paid$1,008$957
Cost of living88.689.7
Income$66,659$75,501
Property tax0.37%1.33%
Income tax5.00%3.80%
Sales tax9.46%6.94%
Electric bill$185$119
Temperature64.2°F50.4°F
Snowfall2.0 in26.3 in
Precipitation52.3 in34.1 in
Sunshine4.53 kWh/m²3.98 kWh/m²
Students per teacher17.214.4
Bachelor's or higher29.9%32.1%
Crime rate360243
Commute26.0 min20.4 min
Unemployment3.2%3.2%
Population change+3.3%+1.5%
Wildfire risk62.545.3
Flood risk83.362.6
Bold marks the better figure where a measure has a better direction. Weather, snowfall and rainfall are shown plain, because warmer is not better — it is a preference.