California vs North Carolina
Twenty measures that tend to decide a move, side by side. Every figure is the same one the map shows, from the same source.
California comes out ahead on 2 of them and North Carolina on 13, 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.
MeasureCaliforniaNorth Carolina
Home price$775,549$340,430
Rent paid$2,042$1,215
Cost of living142.397.8
Income$100,149$73,958
Property tax0.70%0.66%
Income tax13.30%3.99%
Sales tax9.03%7.10%
Electric bill$161$151
Temperature62.7°F60.3°F
Snowfall4.3 in2.3 in
Precipitation18.4 in42.5 in
Sunshine5.20 kWh/m²4.46 kWh/m²
Students per teacher21.916.4
Bachelor's or higher38.1%37.1%
Crime rate486376
Commute29.7 min25.7 min
Unemployment5.2%3.6%
Population change-0.5%+7.2%
Wildfire risk96.853.8
Flood risk98.584.6
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.