California vs South Dakota
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 3 of them and South Dakota on 12, 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.
MeasureCaliforniaSouth Dakota
Home price$775,549$325,618
Rent paid$2,042$941
Cost of living142.391.9
Income$100,149$76,881
Property tax0.70%1.00%
Income tax13.30%0.00%
Sales tax9.03%6.11%
Electric bill$161$138
Temperature62.7°F47.4°F
Snowfall4.3 in29.7 in
Precipitation18.4 in23.7 in
Sunshine5.20 kWh/m²4.08 kWh/m²
Students per teacher21.914.2
Bachelor's or higher38.1%34.2%
Crime rate486362
Commute29.7 min18.5 min
Unemployment5.2%2.0%
Population change-0.5%+5.5%
Wildfire risk96.875.5
Flood risk98.554.5
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.