California vs West Virginia
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 West Virginia 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.
MeasureCaliforniaWest Virginia
Home price$775,549$182,704
Rent paid$2,042$868
Cost of living142.388.3
Income$100,149$60,798
Property tax0.70%0.51%
Income tax13.30%4.82%
Sales tax9.03%6.60%
Electric bill$161$167
Temperature62.7°F53.9°F
Snowfall4.3 in22.9 in
Precipitation18.4 in44.0 in
Sunshine5.20 kWh/m²3.96 kWh/m²
Students per teacher21.913.7
Bachelor's or higher38.1%24.4%
Crime rate486249
Commute29.7 min26.5 min
Unemployment5.2%4.2%
Population change-0.5%-1.5%
Wildfire risk96.841.2
Flood risk98.579.2
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.