Iowa vs Mississippi
Twenty measures that tend to decide a move, side by side. Every figure is the same one the map shows, from the same source.
Iowa comes out ahead on 9 of them and Mississippi on 6, 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.
MeasureIowaMississippi
Home price$241,255$198,428
Rent paid$957$966
Cost of living89.787.3
Income$75,501$59,127
Property tax1.33%0.58%
Income tax3.80%4.00%
Sales tax6.94%7.06%
Electric bill$119$171
Temperature50.4°F66.2°F
Snowfall26.3 in0.9 in
Precipitation34.1 in53.1 in
Sunshine3.98 kWh/m²4.58 kWh/m²
Students per teacher14.414.3
Bachelor's or higher32.1%27.0%
Crime rate243211
Commute20.4 min26.4 min
Unemployment3.2%3.8%
Population change+1.5%-0.2%
Wildfire risk45.358.0
Flood risk62.663.4
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.