Iowa 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.
Iowa comes out ahead on 8 of them and West Virginia on 7, 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.
MeasureIowaWest Virginia
Home price$241,255$182,704
Rent paid$957$868
Cost of living89.788.3
Income$75,501$60,798
Property tax1.33%0.51%
Income tax3.80%4.82%
Sales tax6.94%6.60%
Electric bill$119$167
Temperature50.4°F53.9°F
Snowfall26.3 in22.9 in
Precipitation34.1 in44.0 in
Sunshine3.98 kWh/m²3.96 kWh/m²
Students per teacher14.413.7
Bachelor's or higher32.1%24.4%
Crime rate243249
Commute20.4 min26.5 min
Unemployment3.2%4.2%
Population change+1.5%-1.5%
Wildfire risk45.341.2
Flood risk62.679.2
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.