Montana 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.
Montana comes out ahead on 6 of them and West Virginia on 8, 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.
MeasureMontanaWest Virginia
Home price$476,115$182,704
Rent paid$1,074$868
Cost of living95.588.3
Income$75,340$60,798
Property tax0.61%0.51%
Income tax5.65%4.82%
Sales tax0.00%6.60%
Electric bill$114$167
Temperature44.2°F53.9°F
Snowfall54.5 in22.9 in
Precipitation23.9 in44.0 in
Sunshine3.96 kWh/m²3.96 kWh/m²
Students per teacher14.213.7
Bachelor's or higher36.3%24.4%
Crime rate424249
Commute19.5 min26.5 min
Unemployment3.3%4.2%
Population change+5.6%-1.5%
Wildfire risk88.541.2
Flood risk61.079.2
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.