No Stupid Questions

California is both the best and worst US state to live in

States matter only inasmuch as the city you live in.

Living in Altoona, Pennsylvania is going to be a vastly different experience than Philadelphia.

If you're the kind of person using lemmy, then any southern state is probably in the running for "worst" to live in. They're not without their positives or fantastic people and culture (and I mean actual culture, not the confederacy bs) but if you were picking and choosing a place to live, it probably wouldn't be those.

By that same token, any west coast or northeast/new England state is probably "best". They all have their negatives and shitty people, but you'd probably prefer one of them if you were choosing. Though you actually may have a better time in a city in a "worst" state than in some rural areas in a "best" state. That'll depend on other factors.

I agree with Tikiporch. The city matters more than the state.

There are rankings on different measures floating around the internet, best and worst depend a lot on what you are measuring. So I took a look and Minneapolis comes up as ideal for most of what I want in a city but I'm a delicate tropical flower and would die there the first winter.

Florida was much more progressive when I was young, unfortunately we have attracted a lot of conservative northerners who completely changed the political landscape, but the city I'm in still feels nice.

So what are you measuring? Good transit? Stay in the northeast. Good music scene? Texas, believe it or not. Want to raise kids? Maybe NYC if you are loaded, so much to do there. Best is impossible to answer because it's different for different people. My ex evolved into a slavering racist so he thinks Iowa is best because it's not very diverse, but that is the opposite of what I like.

Washington state is the best, most beautiful place in the country.

I don't think you can give an actual guesstimate. I think anyone trying is pretty much just bias or guessing. Most states are as big or bigger than European countries, which even inside of those you've got your shit ghettos and your super nice area.

If you were to say cities in the US? That's more possible. I'd say New York City, it's by far the dirtiest city I've seen, even compared to to other major US cities like Chicago, LA, and Miami, ect. But like I said, state is kinda impossible. Upstate New York is like a different country.

Here's a list of the worst 10: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/11/worst-states-to-live-in-america-2026.html

Best - Hawaii
Worst - Anywhere but Hawaii

Best - California. Even the worst parts of the state are better than most other places in America, and the best parts are literally world wonders (Yosemite, Redwoods, Sequoias, Death Valley, Joshua Tree). Pricey AF, but you get what you pay for, and it's all here - mountains, deserts, ocean, lakes, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, big cities, little towns, pretty much any kind of life you could want, you can live it here if you've got the means to afford it.

Worst - Texas. It's where the worst of America decided to throw an endless rodeo and most of their trash. Yeah, other states may be stupider, or more racist, or more desolate... but nobody nowhere is louder and prouder of being a drunken pain in the ass than a Texan. Florida man comes in a close second if he's methed up enough, but Florida actually has cool shit like the Everglades and Miami and manatees and alligators.

Texas has Buc-ees and lot lizards.

It really depends who you are and what you like and what your values are and what your income is.

That said, as a progressive software engineer who grew up in CA and now lives in Boston: Massachusetts for sure has its issues, and the cost of living in the city proper is ludicrous, but it’s probably the most European-ish city in the US. Many jokingly call it the People’s Republic of Massachusetts, but it’s one of the better states in terms of social safety nets and all that sort of stuff, and is generally pretty fun. Decent amount of shows, and the restaurant scene is honestly quite delicious and varied, once you get hooked into the scene a bit and learn a bit about which neighborhoods are good for what. And -gasp - a (usually) functioning mass transit system that has heavy and light rail as a major component, along with pretty good commuter rail that you can take all the way to the state border north or south (idk about west - western mass is considered to be a fictional location by many Bostonians). Basically, better mass transit than pretty much anywhere in the states I’ve ever been besides NYC, and maybe Chicago.

Colorado is also pretty sweet, though it’s becoming more expensive these days. Probably the only truly inland state I’d ever seriously consider moving to. Unbelievably good skiing and hiking and other mountain-y stuff to do.

You could not pay me enough money to live in Oklahoma.

And as close second for “nope”, the gulf coast is pretty goddamn awful imo, even putting aside the politics (which are predominantly pretty heinous) and racism (because we never really fully put down the confederacy) - largely economically depressed, horridly humid, no real winter (I like the cold), tons of petrochemical industry.

I know this isn’t what you were asking for, but the single best quality of life decision I made was leaving America. This was after living in multiple states.

Does the moon become a state when it gets renamed “Moon of America”?

Best California

Worst Mississippi

Everyone in the US thinks the state they are from is both the best and the worst at the same time. And also gets mad if you agree that their state is the worst of you're not from there.

That being said, Ohio is aight, more interesting than people give it credit for, and everything bad people think about Ohio is way more true in Indiana.

Also no one talks about how freaking beautiful West Virginia is I swear.