And I am not looking for generic answers like "it depends on why you're looking for" -- that reminds me of those USCIS customer service agents, when you call and ask about your case they always say "it's different case by case"

That depends on what you are looking for.
To be serious Texas could be one of the state House are relatively cheaper, no income taxes and bigger community with lot of opportunities.

You will be answered by jack of all master of none kind of morons.

It actually depends on what you are looking for ! Want some snow? Go to Minnesota! Want some Sunshine? Go to Arizona!! Want some crocodiles? Go to Florida!! Want some cheese and beers? Go to Wisconsin!! Want some awesome weather all year round? Go to California? Want some American Blondes? Go to Texas!! Want something similar to black hole? Go to New Jersey!!

There are many factors to consider

- Weather
- Crime rate
- housing market
- population growth yoy
- jobs/industry (unemployment rate)
- average adjusted median income
- state financial health (this will result in tax increase if not sound)
- community
- schooling (public/private)

If you are young professional 23 - 35, your primary factor to consider should be jobs/employment health. If you have kids then definitely think about school/community. So it just depends on what stage in life you're in.

Here are few top 10 lists.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/12/americas-10-best-states-to-live-in-2016.html?slide=1
https://www.homesnacks.net/these-are-the-10-best-states-to-live-in-america-123067/
https://www.thestreet.com/story/13291294/1/the-15-best-places-to-live-in-the-united-states.html

DC/Virginia suburbs, Atlanta suburbs, Durham/Raleigh NC, Austin, TX and Seattle Suburbs are also pretty decent.

North Carolina, Florida and Texas...based on average of all factors...

I think the good question would be which city you wanna settle in? I mean states are so big that it would make a huge difference which part of the state you live.

There is no best or worst state to live. It all depends upon your plan, and how much you make.
North California (San Francisco Bay area) is the best one.
Good for => IT and technology professionals; Biotechnologists; health professionals Businessman; Free Lancer
Annual income should be above 150K.
average commute: 35-50 mins
This area has everything to offer for so-called American Dreams.

SF Bay Area is good but avaerage income should be above $150k ?? Well that kills the deal for me. . How about discussing ideal places for average people who make around $80-$90k .. let's not talk about those $150k-$200k. 90% of us don't make that kind of money.

Can we have a better discussion which is ideal for average people ??

In my opinion for ideal people who make decent above 55K , the good place would be North Carolina, Northern Virginia, Texas, Chicago ,Florida and Georgia. This is just my understanding.

NAMSTEE, All other places seems reasonable except Chicago...Just my perception...Chicago, as I heard from many people seems expensive...

From your other post you had Ph.D. and if it is from US by now you may have figured it out the States where you will find a dream job.
Next step will be as advised by ontothenextone.

Urban areas in Texas, for an average skilled Nepali, is giving a good bang for its buck.

North Carolina.

I have never been to North Carolina.

I like your point about starting a thread about something else for a change. Many regular readers seem to have been tired by threads that start with 'मामा को भांजे बुहारी सँग, साली को दीदी सँग इत्यादि'. However a question about which state or city in US to settle down may not be unique or the first time in Sajha. To give my perspective about this question, like rest of us, I started with the caveat that it all depends. But you do not want that 'it all depends' crap. You too have many of those information that we get from Internet. So what I want, like you, is an unfiltered but biased opinion from Nepali diaspora. An opinion from the demographics that fit your variables, those statistical groupings that are unique to you. And we all know that it all depends. I will start with mine. I cannot absolutely choose which state to settle down because of my generic skill set. I am not financially at a stage where I can choose a specific city state where I can settle down. If I was twenty five, with the job, legal status and money I have today, probably I could. But I came to US when I was twenty five. It took me twelve years to be here. That is to move from a student, to H1b to Green Card to a full time job, to buy a house and have a kid. Twelve years back on a cold December 24th evening, when I was selling Parliament Light to the lady from the next block at **** Bhai's Liquor Store, she had asked me are you guys open tomorrow? And I had nodded Yes. I did not understand then that it was weird that we would be open. Today on my vacation week when I have nothing else to do I can (s)troll around and volunteer a five thousand words monologue here to bore you and everyone else by veering off topic and take pleasure in being that 'चाटु' poster. Choosing a state to settle down, depending on everything else, also comes down to your skill set as well. A young and hippie do-it-all explorer may want to settle down in Yukon, 'Call of the Wild' style. But I can only choose urban centers, especially those that have abundant jobs for IT professionals. Boston, currently where I live, NYC and SF Bay areas are good only if your spouse also works a good paying job. Or you have a proffered skill and diploma with licensure that are uniquely high paying like a Corporate Lawyer and a Medical Doctor. But somehow I have a feeling that you are in a career where you can choose your employer. Here in Boston, I have a perceived feeling that I am not tied to my employer because of my location. For a Business Analyst, it looks like, I may have jobs outside of my current employer. So for me, Boston is not a bad bet; and my spouse works as well. But if I was a digital transformation tech lead in Bentonville, Arkansas I might be probably yielding much more remuneration last year and for few years more because of the nature of stage where their main employer stands right now. The same skill set of digital transformation, mobile app development etc may not yield as much if I was working for Yodlee in NYC. Even with similar pay, Bentonville lifestyle would be grander than that in NYC. But the question is the risk of working in Bentonville as Digital Transformation Analyst. A layoff from Walmart means you sell your house. But a budding Pharmaceutical Scientist has plenty to choose from if she is in Boston. Like a proven Investment Fund Manager in NYC area. If there was a decree for me to leave Boston I would have to find a similar urban center where schools are reasonable and home buying is not as crazy as they are here. I might try job search in either the Charlotte Metro area or the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill). Again Charlotte is three hours from Raleigh so I do not want a Job in Charlotte while my wife works in Durham. Why North Carolina when I have not even been there? I do not know. It looks so; it could merely be perceived value. I do not have many friends. The few friends that I have through my student days, all choose a similar career path that I did. None of them live in North Carolina. But almost all of them want to move to North Carolina. Therefore my bias. Why? I don't know. Probably you could get a job in Fidelity or BOA as Business Analyst and buy the house you cannot buy here in Boston for that same salary.

Kalidashbhaisab,
I've very similar thoughts regarding North Carolina. I have never been there myself but few people that i know have moved there recently (some in Charlotte, and some in Triangle area) and few other friends who want to move to North Carolina. So i did little bit research on why people want to move to NC ? Here's what i found out:
(a) Really good schools, especially in the Triangle Area which has lots of Asians (Indians, Nepali etc)
(b) Affordable housing
(c)Triangle area, also one of the safest in Nation. Cary wins that i think.
(d) Lots of IT jobs in Charlotte (bank of america, wells fargo etc) and Triangle area has good science/research jobs. Lots of pharma/CRO companies are located in that area.
(e) Weather - Weather seems nice there. Not much snow during winter, Summer not bad (better than texas)
(f)Not far from beaches. Virginia Beach 2-3 hours from Triangle area, so is Myrtle Beach.

Frustu, maybe this is helpful to you as well !