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[freedomroad]

The most free states to live in:
Economic Freedom:
States with low property taxes (lowest 6 in random order)
AL, WY, UT, CO, NM, VA

States without any type of state income tax
WY, AK, SD, WA, FL, NV, TX

States without a state sales tax
OR, NH, MT, DE, AK

States without any type of corporate income tax
TX, WY, NV

Right to work states (no state forced union laws)
VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, TN, LA, AR, OK, TX, KS, NE, IA, SD, ND, WY, ID, UT, AZ, NV

States without state minimum wage laws
AZ, TN, SC, MS, AL, FL, LA

Totals:  States get one point for each time they appear on an above list
Economic Freedom: (out of 6 points)
1. WY 4 points
2. TX/NV/SD/FL/AL 3 points

Personal Freedom:
Most gun freedom (top 19 in random order)
ME, LA, AK, TX, MT, KY, VT, ND, GA, AR, WY, OK, WV, SD, ID, AL, MS, KS, NH

States with low population density (top 5 in random order)
MT, ND, WY, AK, SD

States with pro-homeschool laws
NJ, IL, IN, MI, MO, AK, TX, OK, ID

States without a state motorcycle helmet law
CO, IL, IA, NH (Also, NH has no seat belt laws)

States without a state obscenity law
AK, VT, WV, HI, CO, MT, OR, SD, NM

States with the highest maximum speed limits
WY, UT, SD, CO, MT, NV, NE, AZ, ID
http://www.motorists.org/issues/speed/StateSpeeds.html

States with legal medical marijuana
CA, WA, OR, NV, CO, ME, AK, HI

States with legal Prostitution
NV

Thoughts: WY is #1 and it is one of the FSP states.  SD is tied for #2 and it is a FSP states.

Personal Freedom: (out of 9 points)
1. AK 5 points
2. CO/SD/MT 4 points
3. NV/WY/NH/ID 3 points

Thoughts: AK is #1 for personal freedom and it is a FSP state.  MT, SD, ID and WY also do extremely well and most of them border each other.  WY is bordered by 4 different highly free states.  NH is tied for 3rd in personal freedom.  This is interesting as NH is the only state from the northeast that is ranked.

Total Freedom: (out of 15 points)
1. AK/WY/SD 7 points
2. NV 6 points
3. CO/TX/MT 5 points

Final Thoughts: AK, WY, and SD all do very well.  In fact, these three states beat all of the other 47 states.  MT also does better than the vast majority of the states.  NV and CO border FSP states.  Every single one of these states is west of the MN/ND and TX/LA line that cuts the country into two sections.

WY seems to be the best state according to this data as it is tied for 1st place and borders another state tied for 1st.  Also, two states tied for 3rd (CO, MT) border WY.  SD seems to be second best.  AK is best for personal freedoms but just another state when it comes to economic freedoms.

Clearly the West is much more free than VT, NH, DE, or ME.  Moving to the Western states of WY, SD, or AK will give the FSP more freedom from the start than any other state.  WY has the added bonus of having the smallest population in the nation.

Conclusion: The most free states in the country tend to be the western states with very low population density rates.

Note:  One very important consideration that is not factored into this report is that larger cities tend to be less free than smaller cities.  So, states with very few large cities will tend to be more free than states with many larger cities.  Out of all of the states that make the final ranking, Wyoming has the smallest large cities.

[wes237]

FreedomRoad

Thanks for that info. That is impressive in its own right. Had gathered much of this in previous discussions, but it looks good the way you layed it out.  (Just got finished with outside Xmas lights, in  the cold air, and was thinking how much warmer it might be in Nevada. HA! ... like that would happen. Sure wish Wyoming sat on the equator!)

[Blayne]

You make a good case for Wyoming. However these factors are not entirely determinate of freedom in these States these are only a fraction of the things necessary to determine which state is the freest.

First and foremost are how such things like most economic freedom or gun freedom etc was determined to garner the state being on the lists.

While those you list are important and pet peeves to many of us. How they are enforced, their level of implementation and cost to individuals should be taken into consideration.

There are also other laws or lack there of that should be taken into consideration for example Child protective Laws, welfare recipients and dole outs, how gun laws are implemented.

So while these numbers certainly inspire one to look further at states such a Wyoming they are far from conclusive in my view.

Blayne

[Zxcv]

While it is a good idea to move to a state that is already pretty free, we should realize the whole point of this exercise is to change some of those laws in our chosen state. "Vermont carry" in Wyoming would be a pretty safe bet if there were 20,000 activists and 100,000 friends! And elimination of homeschool controls would be a shoe-in.

The problem is really a bit more subjective than these numbers indicate - knowing what the culture of freedom is in a given state. For example, Alaska has the lowest property tax in your list, and second lowest income tax. Is this evidence of a culture of freedom? Not necessarily; there seems to be a welfare mentality developing in that state due to money from oil. In Alaska, there is such a thing as a free lunch! When the oil runs out, people are not going to stop sucking the welfare tit. They are going to boost taxes.

Maybe taxes are not a good measure after all; but per capita state spending might be, as it would take into accounts such distorting factors as oil revenue.

The lack of a corporate income tax might really be an indication that people haven't been sucked into the attraction of OPM (Other People's Money). Or it could just mean the state is desperate to attract business!  

[Asterisk]

Remember though that any taxes paid in Alaska are offset by the annual dividend each Alaska citizen recieves from the state's oil properties. Somewhere around $1,000 each, if I recall correctly. The oil profits pay for most of Alaska's state functions and there is very little direct taxation.

[Hank]

Conclusion: The most free states in the country tend to be the western states with very low population density rates.
Note:  One very important consideration that is not factored into this report is that larger cities tend to be less free than smaller cities.  So, states with very few large cities will tend to be more free than states with many larger cities.  Out of all of the states that make the final ranking, Wyoming has the smallest large cities.

The smallest large cities.
Vermont beats Wyoming for city sizes but how did they get beat by the socialists? Does this mean we could turn Vermont back around because they have a system that allows such easy turnarounds.
Surely the rural Vermonters are chaffing under the rule of Burlington socialists.
Burlington isn't that big.
We could knock its socialist block back to New York.
Then we'd have BOTH economic and personal freedoms.

Remember too that Vermont already has "Vermont Carry"

[robmayn]

Conclusion: The most free states in the country tend to be the western states with very low population density rates.
Note:  One very important consideration that is not factored into this report is that larger cities tend to be less free than smaller cities.  So, states with very few large cities will tend to be more free than states with many larger cities.  Out of all of the states that make the final ranking, Wyoming has the smallest large cities.

Vermont beats Wyoming for city sizes but how did they get beat by the socialists? Does this mean we could turn Vermont back around because they have a system that allows such easy turnarounds.

I have always thought so, in fact the reason you mentioned
was a BIG factor in the Progressives targeting Vermont to begin with.