Where locals would move again, and the numbers behind it.

Name: The Honest Index, September 2026
Creator: The Honest Local
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

76 cities and states, ranked on one score: what locals on record say, and what it costs, pays and risks to live there, from public data read this month.

By The Honest Local · updated monthly · every component links to its source on the place page

76.2North Dakota leads the first editionHonest Score, 0 to 100

Top five

1North Dakota67% of 3 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 11% below the US average, among the best in the set; unemployment 2.2%, among the best in the set; violent crime 240 per 100k, among the best in the set. Few votes so far, so the public numbers carry it.76.2
2Iowa33% of 3 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 12% below the US average, among the best in the set; unemployment 3.2%, among the best in the set; violent crime 238 per 100k, among the best in the set. Few votes so far, so the public numbers carry it.71.8
3Maine50% of 12 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 3% below the US average, better than most; unemployment 3.2%, among the best in the set; violent crime 95 per 100k, among the best in the set.70.0
4Wyoming29% of 7 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 7% below the US average, among the best in the set; unemployment 3.0%, among the best in the set; violent crime 188 per 100k, among the best in the set.69.2
5Portland, Maine100% of 2 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 2% above the US average, middle of the set; unemployment 2.5%, among the best in the set; violent crime 245 per 100k, among the best in the set. Few votes so far, so the public numbers carry it.68.9

Bottom five

76Seattle12% of 33 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 11% above the US average, among the worst in the set; unemployment 4.8%, among the worst in the set; violent crime 706 per 100k, worse than most.20.6
75California12% of 17 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 11% above the US average, among the worst in the set; unemployment 5.1%, among the worst in the set; violent crime 435 per 100k, middle of the set.27.2
74San Francisco9% of 11 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 16% above the US average, among the worst in the set; unemployment 4.4%, worse than most; violent crime 486 per 100k, middle of the set.28.2
73Los Angeles, California33% of 3 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 14% above the US average, among the worst in the set; unemployment 5.0%, among the worst in the set; violent crime 670 per 100k, worse than most.28.8
72Minneapolis0% of 4 locals would move here again, read from what they wrote; prices 5% above the US average, worse than most; unemployment 4.4%, worse than most; violent crime 1004 per 100k, among the worst in the set.30.2

How the score works. 40% is whether locals would move there again, read from what they wrote in the place’s thread and pulled toward a neutral 50 when fewer than ten have written, so a place can’t top the list on two opinions. 20% is prices, 20% is unemployment, 20% is violent crime, each scored against the rest of the set. Six states (Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, West Virginia, Indiana and South Dakota) have too little FBI data to trust, so their safety part is where their homicide rate ranks among the 50 states (CDC, 2024) instead. A place missing a reading is scored on the parts it has and marked. A place no local has written about isn’t on the list.

Read it as a first edition. Most places have only a few locals on record so far, which is why the score leans on the public numbers this month. As more locals write in, their half starts to move the list, and that’s the point.

The full ranking 76 places · score, then the four parts

	Place	Honest Score	Verdict	Cost	Jobs	Safety
1	North Dakota	76.2	67%of 3	89.0prices, US = 100	2.2%unemployment	240violent, per 100k
2	Iowa	71.8	33%of 3	87.8prices, US = 100	3.2%unemployment	238violent, per 100k
3	Maine	70.0	50%of 12	97.0prices, US = 100	3.2%unemployment	95violent, per 100k
4	Wyoming	69.2	29%of 7	92.7prices, US = 100	3.0%unemployment	188violent, per 100k
5	Portland, Maine	68.9	100%of 2	101.9prices, US = 100	2.5%unemployment	245violent, per 100k
6	South Dakota	68.3	75%of 4	88.6prices, US = 100	2.0%unemployment	6.6homicides per 100k, CDC 2024
7	New Hampshire	68.1	100%of 1	104.2prices, US = 100	2.8%unemployment	119violent, per 100k
8	Wisconsin	66.0	25%of 4	94.1prices, US = 100	3.2%unemployment	245violent, per 100k
9	Montana	65.3	100%of 1	94.6prices, US = 100	3.2%unemployment	422violent, per 100k
10	North Carolina	64.3	50%of 6	94.3prices, US = 100	3.5%unemployment	331violent, per 100k
11	Georgia	64.2	33%of 3	96.3prices, US = 100	3.2%unemployment	301violent, per 100k
12	Ohio	63.5	25%of 8	92.8prices, US = 100	3.3%unemployment	288violent, per 100k
13	Arkansas	63.0	100%of 2	86.9prices, US = 100	3.9%unemployment	535violent, per 100k
14	Alabama	62.6	0%of 4	88.8prices, US = 100	3.4%unemployment	353violent, per 100k
15	Boise, Idaho	62.5	33%of 3	98.4prices, US = 100	3.3%unemployment	289violent, per 100k
16	Idaho	62.5	25%of 4	95.5prices, US = 100	3.6%unemployment	221violent, per 100k
17	Pennsylvania	62.4	50%of 6	97.6prices, US = 100	3.7%unemployment	229violent, per 100k
18	Utah	62.4	40%of 5	98.9prices, US = 100	3.5%unemployment	225violent, per 100k
19	Vermont	62.1	20%of 15	98.0prices, US = 100	2.6%unemployment	220violent, per 100k
20	Missouri	61.8	33%of 3	90.8prices, US = 100	3.5%unemployment	426violent, per 100k
21	Tennessee	57.6	33%of 15	91.9prices, US = 100	3.4%unemployment	499violent, per 100k
22	Kansas	57.5	0%of 1	90.1prices, US = 100	3.8%unemployment	476violent, per 100k
23	Oklahoma	57.4	40%of 5	87.8prices, US = 100	4.3%unemployment	412violent, per 100k
24	Kentucky	57.1	39%of 26	90.2prices, US = 100	4.7%unemployment	214violent, per 100k
25	Charleston	56.3	25%of 4	101.0prices, US = 100	3.7%unemployment	279violent, per 100k
26	New Orleans	55.7	75%of 4	92.6prices, US = 100	4.5%unemployment	no readingviolent, per 100k
27	West Virginia	55.4	33%of 3	89.5prices, US = 100	4.0%unemployment	5.9homicides per 100k, CDC 2024
28	Hawaii	54.4	24%of 21	110.0prices, US = 100	2.7%unemployment	214violent, per 100k
29	South Carolina	54.0	0%of 2	93.7prices, US = 100	4.1%unemployment	389violent, per 100k
30	Texas	53.4	48%of 23	97.1prices, US = 100	4.4%unemployment	349violent, per 100k
31	Minnesota	52.3	0%of 2	98.6prices, US = 100	4.4%unemployment	226violent, per 100k
32	Charlotte, NC	51.6	0%of 1	97.3prices, US = 100	3.7%unemployment	559violent, per 100k
33	Austin	51.3	36%of 14	98.1prices, US = 100	4.0%unemployment	422violent, per 100k
34	Indianapolis	51.3	0%of 1	95.7prices, US = 100	3.4%unemployment	769violent, per 100k
35	Nashville	51.0	33%of 6	96.3prices, US = 100	3.0%unemployment	962violent, per 100k
36	Illinois	50.4	0%of 1	100.0prices, US = 100	4.7%unemployment	258violent, per 100k
37	Mississippi	49.9	22%of 9	87.0prices, US = 100	3.4%unemployment	19.7homicides per 100k, CDC 2024
38	San Antonio, Texas	49.6	57%of 7	94.7prices, US = 100	4.7%unemployment	532violent, per 100k
39	Maryland	49.1	0%of 1	105.0prices, US = 100	4.1%unemployment	365violent, per 100k
40	Delaware	48.8	33%of 3	99.8prices, US = 100	4.7%unemployment	352violent, per 100k
41	Massachusetts	48.4	40%of 5	105.8prices, US = 100	4.3%unemployment	301violent, per 100k
42	Salt Lake City	47.7	50%of 2	100.9prices, US = 100	3.5%unemployment	862violent, per 100k
43	Louisiana	47.6	50%of 2	88.2prices, US = 100	4.2%unemployment	15.2homicides per 100k, CDC 2024
44	Atlanta, Georgia	46.9	27%of 15	100.1prices, US = 100	3.2%unemployment	736violent, per 100k
45	Miami	46.7	33%of 3	114.2prices, US = 100	3.7%unemployment	358violent, per 100k
46	Asheville	46.3	22%of 18	96.5prices, US = 100	3.3%unemployment	753violent, per 100k
47	Michigan	46.0	43%of 7	96.2prices, US = 100	5.0%unemployment	431violent, per 100k
48	Colorado	45.9	0%of 3	103.1prices, US = 100	4.0%unemployment	438violent, per 100k
49	New Mexico	44.8	36%of 11	92.2prices, US = 100	4.7%unemployment	648violent, per 100k
50	Nevada	44.4	0%of 2	100.0prices, US = 100	4.8%unemployment	384violent, per 100k
51	New Jersey	44.3	0%of 5	108.8prices, US = 100	4.3%unemployment	199violent, per 100k
52	Connecticut	44.1	0%of 4	103.6prices, US = 100	5.1%unemployment	111violent, per 100k
53	Boston	43.8	67%of 12	108.3prices, US = 100	4.3%unemployment	583violent, per 100k
54	Colorado Springs	41.6	0%of 1	100.7prices, US = 100	4.3%unemployment	690violent, per 100k
55	Orlando, Florida	41.2	0%of 1	101.4prices, US = 100	4.7%unemployment	no readingviolent, per 100k
56	Jacksonville, Florida	40.0	0%of 2	99.5prices, US = 100	4.9%unemployment	519violent, per 100k
57	Dallas, Texas	39.5	33%of 6	103.1prices, US = 100	4.6%unemployment	577violent, per 100k
58	Arizona	39.5	26%of 27	100.7prices, US = 100	4.9%unemployment	383violent, per 100k
59	Philadelphia	38.9	40%of 10	102.6prices, US = 100	4.2%unemployment	830violent, per 100k
60	Las Vegas	38.6	27%of 15	100.2prices, US = 100	5.4%unemployment	412violent, per 100k
61	Washington	36.7	22%of 23	107.0prices, US = 100	4.9%unemployment	292violent, per 100k
62	Florida	36.4	8%of 12	103.4prices, US = 100	4.5%unemployment	5.5homicides per 100k, CDC 2024
63	Vancouver, Washington	36.2	42%of 24	105.4prices, US = 100	4.9%unemployment	556violent, per 100k
64	Houston, Texas	35.8	50%of 4	98.6prices, US = 100	5.1%unemployment	884violent, per 100k
65	Baltimore	35.4	33%of 3	104.5prices, US = 100	4.2%unemployment	1351violent, per 100k
66	San Diego	35.4	32%of 44	111.9prices, US = 100	4.7%unemployment	374violent, per 100k
67	Washington DC	33.6	0%of 4	108.9prices, US = 100	4.0%unemployment	749violent, per 100k
68	Chicago	33.2	27%of 11	103.6prices, US = 100	4.9%unemployment	FBI data too thinviolent, per 100k
69	Phoenix	32.2	0%of 4	103.3prices, US = 100	4.8%unemployment	696violent, per 100k
70	Denver	32.1	29%of 35	105.8prices, US = 100	4.1%unemployment	882violent, per 100k
71	Tucson	31.5	9%of 11	96.9prices, US = 100	5.6%unemployment	no readingviolent, per 100k
72	Minneapolis	30.2	0%of 4	104.8prices, US = 100	4.4%unemployment	1004violent, per 100k
73	Los Angeles, California	28.8	33%of 3	113.6prices, US = 100	5.0%unemployment	670violent, per 100k
74	San Francisco	28.2	9%of 11	115.6prices, US = 100	4.4%unemployment	486violent, per 100k
75	California	27.2	12%of 17	110.7prices, US = 100	5.1%unemployment	435violent, per 100k
76	Seattle	20.6	12%of 33	111.1prices, US = 100	4.8%unemployment	706violent, per 100k

The Sunday letter

The next Index, and every move before it, in one email a week.

One email a week, written from the tape. What changed, what locals said, what got answered. What’s in it · or watch one place.

Double opt-in. Unsubscribe in one click.

Sources. The locals’ half is read from what people wrote in each place’s thread; nobody filled in a poll. Prices are the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s regional price parities, the metro area for a city and the state for a state, where 100 is the US average. Unemployment is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest monthly rate for the metro or state. Violent crime is the FBI Crime Data Explorer’s latest full year per 100,000, from a city’s own police department and from the state summary for a state. Weights and method are fixed for the year and published here so the list can be argued with.

Cite this

The Honest Local, The Honest Index, September 2026, https://thehonestlocal.com/honest-index

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Data last moved September 16, 2026. Every number on the page carries its own source and period; cite those with it.

The Honest Index is published monthly by The Honest Local. Places can move only when their numbers or their locals do.