According to the annual CATO Institute report comparing the amount of freedom in a state, California ranks a dismal 48th out of the 50 states. Only New York (50th) and (perhaps surprisingly) Hawaii rank lower than the Golden State. There’s a good interactive map at the website:
https://www.freedominthe50states.org/
Of course, “freedom” is hard to quantify, but this study makes a game effort to view it from several aspects. It looks at fiscal policies, regulatory policies and personal freedom. Within those three broad categories, over 200 factors are considered.
Even more interesting, you can weight 24 policy areas as to each category’s relative importance to you and your family — getting the weighted average that’s more closely tailored to your concerns.
https://www.freedominthe50states.org/personalize
Best states?
- Florida
- New Hampshire
- Indiana
- Colorado
- Nevada