2023’s Best States to Live Off the Grid

Ever want to get away from it all? Live off the land, drink rainwater, and read by candlelight?

Some states are better for a life among the trees.

To help you find your own remote slice of heaven, LawnStarter ranked 2023’s Best States to Live Off the Grid.

We compared the 50 states based on 23 key factors, such as the cost of farmland, legality of self-generated utilities, and availability of renewable energy. We also considered indicators like climate, phone connectivity, and access to rural hospitals.

See how your state fared below, followed by our assessment of the rankings and expert tips on unplugging from society.

Contents

• State Rankings
• Highlights and Lowlights
• Ask the Experts
• Methodology
• Far from the Madding Crowd

State Rankings

See how each state fared in our ranking:

Overall Rank (1=Best)	State	Overall Score	Feasibility Rank	Infrastructure Rank	Affordability Rank	Climate Rank	Safety Rank
1	Iowa	67.12	12	2	31	27	1
2	Texas	65.58	8	1	25	28	20
3	Kentucky	63.36	20	30	30	12	2
4	Minnesota	61.25	9	20	18	44	4
5	Oklahoma	61.09	11	9	7	19	17
6	Nebraska	61.00	6	19	24	36	5
7	Kansas	60.58	34	11	6	29	3
8	North Dakota	59.54	4	10	4	48	13
9	Illinois	58.90	16	12	39	33	6
10	Montana	58.50	3	5	2	49	25
11	Missouri	58.25	14	35	19	20	10
12	Wyoming	57.84	2	16	1	43	26
13	South Dakota	57.74	22	6	25	41	11
14	Wisconsin	57.19	17	32	28	38	7
15	Vermont	56.87	19	4	46	42	9
16	Arkansas	56.84	13	43	12	8	23
17	Idaho	56.64	5	8	15	45	27
18	Tennessee	55.54	29	21	13	16	18
19	Oregon	55.18	7	7	32	37	31
20	Maine	54.25	15	13	42	26	24
21	West Virginia	54.07	18	47	11	40	14
22	Indiana	52.91	39	14	20	22	15
23	Georgia	52.42	27	29	22	13	28
24	Ohio	52.32	31	17	33	34	15
25	Louisiana	52.24	25	42	21	4	30
26	Mississippi	52.15	36	45	16	14	12
27	Washington	51.12	35	15	17	46	21
28	New Hampshire	50.99	30	32	43	31	8
28	Alabama	50.99	37	25	9	9	29
30	Virginia	50.80	28	28	29	10	33
31	South Carolina	50.43	21	31	14	6	45
32	New Mexico	49.95	32	22	8	25	35
33	Hawaii	49.55	9	46	48	1	36
34	California	49.09	23	3	49	7	40
35	Colorado	48.05	43	24	3	30	32
36	Florida	47.94	26	23	37	2	46
37	Michigan	47.92	38	34	23	47	19
38	North Carolina	46.79	40	27	27	5	37
39	Delaware	46.00	24	41	34	3	44
40	Arizona	45.97	33	38	41	18	34
41	New York	45.50	44	18	38	35	22
42	Utah	40.63	42	39	5	39	47
43	Alaska	40.11	1	50	36	50	49
44	Pennsylvania	40.00	45	37	35	21	39
45	Nevada	39.40	41	26	10	32	48
46	Massachusetts	37.63	48	36	45	11	41
47	Maryland	36.60	46	40	40	23	43
48	Connecticut	34.53	49	48	44	17	42
49	Rhode Island	33.52	50	49	47	15	38
50	New Jersey	28.23	47	44	50	24	50

Highlights and Lowlights

Iowa: Short for “(IoWa)nna Be Alone”?

For the best chance of surviving alone in the wilderness, pick a desolate spot in Iowa. The Hawkeye State is the No. 1 state for living off the grid in our third annual ranking.

Improvements in its Infrastructure and Safety scores helped the state move four spots up this year and to eclipse Texas, our previous gold medalist. In individual factors, Iowa leaped from 29th to first place in phone coverage and replaced Kansas as the eighth cheapest state in which to live. 

Those are just the upgrades. The Hawkeye State remains tied for the top spot for generating your own utilities and a leader in renewable energy production (No. 7), especially wind power (No. 3 in projected 10-year growth).

All things considered, there’s little downside to isolating in the Land Where the Tall Corn Grows. 

The Great Plains Escape

Flyover country might not be as popular of a region to inhabit as the urban coasts, but that makes it the ideal place to live off the grid.

Six flyover states — the Great Plains, in particular — landed in our top 10. Texas (No. 2 overall) maintains its lead in the region this year, while Colorado ranks the lowest at No. 35. Most placed in the top 10 of our Feasibility and Infrastructure categories — in other words, they actively encourage an independent lifestyle.

Self-sufficiency is an important component of this way of life. There’s no better place to grow your own crops than in the Great Plains. In fact, six of our top 10 states from the Heartland are also among the top 10 agriculture-producing states.

Alaska: Best for the Anti-Social

If you don’t enjoy small talk — or if you’re trying to escape a seedy past — The Last Frontier will happily indulge your isolationist tendencies.

Alaska actually isn’t the most off-grid lifestyle-friendly state at No. 43 overall (down one spot from last year). It has a brutal climate and lacks the critical infrastructure. 

However, the Land of the Midnight Sun is the least densely populated state (0.4 residents per square mile) and the least connected by phone (23.2%). You’re likely to run into more bears than humans.

Gridlocked Northeast

Unless you can produce your own electricity, collect your own drinking water, and manage your own waste, it’s hard to unplug from the grid. 

Nine of our worst 10 states also have the strictest off-grid laws, and seven of them are in the Northeastern U.S. The three other states — Utah, Alaska, and Nevada — are all in the West. New Jersey finished last overall. 

Granted, this region is also the most densely populated, so close encounters with the human kind are inevitable.

Methodology

For each of the 50 states, we gathered publicly available data on the factors listed in the table below. 

We then grouped those factors into five categories: Feasibility, Infrastructure, Affordability, Climate, and Safety.

Next, we calculated weighted scores for each state in each category. 

Finally, we averaged the scores for each state across all categories.

The state that earned the highest average score was ranked “Best” (No. 1), while the state with the lowest was ranked “Worst” (No. 200). (Note: The “Worst” among individual factors may not be No. 50 due to ties.)

Sources: Best Neighborhood, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Flex Monitoring Team, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Transportation Research Nonprofit, Nebraska Department of Environment & Energy, Primal Survivor, Rural Health Information Hub, Sheps Center, Solar Energy Industries Association, Tax Foundation, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and World Population Review

Far from the Madding Crowd

Whether you feel overconnected or are passionate about saving the planet, moving off the grid is a good step in the right direction.

Our ranking shows which states are suitable for unplugging from the electric grid — and from society — and which will leave you feeling claustrophobic.

While living off-grid might make you feel isolated, you certainly wouldn’t be alone. Over 250,000 people already live off the grid in the U.S, and more will join. By some estimates, as many as 12% of all Americans will be off-grid by 2035.

In places like New York’s Oak Island, the DIY lifestyle has been the dominant way of life for generations. In Texas, the colossal power grid failure in 2021 was a wake-up call for residents.

Climate change is threatening power grids in other states. So, if you’re considering a remote, self-reliant lifestyle, there’s never been a better time than now.

Main Photo Credit: Shutterstock