State-level figures are reliable for taxes, school systems and healthcare provision, because those really are set at state level. They are unreliable for housing. A statewide median rent averages a major metropolitan area with rural counties and accurately describes neither of them: the gap between the cheapest and priciest metro inside one large state routinely exceeds the gap between two average states.
why would anybody move to shithole states like Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Arizona?
these are not just Republican strongholds, but have increased COL when compared to states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maine.
Hmmm
Cost of housing ≠ cost of living.
Also, hmmm.
yet you posted housing costs as a source for COL.
are you using AI or something to argue your point?