The Best States to Support Your Off-Grid Lifestyle

  • Since an off-grid lifestyle is highly dependent upon the land and weather, the location must be chosen carefully. You don't want to purchase a piece of land just to find out that there's an issue with it, such as a lack of water or extreme weather. Use the information below to make an enlightened decision about where to put down your homestead roots:

    There are some main factors that people need to consider when buying land:

    1. Climate – Citydata.com has awesome historical weather charts you can look at to help you decide where to move to.
    2. Water – You need a renewable, dependable, clean water source to survive. Desert land is cheap and it’s cheap for a reason.
    3. Laws – You need to make sure you can build what you want and live the way you want. Building codes must be followed or find a place that does not enforce the codes, or better yet find a place that has little or no building codes which means a remote property.
    4. Taxes – You obviously want lower property taxes. Agricultural property is less expensive, but usually is a larger piece of land. A larger parcel of land is typically more expensive and requires a larger outlay of cash upfront. A smaller property will be zoned residential, but residential property taxes are higher on agriculturally zoned land.
    5. Zoning – Try to pick an agricultural property, or apply for rezoning or a variance. You could get your property rezoned agricultural if you can provide a good reason for the rezoning such as creating a garden or micro-farm, or raising livestock of some kind.
    6. Land Price – I left land price almost last because this is so subjective.
    7. Timber & Rock – You’ll need building materials!

    Now I can use this to gauge whether a property is located in a good area to go off grid:

    Arizona – Northern Arizona. Cheap land, mild climate and some trees. Water is an issue and you will probably have to haul water to your property, but it’s doable.

    California – Northern California specifically has a lot of good land. Climate is milder than most northern territories, water is readily available, ordinances are less strict, taxes are lower, and land prices are affordable. SoCal is good, but expensive and overpopulated.

    Colorado – Some counties in Colorado are relaxing their strict codes and allowing more off grid and sustainable buildings. Water could be an issue in some places since a lot of Colorado is desert, but it’s not a huge problem and there are work arounds. Land prices are pretty good further away from the bigger cities.

    Florida – Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT illegal to live off grid in Florida. You can have solar panels and wind turbines and water wells and gardens and all the great cool stuff that off grid living has to offer. Florida is mostly sand and dirt, except for southern Florida.

    Maine – Maine is an off gridders dream! There are lots of properties for sale and much of the land is cheap and remote. Water is plentiful, as is timber and rock to build with. The only drawback is the climate.

    Montana – Big sky country! This state is great if you’re a rancher, but it’s bitter cold in the winter. If you’re looking for land in Montana look in the mountains for shelter from the winds. Land prices are reasonable, you can find some good waterfront property on a stream in the mountains for a relatively reasonable price, and water is readily available in most areas.

    Oregon – There are some desert areas, but western Oregon up and down the Cascade mountain range is very good. Central Oregon is desert, but it’s high desert like in places in central and northern California and the climate is milder there.

    Texas – The land in Texas is plentiful, it’s a big state, but water is an issue in some places. Land is affordable in remote areas and in smaller counties and towns.

    Vermont – Land is plentiful and affordable. Water is available and not hard to come by as well as timber and rock for building. Resources are available and zoning is open to living off grid in most counties.

    Here’s my list of the top 5 best places to live off grid in the USA.

    1. Florida
    2. Colorado
    3. California
    4. Maine
    5. Vermont

    Do you live off-grid in any of these states? Are there any other locations conducive to homestead life?

    Article Source: Off Grid World



    29 Comments

    1. Julie Harris said:

      Fact check, So.California has the Highest taxes in the country, in addition it is a desert and water is expensive! And is a liberal state which means “Big Government” fee after fee and permits, Holly Smokes the permits and time to get permits.
      And Guns ahhh no, only the bad guys and police have guns!

    2. Lynda DoughertyKelly said:

      However Northern and Central California are awesome and we do not have the highest taxes in the nation. We can grow year round and the state gives huge support via tax breaks for off grid life styles like solar.

    3. Jeff JL said:

      How in the world didn’t Alaska get on that list?

    4. Jeff JL said:

      I still can’t believe CA even made the list.

    5. Dan McMahan said:

      2 of the top 5 are on another list. States not to live in when SHF. I am looking hard at Oregon plenty of water low tax base plenty of fish and game

    6. Brent Morgan said:

      Terrible list, 3 of the top 5 are liberal states and they won’t let you set up off grid, they want your money. Plus, they won’t let you live your lifestyle without trying to interfere like charging you to catch rainwater and taking your kids away because they dont think they are growing up in the right environment. Whoever wrote this better go back to school because they missed a lot.

    7. Brent Morgan said:

      Not necessarily, look into water screws if you live near a river. You can also build paddle wheels connected to alternators to power battery banks for cheap. Another useful trick is use led lights because the use 20 miliamps of current to light.

    8. Janine Manke said:

      I trust Joel Skousen’s work on where to set up a homestead. Florida was dead last on his list. This article did not factor in population density, which for many in the preparedness lifestyle is a BIG deal.

    9. Jayne Ward said:

      Florida? Definitely not. I moved here from the Midwest to help my family. I’m praying we all move back.

    10. Shannon Yanez said:

      Washington should ALWAYS be top 2. Mountains during the summer, desert valleys during the winter, lots of sun, not too much precipitation, great farming, lots of water….

    11. Shawnna Michelle Disney said:

      Its illegal to harvest rain water…land is over worked and over populated…water supplies comprised everywhere. Maybe long ago California would have been a wonderful place to make a off grid home but not today.

    12. James Clifford said:

      The whole west coast is waiting for the gates of hell to open when that fault off the coast slips…People will be running east..Dying by the thousands in the desert…

    13. Paul Finnemore said:

      The funny part about this story is Maine is #4 , it’s the way some have always lived and nothing new

    14. Ari Apriyanto said:

      Whoever wrote this clearly hasn’t been to California in quite some time to list it as “taxes are lower.”

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