Off The Grid
You’ve probably seen some of those TV shows…where people strive to live “off the grid”, disconnected from most services most of us rely on…water, electricity, etc.
A lot of folks decided post-pandemic to isolate themselves more than before. That explains the exodus from our large cities into more reasonable living environments. But for some, that’s still not enough.
LawnStarter rated the 50 states across 21 key factors—ranging from off-grid legality and average per-acre cost of farmland, to climate and crime rate. Their goal was to rate the best states where you could live off the grid.
And we here in Iowa came in at number 5 on the list overall…fifth best state in the country in which to live off the grid.
We were actually tops in the nation in terms of suitability of electric, water, and waste laws for off-grid living…owing in no small part to our heritage of independent family farms.
We’re second best in the number of critical-access hospitals. And as our changing rural landscape would suggest, we’re number three in the U.S. in wind power growth projection over the next decade…you see lots of those turbines all across the state. And we’re fourth best in the lowest percentage of major roads in poor or mediocre condition. We may have infrastructure issues, but apparently our best roads are not too bad, certainly in comparison with the rest of the nation.
Our cost of living was 13th best…and the yearly average number of so-called very hot days put us 18th best overall…all those 90 degree days in the Cedar Valley this past summer notwithstanding.
So if you’re looking to unplug and get off the grid…may as well stay here in Iowa. Not many places are better for that sort of thing.
