Mississippi vs Pennsylvania

Head-to-head homesteading comparison across taxes, land, climate, laws, safety & more

Mississippi

Rank #22

Overall Winner

Overall Score

66.2

Category Wins

7/10

Pennsylvania

Rank #36

Overall Score

62.1

Category Wins

2/10

Quick Comparison

Winner highlighted per category

0.79%

Property Tax

1.58%

Cost of Living

100

$2,400

Farm Land $/Acre

$6,800

220 days

Growing Season

180 days

56"

Annual Rainfall

54"

7/10

Soil Quality

7/10

6/10

Safety (Rural)

7/10

8/10

Gun Friendly

7/10

4.5 hrs

Solar (PSH)

3.8 hrs

72%

Broadband

85%

Mississippi Edges Out Pennsylvania Overall

With an overall homesteading score of 66.2 vs 62.1, Mississippi comes out ahead in our balanced analysis — winning 7 out of 10 key categories. But the best state for you depends on what matters most.

Key differences: Mississippi offers cheaper farmland at $2,400/acre vs $6,800/acre. Mississippi has a longer growing season (220 vs 180 days). Mississippi has lower property taxes (0.79% vs 1.58%).

Scroll down to the full comparison table for a deep dive into every metric, or use our ranking tool to weight these factors by what matters most to you.

Full Data Comparison

Side-by-side comparison of selected states across homesteading metrics
Data Point	Mississippi MS	Pennsylvania PA
Taxes & Cost
	Yes	Yes
	4%	3.07%
	7.07%	6.34%
	0.79%	1.58%
	88	100
Land & Building
	$2,400	$6,800
	Partial	Yes (Statewide)
	Permitted in some areas with local approval; not uniformly legal statewide	Zoning-dependent; increasingly allowed in some municipalities
Climate & Growing
	8a-8b	5a-7a
	220	180
	56"	54"
	7	7
	4	3
	6	3
Water & Energy
	Permitted	Permitted
	4.5	3.8
	Yes	Yes
Laws & Freedom
	Moderate	High
	8	7
	Strong	Strong
	Incidental on-farm sales only (goat milk)	Permitted for raw milk operations with licensing
	Yes	Yes
Safety & Healthcare
	481	421
	48%	43%
Demographics & Community
	63	297
	44%	18%
	72%	85%
Business
	#38	#33
	$50/yr	$125/yr
	3.8%	3.9%

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