Missouri vs New Mexico

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

Missouri

Rank #10

Overall Winner

Overall Score

69.6

Category Wins

6/10

New Mexico

Rank #41

Overall Score

61.1

Category Wins

3/10

Quick Comparison

Winner highlighted per category

0.88%

Property Tax

0.8%

87.1

Cost of Living

$4,200

Farm Land $/Acre

$1,250

200 days

Growing Season

200 days

50"

Annual Rainfall

24"

6/10

Soil Quality

5/10

8/10

Safety (Rural)

5/10

9/10

Gun Friendly

8/10

4.5 hrs

Solar (PSH)

5.9 hrs

80%

Broadband

75%

Missouri Edges Out New Mexico Overall

With an overall homesteading score of 69.6 vs 61.1, Missouri comes out ahead in our balanced analysis — winning 6 out of 10 key categories. But the best state for you depends on what matters most.

Key differences: New Mexico offers cheaper farmland at $1,250/acre vs $4,200/acre. New Mexico has lower property taxes (0.8% vs 0.88%). Missouri is more affordable with a cost of living index of 87.1 vs 97.

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	Missouri MO	New Mexico NM
Taxes & Cost
	Yes	Yes
	4.7%	5.9%
	8.33%	8.09%
	0.88%	0.8%
	87.1	97
Land & Building
	$4,200	$1,250
	No Statewide Code	Yes (Statewide)
	Yes (Statewide)	Permitted with local approval; zoning permissive in many areas
Climate & Growing
	5b-7a	4b-10a
	200	200
	50"	24"
	6	5
	3	8
	6	3
Water & Energy
	Unrestricted	Permitted
	4.5	5.9
	Yes	Yes
Laws & Freedom
	None	Minimal
	9	8
	Strong	Strong
	Yes (Farm Sales Only)	Permitted for raw milk operations with licensing
	Yes	Yes
Safety & Healthcare
	540	742
	40%	52%
Demographics & Community
	89.5	17
	30%	28%
	80%	75%
Business
	#13	#34
	$50/yr	$0/yr
	3.2%	4.3%

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