Missouri vs Pennsylvania

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

Missouri

Rank #10

Overall Winner

Overall Score

69.6

Category Wins

7/10

Pennsylvania

Rank #36

Overall Score

62.1

Category Wins

3/10

Quick Comparison

Winner highlighted per category

0.88%

Property Tax

1.58%

87.1

Cost of Living

100

$4,200

Farm Land $/Acre

$6,800

200 days

Growing Season

180 days

50"

Annual Rainfall

54"

6/10

Soil Quality

7/10

8/10

Safety (Rural)

7/10

9/10

Gun Friendly

7/10

4.5 hrs

Solar (PSH)

3.8 hrs

80%

Broadband

85%

Missouri Edges Out Pennsylvania Overall

With an overall homesteading score of 69.6 vs 62.1, Missouri 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: Missouri offers cheaper farmland at $4,200/acre vs $6,800/acre. Missouri has a longer growing season (200 vs 180 days). Missouri has lower property taxes (0.88% 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	Missouri MO	Pennsylvania PA
Taxes & Cost
	Yes	Yes
	4.7%	3.07%
	8.33%	6.34%
	0.88%	1.58%
	87.1	100
Land & Building
	$4,200	$6,800
	No Statewide Code	Yes (Statewide)
	Yes (Statewide)	Zoning-dependent; increasingly allowed in some municipalities
Climate & Growing
	5b-7a	5a-7a
	200	180
	50"	54"
	6	7
	3	3
	6	3
Water & Energy
	Unrestricted	Permitted
	4.5	3.8
	Yes	Yes
Laws & Freedom
	None	High
	9	7
	Strong	Strong
	Yes (Farm Sales Only)	Permitted for raw milk operations with licensing
	Yes	Yes
Safety & Healthcare
	540	421
	40%	43%
Demographics & Community
	89.5	297
	30%	18%
	80%	85%
Business
	#13	#33
	$50/yr	$125/yr
	3.2%	3.9%

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