Category: Retreat Locales

Mr. Rawles – I appreciate your web site and read it daily. This is in response to “Mo” in West Virginia: I wondered if you have read Mr. Joel Skousen’s book Strategic Relocation. He tends to feel there are areas of the south east that could be viable areas during a crisis . My choice would be central Idaho, but for complex reasons, I will stay in small town western North Carolina and try to prepare an adequate blast shelter. Water is plentiful here and the weather is rarely extreme. (Mr. Skousen also wrote an excellent book on survival shelters.) …

New Mexico: Population: 1.8 million. Population Density: 14.8 per square mile (Rank 15 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 121,593 square miles (rank 5 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $828/yr. (rank 14 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $450/yr. (rank 27 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 44 of 50. Per capita income: $21,931 (rank 48 of 50). Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 87%. ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 30 of 50. Plusses: Low population density. Minimal gun laws. People in New Mexico’s rural areas are already highly self-sufficient, out of economic necessity. Minuses: Proximity to Mexican border. …

Mr. Rawles, I’m a huge fan of your work, and was pleasantly surprised to come across Survivalblog during the course of my cyber-travels. It has become my new source for survival info. I particularly enjoy your state-by-state retreat potential evaluations. As a lifelong resident of the east coast, and an eight year resident of Virginia, I’m kind of geographically anchored to this section of the country. My family’s here, too. Consequently, I’m rather limited in terms of my choice of retreat locations. I will be graduating from law school (God willing) in May 2006, and hope to do real estate …

Nevada: Population: 2 million. Population Density: 18 per square mile (Rank 13 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 110,561 square miles (rank 7 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $937/yr. (rank 7 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $479/yr. (rank 21 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 49 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 76%. Per capita income: $29,506 (15 rank of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 25 of 50. Comments: One editor listed in the acknowledgements stubbornly insists that my ranking below is unfair to parts of Nevada. Nevada is really “a tale of two states”: …

Nebraska: Population: 1.7 million. Population Density: 21.9 per square mile (Rank 12 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 77,355 square miles (rank 15 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $649/yr. (rank 42 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $499/yr. (rank 18 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 12 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 64%. Per capita income: $27,630 (rank 26 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 5 of 50. Plusses: Low crime rate. Minuses: Tornado prone (ranked #4 out of top 20 States). Few local firewood sources. JWR’s Combined Retreat Potential Ranking: 11 of 19.

Montana: Population: 903,000. Population Density: 6.1 per square mile (Rank 18 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 147,000 square miles (rank 4 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $671/yr. (rank 38 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $451/yr. (rank 26 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 10 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 92%. Per capita income: $22,518 (rank 46 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 8 of 50. Montana Agriculture reference: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/narratives/MONTANA.htm Montana Crops: Potatoes, sugar beats, sorghum, alfalfa, grass hay, and grains. Plusses: Very low crime rate! Very low population density. Minimal gun laws. Good …

Louisiana: Population: 4.5 million. Population Density: 94.2 per square mile (Rank 2 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 47,751 square miles (rank 8 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $928/yr. (rank 30 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $721/yr. (rank 2 of 50) Crime Safety Ranking: 50 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 94%. Per capita income: $23,090 (rank 45 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 34 of 50. Plusses: Mild climate. Low property taxes. Firearms freedom. Minuses: Coastal Louisiana and +/- 50 miles inland is in the hurricane zone. Very high population density (by western …

Kansas: Population: 2.6 million. Population Density: 31.7 per square mile (Rank 10 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 82,000 square miles (rank 14 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $688/yr. (rank 36 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $593/yr. (rank 8 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 23 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 68%. Per capita income: $27,374 (rank 27 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 4 of 50. Plusses: Minuses: Little crop diversity. Few local firewood sources. Tornado prone (ranked #2 out of top 20 States). High car insurance rates. High home insurance rates. The …

Dear Mr. Rawles, I’m a CA resident and a CA high school history teacher, and just read your retreat observations regarding my state. My experience with out-of-state critics of CA is that they often exaggerate wildly about conditions here as well as frequently blame voters here for the conditions we have (I’ve voted against all aspects of the present socialist nightmare but look what we have). In your case, however, I can honestly say that your analysis and summary are 100% accurate and spot-on. I regret only that your summary isn’t printed in the Op-Ed section of the Los Angeles …

Idaho: Population: 1.3 million (and about 2.1 million cattle.) Population Density: 15.5 per square mile (Rank 15 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 83,437 square miles (rank 13 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $608/yr. (rank 48 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $326/yr. (rank 50 of 50). Average Home Price in Clearwater County: $112,725 Average Home Price in Idaho County: $109,500 Average Home Price in Kootenai County: $112,849 Average Home Price in Latah County: $118,325 Crime Safety Ranking: 9 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 97%. Per capita income: $23,727 (rank 41 of 50). ACT & …

Hi, Jim, Just adding some thoughts on your assessment of Arizona. There are two Arizonas, the lower half at an average elevation of less than 3000 feet, and the half up on the Colorado plateau at 5000-8000 feet, and the two are totally different. You are absolutely correct about Southern Arizona being too populated, too close the border, and too much crime, almost all of which is in metropolitan Phoenix. If ones does their research (and I am not going to spell it all out here), there are some locations that come in very high. First check your groundwater availability, …

Colorado: Population: 4.3 million. Population Density: 41.3 per square mile (Rank 8 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 104,000 square miles (rank 8 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $881/yr. (rank 11 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $571/yr. (rank 12 of 50). Crime Safety Ranking: 26 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 74%. Per capita income: $32,434 (rank 7 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 15 of 50. Plusses: A low “total tax burden” of 8.4%. Has a high rating in “education freedom” for home schooling (ranked #8 of 50). Minuses: Fairly high population density …

California: Population: 34 million+. Population Density: 214 per square mile (Rank 1 of JWR’s top 19 states). Area: 158,706 square miles (rank 3 of 50). Average car insurance cost: $765/yr. (rank 23 of 50). Average home insurance cost: $592/yr. (rank 9 of 50), Crime Safety Ranking: 39 of 50. Boston T. Party’s State Firearms Laws Ranking: 30%. Per capita income: $32,149 (rank 8 of 50). ACT & SAT Scores Ranking: 37 of 50. Plusses: Mild climate and a long growing seasons in most parts of the state. High wages. Minuses: Excessive population density, high crime rate, copious smog, high cost …

Jim: I see that Missouri is not on your list.  There are a lot of good things to say about the Ozarks of Southern Missouri (and Northern Arkansas).  Self reliant culture which is pro gun and private property and which respects people’s privacy.  There is very low population density in many counties (such as Shannon population 8,300, Reynolds 6,700, Oregon 10,300, and Carter 5,900). Very low cost of living and a very homogeneous population (mostly Scotch-Irish). You find people from California moving to Missouri since they can live on just their Social Security there. Regards, – “Nearnorth” JWR Replies: Your …