How Living Off the Grid in South Carolina Compares to Other States

By Sam Stebbins Published Jan 27, 8:00AM EST

How Living Off the Grid in South Carolina Compares to Other States — © StanRohrer / iStock via Getty Images

In the wake of the pandemic, with growing economic uncertainty and climate change stressing public infrastructure, more Americans are seeking ways to live off the grid. This does not necessarily mean forgoing all modern conveniences. Rather, living off the grid simply often means just that – being disconnected from local utility grids and having a higher degree of self-sufficiency.

A recent study released by LawnStarter, a lawn care company that frequently conducts research into city and state amenities, created a weighted index of 23 key measures to identify the best states to live off the grid. These measures fall into one of five categories: feasibility, infrastructure, affordability, climate, and safety.

According to LawnStarter, South Carolina ranks as the 20th worst state for those seeking to live off the grid.

South Carolina scores highest in the climate category, which includes measures like the average yearly amount of sunshine, the average yearly amount of rain, and days of extreme temperatures. The state’s lowest ranking category is safety, which takes into account measures such as air and water quality, measures of natural hazards, access to health care, and the crime rate.

All data in this story is from LawnStarter. A full description of the methodology is available here.

Rank	State	Overall off-the-grid score	Highest ranking category	Lowest ranking category
1	Iowa	67.1	Safety	Affordability
2	Texas	65.6	Infrastructure	Climate
3	Kentucky	63.4	Safety	Infrastructure
4	Minnesota	61.3	Safety	Climate
5	Oklahoma	61.1	Affordability	Climate
6	Nebraska	61.0	Safety	Climate
7	Kansas	60.6	Safety	Feasibility
8	North Dakota	59.5	Feasibility	Climate
9	Illinois	58.9	Safety	Affordability
10	Montana	58.5	Affordability	Climate
11	Missouri	58.3	Safety	Infrastructure
12	Wyoming	57.8	Affordability	Climate
13	South Dakota	57.7	Infrastructure	Climate
14	Wisconsin	57.2	Safety	Climate
15	Vermont	56.9	Infrastructure	Affordability
16	Arkansas	56.8	Climate	Infrastructure
17	Idaho	56.6	Feasibility	Climate
18	Tennessee	55.5	Affordability	Feasibility
19	Oregon	55.2	Feasibility	Climate
20	Maine	54.3	Infrastructure	Affordability
21	West Virginia	54.1	Affordability	Infrastructure
22	Indiana	52.9	Infrastructure	Feasibility
23	Georgia	52.4	Climate	Infrastructure
24	Ohio	52.3	Safety	Climate
25	Louisiana	52.2	Climate	Infrastructure
26	Mississippi	52.2	Safety	Infrastructure
27	Washington	51.1	Infrastructure	Climate
28	New Hampshire	51.0	Safety	Affordability
29	Alabama	51.0	Affordability	Feasibility
30	Virginia	50.8	Climate	Safety
31	South Carolina	50.4	Climate	Safety
32	New Mexico	50.0	Affordability	Safety
33	Hawaii	49.6	Climate	Affordability
34	California	49.1	Infrastructure	Affordability
35	Colorado	48.1	Affordability	Feasibility
36	Florida	47.9	Climate	Safety
37	Michigan	47.9	Safety	Climate
38	North Carolina	46.8	Climate	Feasibility
39	Delaware	46.0	Climate	Safety
40	Arizona	46.0	Climate	Affordability
41	New York	45.5	Infrastructure	Feasibility
42	Utah	40.6	Affordability	Safety
43	Alaska	40.1	Feasibility	Infrastructure
44	Pennsylvania	40.0	Climate	Feasibility
45	Nevada	39.4	Affordability	Safety
46	Massachusetts	37.6	Climate	Feasibility
47	Maryland	36.6	Climate	Feasibility
48	Connecticut	34.5	Climate	Feasibility
49	Rhode Island	33.5	Climate	Feasibility
50	New Jersey	28.2	Climate	Affordability

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About the Author Sam Stebbins →

Sam Stebbins is a writer at 247WallSt.com where his primary focus is on government policy, politics, companies, and broad social and economic trends. Sam has been writing in the money and news verticals for over 8 years and holds a bachelor's degree from Hobart College, which he earned in 2010. Sam resides in upstate New York and enjoys hiking, biking, canoeing, and skiing in the Adirondack Mountains and across the Northeast.