7 American Cities and States That Will Actually Pay You to Move There

Opportunities like these have been around for some time now, I'm more so interested in countries, cities and states outside of America.

You can pay me to move into a castle any day you hear me.

Colorado

Get you a mountainous home without those mountainous loans. If you’re between the ages of 12 and 70, you have already thought about moving there, either to climb boulders or shralp the gnar on heavy powder days or start a rad craft brewery tour or just get rich growing kine bud in your basement grow-op. The country’s least-square square state draws in outdoorsy types, retirees, space cowboys, and enough young professionals that Forbes rated Colorado the No. 1 state for labor supply. You know what that means: startups and venture capitalists and kombucha galore, in addition to the legal weed. Also, bonkers housing prices, especially in and near Denver, which is quite figuratively exploding.

Baltimore, Maryland

The Charm City seriously wants to give you thousands of dollars to buy a house there. You already know Baltimore for the plucky drug dealers, puritanical police, functional City Hall, and definitely-not-failing public schools that made The Wire such a barrel of laughs. But you also should know it as a rising arts and tech hub that is attracting droves of college grads -- that population went up 32% in B’more from 2000 to 2012. Like other Rust Belt cities, the overall population of Baltimore has steadily eroded in recent decades (down more than a third since 1950, in fact). But where others have left, houses remain. Sweet, sweet houses, at fractions of the prices you’d pay elsewhere in the region.

Washington

Pay off your student loans while living in nature’s living room. Washington state is more than one kickass, tech-fueled metropolis careening into the future. Get outside of Seattle, and you’ll find easily one of the most beautiful states in the country. You can spend a lifetime gawking at the bold Columbia River carving through ash blonde sedimentary rock, scope out the hills of the Palouse like a bubbling pot, and the purple assault of Jardin du Soleil lavender.

New Haven, Connecticut

Free money makes it easier to buy a home in the Ivy League's pizza capital. Yale is the big dog in town, a swell neighbor if you’re into art galleries or library tourism. The city’s architecture is absolutely dynamite for a city its size, it rocks a bunch of annual festival, and supports park-loads of natural beauty throughout the city. And its vibrant restaurant scene includes enough excellent pizzerias to make it perhaps the best pizza city in the entire dang country.

Alaska

Handing out checks just for living there, since 1976. A certain kind of person moves to Alaska and is never bored: snowmobiling, dog sledding, stargazing, crabs, nodding to a moose on your walk to the grocery store. Another type of person probably wonders what in the hell is so wrong with moving to San Diego. But everyone can agree that receiving a slice of oil money each year just to live there, Norway-style, has its perks. Since 1976 Alaska’s Permanent Fund has doled out dividends to Alaska residents that get as high as $2,000 a year. There’s no telling what next year will bring, but free money is free money, and little taste of Scandinavia right in America.

Kansas

When your craving for brisket is as overwhelming as your student debt. The band Kansas was first named “The Reasons Why.” Fitting, as there are reasons why Kansas is attractive to move to, even for a serial coastliner. There’s a ton to explore: the Great Bend Wild Refuges, to the Swedish culture of Lindsborg, or just Wichita, a stealthy-cool American city.

Maine

Cheap business loans means lots of startups to go with the coastal beauty. Anyone who fancies whale watching, hiking, beaching, and snowboarding should consider listing Maine above “cheesing in front of the Hollywood sign.” The state is also a great place for entrepreneurs. Portland in particular is humming with startups and coworking spaces, and the state is dedicated to keeping the dream alive. The Maine Venture Fund (MVF) was put in place to provide capital to the sorts of small young companies -- such as Chimani (apps for the outdoors) and Gelato Fiasco (which speaks for itself) -- unlikely to get funding from traditional venture capitalists.

#Travelocity #SelfHelp #GetPaidToLiveHere