Salary.com's Cost of Living Wizard Tool
Cost of living is alot less, sales tax is less, prices are lower, much lower population per square mile. 217 per square mile Cali, 98 per square here in KY.
Less intrusive DMV, Social Services, and family court system.
Unemployment rate CA 10.5% not counting those who have stopped looking.
Unemployment rate KY 8.7% not counting those who have stopped looking Highest on record.
estimated number of gang members in CA is over 200,000
In Kentucky, 0 counties reported 10,000 or more gang members, 0 counties reported 3,500-9,999 gang members, 0 counties reported 2,500-3,499 gang members, 0 counties reported 500-2,499 gang members, 26 counties reported 1-499 gang members, 14 counties reported 0 gang members, and there was no reporting from the remaining counties. Cities shown are Lexington and Louisville
States in which there are 5-7 gang members per 1,000 population are California, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico
States in which there are 0.4-1 gang members per 1,000 population are Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia
http://progressivefarmer.com/farmer/bestplaces/articles/01barren.html Barren and Warren county are right next to each other.
I know this is way off topic but you all did ask. These are of course only my opinions.