Compare Best States for Off the Grid Living

Homesteading is a word you probably thought you had left behind in junior high school history class. While the old concept of laying claim to a parcel of public land came to its official end in Alaska in the 1980s, the word has come back into widespread use with a redefined meaning.

No covered wagon is needed, but you probably want to bring a portable stove—that pretty much sums up the old and new homesteading. The piston and rod have replaced the slow and cumbersome, but if you're building your own home, you'll want to be set up for some extended camping on your property, weather permitting, or get used to the nearby Motel 6. Most of us can camp longer than we can tolerate a motel room.

Today, homesteading means finding a plot of inexpensive land, usually located in a rural setting, and making it your own. The land comes with little in the way of structures or utilities. It's the ultimate DIY project, but its rewards can be huge too.

Not every rural location lends itself to modern homesteading, so we're going to cover the best states where you can start a homesteading life without surprises that may shut down your projects. What do we mean by shut down? Visits from local bureaucrats who force you to stop construction and/or issue fines. You want places where local and state permits for building, water, and utilities are easy to obtain, where minimal rules maximize the freedom to do things how you see fit.

So what are the best states for building your modern homestead?

The Mercatus Institute, a free-market-oriented think tank, did a recent study in which they ranked 'the freest states' according to criteria that mixed regulatory, fiscal, and personal freedoms into their mix. The #1 free state by their calculation was Kansas. Kansas is also listed as the most unrestricted state in another study, the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index.

What does this mean for the homesteader?

It means land that you buy in Kansas is pretty much yours to do with as you wish, without having to worry about regulatory restrictions. All of the states where Online Land Sales currently offer property ranked in the Top 20 freest states, with four out six in the Top 10. Kentucky and Texas were two states that fell outside the Top 10, coming in at #16 and #19, respectively. Keep in mind that states were looked at as a whole, so the Texas calculations included urban areas like Houston and Austin. Rural regions of Texas and Kentucky are pretty much code-free.

The Top Five freest states are Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana, and Alaska.

Interestingly, here are the rankings of the six states where Online Land Sales currently sells property:

• Kansas #1
• Missouri #3
• West Virginia #9
• Oklahoma #10
• Kentucky #16
• Texas #19

Are you curious about what are the most restrictive states?

You can probably guess them.

The Top Five are:

• Hawaii
• Rhode Island
• Massachusetts
• New Jersey
• Maryland

Modern homesteading has become popular because you get to build your home from scratch, exactly how you want it. For most of our developments, the covenants are easy to understand and are just good-neighborly common sense.

For example, you can choose your energy source. You can use a solar-powered generator, run power lines from the local utility, or supply a fuel generator in most locations.

Ample land is available for self-sufficient living. Technologies of the past, present, and future come together in a mix that serves you and your family. That's pretty much the opposite of corporate home builders and slick real estate agents who only want to enhance property values by applying marketing rules cooked up by people who live in million-dollar urban apartments, often in other states.

Many young parents quickly realize that their urban and suburban settings are not the places where they want to raise a family. Out here, you can grow your food, keep livestock, and hunt on your property. Self-sufficient farming leads many people to supply enough fresh produce from their gardens that they don't even bother to buy vegetables from the local grocery store.

Your neighbors will be looking for the same lifestyle as well. That's why most of the rules are common sense ones about being a good neighbor. Everyone around you wants pretty much the same thing.

Are there any downsides?

You should be aware of a few things that may take some adjustment.

Do your homework and make sure you understand the obstacles you and your family may face in developing a lifestyle that makes you happy.

First, your water source will be your priority. There are several ways of going about this. Here is where you'll want to reference county laws on digging wells and collecting rainwater. There may be fees and permits necessary, but the states we've chosen are renowned for prioritizing freedoms, and costs are minimal.

The desire to be as independent as possible defines today's homesteading. That will likely mean doing some balancing of wants and needs. Depending on your energy source, you may become more aware and choosy about your use of technology. Suppose you want to have a television (and many homesteaders are happy to get away from the TV). In that case, you'll want to consider using an antenna and minimize streaming, which employs more power and Internet resources. In many of these rural areas, broadband is still scarce. You may want to consider satellite, though that is a more expensive service, and it too uses more power.

While you probably won't become a light tyrant (lights don't use all that much power), you're going to become more conscious of how and when you use electricity. And you very well may welcome the added discipline. It's a more disciplined life all around.

Sustainable living does not mean renouncing modern technology, living like a hermit. The Internet will be necessary. Off the grid living doesn't mandate a total disconnection. While we may think of life before modern technology, during the 19th-century, for example, as a life of physical labor, one still had to have a working knowledge of farming, woodworking, and basic mechanics. Where was that knowledge learned and stored? Most often, people learned through experience, hands-on lessons from family and school. To keep what you learned, you wrote it down or bought books.

More than you may think, the Internet goes a long way to making a self-sufficient life a possibility. Information on growing food, making and mending furniture, basic first aid, home maintenance, and just about everything else that would have required a 19th-century upbringing, or a 20th-century library is now a YouTube video away.

Those who homestead want a life where they can take care of themselves, determined by a desire to be self-sufficient. They want to provide for themselves and make the most of their land. Growing your food and feeding yourself comes at a high price, but offers enormous rewards.

While it may seem counterintuitive to some who believe that going full DIY out in the wilderness makes a person more selfish, many people who develop self-sufficient life proficiency become more generous. You may find yourself with such bounty and happiness that you think about the many ways in which you can help others in need. Your food harvests may be so prolific that you are motivated to share with your community. There are many local resources available to partner with to help people who may need food, shelter, clothing, or other necessities.

You will find that you can learn a lot from your neighbors, which is why we have our online community portals. Homesteading opens up so many possibilities and allows you to make so many new friends. You learn a lot about yourself. If you're a parent, your children earn confidence that can't be attained any other way. The whole idea of modern household goods is based on connecting with people who live a more self-sufficient lifestyle.