Weather by state · computed from county data, updated daily

New Mexico has the best year-round weather in America by the numbers: 56.7°F average, the 3rd sunniest Januarys, 10.0 severe storm events a year.

See temperature on the county map Mildest counties

47 states ranked on three things the typical resident feels: how close the year’s average temperature sits to 65°F, how much sun January brings, and how many severe storms NOAA logs. Rainfall and FEMA’s hazard score are shown alongside. Every figure is the population-weighted average of the state’s counties, from 3,144 county records.

The nation as a whole lives at 58.6°F, sees 35.5 in of rain a year, and its typical county logs 26.5 severe storm events. 12 states put their average resident within five degrees of 65°F: Georgia, Nevada, California, South Carolina, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee. The five at the bottom of the table, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Montana, combine a cold or hot average with cloudy winters, frequent storms, or both. For the essay version of this question, read the states with the best weather year round and the best states for four seasons without extremes; this page is the table underneath them.

All 50 states ranked (47 with full data)

Click a state for its full page. Rank is the sum of each state’s position on temperature, January sunshine and storm events; lowest total wins.

#	State	Avg temp	Jan sun score	Rain /yr	Storm events /yr	FEMA risk /100
1	New Mexico	56.7°F	+2.20	11.1 in	10.0	76
2	Georgia	63.5°F	+0.26	46.0 in	14.4	75
3	Nevada	62.8°F	+2.42	8.4 in	22.3	97
4	California	62.6°F	+1.45	18.6 in	22.2	99
5	South Carolina	63.4°F	+0.73	42.9 in	23.4	86
6	Mississippi	66.2°F	-0.14	53.4 in	18.2	75
7	North Carolina	60.3°F	+0.62	43.0 in	21.5	81
8	Missouri	56.8°F	+0.23	37.1 in	18.6	80
9	Florida	74.1°F	+1.69	43.5 in	22.1	97
10	Oklahoma	62.1°F	+0.80	44.3 in	38.7	83
11	Louisiana	69.3°F	-0.54	53.7 in	14.5	89
12	Arkansas	62.2°F	-0.15	52.4 in	20.4	77
13	Rhode Island	50.9°F	+0.50	45.8 in	15.9	81
14	Arizona	70.6°F	+2.93	8.7 in	105.9	94
15	Kentucky	56.9°F	-0.68	57.1 in	13.2	65
16	Kansas	56.7°F	+0.69	33.6 in	28.5	75
17	Texas	69.7°F	+0.37	33.1 in	34.5	92
18	Alabama	64.2°F	-0.39	52.5 in	26.8	80
19	Virginia	57.6°F	+0.10	40.9 in	27.9	65
20	Maine	44.7°F	+0.14	39.2 in	10.8	71
21	Nebraska	52.3°F	+0.51	28.4 in	24.5	76
22	Wyoming	45.0°F	+0.71	16.0 in	19.2	42
23	Tennessee	60.1°F	-0.60	53.2 in	21.1	74
24	Indiana	52.5°F	-0.79	37.9 in	14.3	71
25	Utah	51.4°F	-0.20	17.2 in	17.2	90
26	Oregon	51.9°F	-2.25	51.0 in	2.6	92
27	New Jersey	54.1°F	+0.02	38.5 in	30.4	93
28	Colorado	49.5°F	+1.83	15.6 in	34.2	83
29	New York	52.2°F	-0.43	37.3 in	19.6	85
30	Idaho	50.1°F	-1.33	17.4 in	5.5	60
31	Delaware	55.8°F	+0.09	39.4 in	34.7	90
32	West Virginia	53.8°F	-1.36	44.2 in	15.4	37
33	Washington	49.9°F	-2.85	56.5 in	1.5	92
34	Wisconsin	46.5°F	-0.54	32.1 in	13.6	70
35	New Hampshire	46.7°F	-0.36	40.1 in	16.8	75
36	Iowa	50.1°F	-0.02	34.2 in	24.3	69
37	Maryland	56.1°F	-0.12	37.4 in	46.6	87
38	Vermont	44.2°F	-0.76	42.2 in	9.5	36
39	North Dakota	42.3°F	-0.11	20.4 in	18.2	68
40	Michigan	48.8°F	-1.30	30.4 in	13.7	76
41	Minnesota	45.4°F	-0.30	30.5 in	19.3	75
42	Ohio	51.9°F	-1.17	39.3 in	20.2	71
43	Montana	43.9°F	-1.06	23.9 in	12.8	53
44	South Dakota	47.2°F	+0.33	23.9 in	39.0	68
45	Massachusetts	49.9°F	-0.38	42.2 in	31.7	91
46	Pennsylvania	52.0°F	-0.51	39.6 in	44.5	76
47	Illinois	51.8°F	-0.56	30.8 in	66.4	88
—	Alaska	—	—	—	0.1	73
—	Connecticut	—	—	—	0.0	—
—	Hawaii	—	—	—	30.3	93
—	District of Columbia	—	-0.08	—	30.4	92

Sources: NOAA Climate Normals · USDA Natural Amenities Scale (Z-score) · NOAA Storm Events Database · FEMA National Risk Index 2023 (0–100, all hazards). Population weights: Census 2023 estimates. Unranked: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, District of Columbia. The county cache has no NOAA temperature, sunshine or rainfall normals for them (NOAA's county climate divisions cover the lower 48, and Connecticut replaced its counties with planning regions in 2022), so they appear with the figures they do have. Not shown: Puerto Rico (territory; the county cache carries avg storm events but no NOAA temperature, sunshine or rainfall normals).

Warmest and coldest

The warmest states for the people who live in them are Florida (74.1°F), Arizona (70.6°F), Texas (69.7°F). The coldest are North Dakota (42.3°F), Montana (43.9°F), Vermont (44.2°F). That is a spread of 31.8 degrees between the two ends, against a national resident average of 58.6°F. Closest to 65°F, the temperature this ranking treats as ideal, is Alabama at 64.2°F.

Sunniest

On the USDA January sunshine scale, Arizona (+2.93), Nevada (+2.42), New Mexico (+2.20) lead; the national resident average is +0.16. The cloudiest winters are in Washington (-2.85), Oregon (-2.25), West Virginia (-1.36). The scale is in standard deviations from the average county, so a +2 state gets roughly twice the January sun advantage of a +1 state. The county version of this list, with 25 named places, is at the sunniest counties in January.

Driest and wettest

Nevada (8.4 in), Arizona (8.7 in), New Mexico (11.1 in) are the driest states by what falls on their residents in a year. Kentucky (57.1 in), Washington (56.5 in), Louisiana (53.7 in) are the wettest. The national resident average is 35.5 in. Rainfall is shown but not scored, because a dry state is a drought state to a gardener and paradise to a golfer.

Fewest severe storms

NOAA’s storm events database logs the fewest events per county in Washington (1.5), Oregon (2.6), Idaho (5.5), and the most in Arizona (105.9), Illinois (66.4), Maryland (46.6). The national resident average is 26.5 a year. Two cautions: events are counted per county, so states with enormous counties such as Arizona (Maricopa) and Illinois (Cook) log more per county than their weather alone explains, and a hurricane is one event however many parishes it crosses. FEMA’s National Risk Index, in the last column, prices expected losses instead; it is lowest in Vermont (36), West Virginia (37), Wyoming (42) and highest in California (99), Florida (97), Nevada (97). The county rankings least likely to flood, burn or blow away and warm counties you can still afford take the same two figures down to county level.

How we measure

Each state’s figure is the population-weighted mean of its counties in the Live or Die Here county database (3,144 records across the 50 states and DC). Weighting by population describes the weather most residents live in, so California reads as Los Angeles and the Bay Area, not the Sierra. The fields are average temp (NOAA Climate Normals), january sunshine (USDA Natural Amenities Scale (Z-score)), avg storm events (NOAA Storm Events Database), plus annual precipitation (NOAA Climate Normals), heating degree days (NOAA Climate Normals) and natural hazard risk (fema) (FEMA National Risk Index 2023 (0–100, all hazards)). Population weights are Census 2023 estimates.

Ranking: each state with all three scored fields is placed 1 to 47 on distance from 65°F, on January sunshine (higher is better) and on storm events (fewer is better). The three positions are added; the lowest total ranks first, ties going to the state closer to 65°F. A county missing a field drops out of that field’s average rather than counting as zero. The caveats are real: a statewide average hides mountains and coasts (Colorado’s Front Range is not its ski towns), the sunshine measure covers January only, and NOAA’s storm counts depend on county size and on how many observers are reporting. Use the table to shortlist, then open the county map.

Frequently asked questions

Which state has the best weather year round?

New Mexico, by this measure. Its residents live at an average 56.7°F, its January sunshine scores +2.20 on the USDA scale (0 is the average county), and NOAA logs 10.0 severe storm events a year in the typical resident's county. The next four are Georgia, Nevada, California, South Carolina. The ranking adds each state's position on three measures: average temperature closest to 65°F, January sunshine, and fewest severe storms.

Which state has the most sunshine?

Arizona has the sunniest winters: +2.93 on the USDA January sunshine scale, where 0 is the average American county and +3 is the top. Nevada (+2.42) and New Mexico (+2.20) follow. The scale measures January hours of sun, the month that separates a sunny climate from one that only feels sunny in July. The cloudiest winters are in Washington (-2.85) and Oregon (-2.25).

Which state has the least severe weather?

Two answers, because two agencies count differently. On NOAA's storm events database, Washington logs the fewest severe storm events per county in a typical year (1.5), followed by Oregon (2.6) and Idaho (5.5). On FEMA's National Risk Index, which weighs expected losses from eighteen hazards, Vermont scores lowest at 36 out of 100, then West Virginia (37) and Wyoming (42). A state can look calm on one and exposed on the other: NOAA counts a hurricane once, while FEMA prices the damage.

What is the mildest state for retirees?

Among the ten best-weather states, Georgia carries the lowest FEMA hazard score (75 out of 100) alongside a 63.5°F average and 14.4 severe storm events a year, which makes it the strongest combination of comfortable weather and low disaster exposure. Weather is one input; the retirement taxes page and the lowest property tax counties ranking cover what the same places cost to live in.

Which states have four real seasons?

The states whose typical resident lives between 50 and 58°F on average and burns 4,000 to 6,500 heating degree days a year, which is a real winter without a brutal one: New Mexico (56.7°F), Kansas (56.7°F), Nebraska (52.3°F), Rhode Island (50.9°F), Missouri (56.8°F), Virginia (57.6°F). Listed sunniest winter first. Colder than that and winter starts to run the calendar; warmer and summer does.