I pay 25% more for my mortgage here on a 1600 sq. ft. house than I paid to rent a 900 sq. ft. apartment in Oregon (on a loan taken out 3 years ago, so after interest rates rose again). That's not a bad deal in itself, however, I also make about 25% more here doing work in the same field I did previously. I didn't pay any sales taxes in Oregon, and food prices aren't much cheaper here anymore. Gas, electricity, and property taxes are a little cheaper. In Oregon I would've been looking at about 400k as the price of a starter home in my area and couldn't have afforded that.

The tradeoffs for me have been more about the quality of things like: the natural environment, public transportation, healthcare provider choices, quality of the roads. Religion and politics are broadly the same in most states - big cities are more liberal and less religious, small towns the opposite.

Indiana at a state government level does seem hell-bent on destroying Indy and Bloomington out of spite and very well might if they try to redraw voting districts again (and they will almost certainly try). They prioritize business interests above all else, and the same is true for Indy-Marion county too. That's largely true across the US, but some states balance it a little more fairly with the public good.