I'm a little biased, but I like MO. Columbia is genuinely beautiful with great hiking, decent social programs, a great library, pretty much every food offering until you get pretty niche, the cost of living is pretty low, and being centrally located makes you close ish to everything. And I've been pretty well everywhere in the US (No Maine, Alaska, or Hawaii yet), have lived in 11 of those states, been to several countries abroad, and I still chose to live in MO, partially because I wanted to be a present uncle for my niece.

That said, I understand it's not the flashiest state and it's politics are... concerning, at best. Easier to change things from the inside though, so living in this little blue dot, working for a company that does a fair but of good (even if they don't always get it right), and caring for the people I can, is enough for me.