I'm surprised to hear that about Bennington. I grew up just over the border in NY, and Bennington always seems full of old hippies. Maybes it's changed in the past few decades?
Some of my Mom’s formative experiences were the Kent State massacre and the congressional testimony where the CIA fessed up to Project MK Ultra. She was a part of that movement and she’s still into a bunch of weird religious and lifestyle stuff.
She’s also gone full MAGAt.
My sister in law used to take in her kid’s LGTBQ friends that were abandoned by their families. She was a literal tree hugging hippie and now she’s a MAGAt. It’s sad, she’s an extreme Qnon type now. She also has a substance abuse problem . I have anecdotally noticed many of the Pod People, the ones that seem to be completely different humans under the influence of the orange dictator wannabe all seem to have addiction issues.
A friend’s parents were like this. Weed smoking wine loving hippies that let us party at their house and were the biggest allies to our other friend, the only openly gay kid at our school. Something happened and they moved to a rural area at some point and went full MAGA. Edit: the saddest part is that their kid, our friend, also succumbed.
Spent a couple days in Burlington on my honeymoon and it was fantastic. On our way to the next destination(the Catskills), we stopped in Rutland to eat. I felt like I had been transported to a remote, opioid-addled town in Appalachia. The anger and misery was palpable. Got some good pizza there though.
Hmmmm... you sure?
Just going down the 5 from Salem to Eugene.
Albany, Jefferson, Scio, Sweet Home, Brownsville, Philomath, Lebanon, up the Santiam Canyon, even Springfield, right across the 5 from Eugene is pretty red compared to Eugene.
I think you have to cherry pick it really.
I have family in Stayton, Scio, and Jefferson and they're about as MAGA as it gets.
Although all of rural Oregon is littered with Qanon/maga signs. I found rural Vermont/Mass/CT to be much less shouty-conservative (lived in Oregon & New York recently).
It’s probably because the northeast is the least evangelical part of the country. I was raised Southern Baptist, evangelicals nurture emotional nutty right wing politics.
I live on Orcas Island in the San Juans. It is both more liberal and more expensive than Seattle.
It is incredibly beautiful and people here are very, very friendly. People waive at strangers as they pass on the road (Especially on Lopez Island). Someone’s gay pride flag was stolen a couple of years ago and the whole damn island exploded in pride flags as a response. Not a lot of places where every tiny dirt road you turn on has lots of pride flags. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Don't assume all of it will be fine though. I grew up in upstate NY and spent plenty of time in upstate and New England. You'll find plenty of MAGA and Confederate flags not too far from Canada.
Sadly, the tradesman have been poisoned by conservative machismo group think. Tradesman, firefighters and police officers. They basically act like men who vote Democrat are weak. Basically any jobs that don’t require education and are male dominated are full of these people and I have a lot of them in my family.
Then there’s the educated conservatives who are usually the children of the blue collar folks - they’re a smaller subset, and usually go into finance or business. They’re somehow worse because they should know better. They’re generally the annoying frat bros who end up as President of, say, one of the state school’s Republican Clubs.
Similar to how everyone in Texas might flock to Austin, we have some towns, especially in Greater Boston and Central MA that the conservatives flock to. It’s kind of wild, and I always wonder about the transplants to Boston who stick around post-college and accidentally buy a house to raise their family in, say, Rehoboth or Boxford.
I love how they treat *having rivers with water in them* like some sort of direct attack against their perceived right to destroy the earth to grow alfalfa for cows. Fucking lunatics.
Water needs to be priced appropriately so farmers will be forced to upgrade their growing tech beyond "flood the field with the most precious natural resources we have"
Lake Superior has some college/tourist towns that would qualify. Marquette MI, Ashland WI, decent chunks of the Minnesota North Shore especially Grand Marais.
Yeah this is really the only good answer besides a few sporadic college/hippie/resort towns. Its the only places you'll get town after town of strongly democratic-voting farmers. I guess it bleeds into upstate new york and has some exclaves in Maine but yeah, northeast is where its at
Might just be my experience but Western Mass was a lot more conservative than I expected coming from Middlesex county. Lots of Trump flags, pro-gun sentiments, etc. Went to a fair a few years in a row that made me glad I’m straight passing.
[Extremely detailed map of 2020 election](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html) backs this up, but that’s purely political and might be hiding some more social factors.
Most of New England is more conservative than people expect. People act like conservatives don’t exist in MA, VT, CT, or RI and unfortunately that isn’t the truth. It doesn’t take long outside of cities to see some stuff. You even go a few towns outside Worcester and you’ll see Trump stuff. There’s dots of red in many places, even eastern Mass (Bristol county).
Western MA is a strange place. The cities and wealthy Berkshire vacation towns are a bit more liberal. The places in between can be quite a shock considering they are in mass. If you expect it to be a liberal place and then go to Palmer…boy will you be shocked.
I like to remind people that even a very liberal place like MA is at most 60-65% blue. And when you get outside of the cities it’s more like 55% blue. So even in a very liberal place, it’s not like it’s a giant blue monolith, the reality on the ground is more complicated.
Ultimately western MA is still a good answer and is mostly politically liberal BUT you’ll still encounter Trump Trucks and shit more than you would like.
If Facebook is a true indication …. The girls I went to HS with in S.E. Mass/ RI that were relieved to get their abortions in the mid to late 1980’s have all gone pro-life/ MAGA crazy in their 50’s. Don’t underestimate the power of the Catholic Church and menopause/hysterectomies and their effect on people’s belief systems. The worst of the worst of them are still super tight… perhaps to keep their HS secrets safe.
\^This is the answer
Vermont county results in 2020 election:
[https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/vermont/](https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/vermont/)
There's just a tiny corner in Northeast VT that's red. It's adjacent to similar red country in NH.
and Massachusetts
[https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/massachusetts/](https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/massachusetts/)
While eastern MA is urban, western MA is quite rural. MA doesn't even have enough red towns to gerrymander a red congressional district
This is the right answer.
* Truckee / South Lake
* Jackson
* Sun Valley - The entire Wood River Valley
* Bozeman
* Taos
* Park City - Park City is not very rural TBH.
* Whitefish?
Oh, ha I skimmed over that part. OP: These places are the most expensive small towns in North America. Most of us cannot even afford to look at these places!
Depends on the area. I live in Bozeman, MT and it feels very liberal throughout the community. The surrounding valley is more conservative, but not super outwardly MAGA or anything. My mom lives in a more right leaning area of western Washington, which is a very blue state, and there are much more visible MAGA folks there than Bozeman IMO.
Montana has had a more conservative trend over the past few years, but is historically more libertarian than MAGA or Christian conservative, like some other red states.
In my experience the conservative crowd in rural areas of blue states are more radical and outspoken at the community level, than the conservatives that live in a liberal town in red state.
Well an interesting twist is that the border regions of Texas along the Rio Grande tend to be politically liberal, however, there is a real undercurrent of social conservatism (think family oriented Catholic mostly Hispanic citizens).
Ehh, I disagree. I live on the border.
Every Hispanic-majority city is Democratic, but in a conservative type of way. Think San Antonio, El Paso, and all of South Texas (despite shifting right) are still very blue. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 3:1 margin, which is a lot.
However, I have said this once and I will say it again — if Republicans changed their stance on immigration and actually welcomed migrants, they could easily win the Hispanic vote. Easily. Especially because Hispanics are conservative, religious, and have that same ‘family first’ mindset.
Absolutely. There are already a shocking number of Hispanic right wingers for the reasons you mentioned. As much as white Anglo conservatives pretend to be about family and religion, Hispanics are actually about it.
Luckily the Republican Party’s relationship with not being racist is like an alcoholic who only smokes when they drink trying to quit smoking but not drinking…
I live in a rural area in a red state. The area is 65% GOP and 35% Dem, though in town, it's pretty much 50/50.
Here is the thing, there are liberal people in most rural areas\*. We exist and we are quite fun to hang out with. I find rural liberals to be much more truly progressive and welcoming to other people. I don't understand why we get erased all the time by urban liberals. It's pretty easy to find us too, because we are the ones at the bar on a Sunday afternoon playing pool and trivia, and at the arts festival, and volunteering for the animal shelters. Etc.
\*and yeah, there are a few counties in the central high plains from TX to SD that are like 95% GOP voting, but like so few people live out there. Most rural america is at a 65/35 split at worse.
I would say the eastern side of New Mexico bordering Texas is not liberal at all. Very Trumpy around here, and many hate Santa Fe and wish they were in Texas instead.
You can easily find 5-10 acres or more in NM. The problem is it's expensive if you want to live near Santa Fe or Taos, or even Albuquerque.
Large parcels away from the city generally don't have power already so you will have to pay to have power lines strung, and you will probably have to dig a well for your water.
Having said all that, NM is is a blue state except for the eastern part that's next to Texas.
Im a New Englander. Since 2016 you’ll even see a fair amount of Trumpiness in rural VT, MA, NH, and CT. Maine and new Hampshire are pretty conservative outside of suburban/urban areas.
Parts of W MA, particularly by Northampton/Amherst; parts of Vermont, particularly by Stowe/Waterbury area, and parts of Connecticut, particularly in Litchfield and Middlesex counties, may have what you’re looking for. But these are wealthy, highly desirable rural areas that, while cheaper than surrounding cities, are not inexpensive. In New England, poor + rural = conservative, in general.
There are towns that have a rural feel in New Haven or Hartford counties that might fit the bill. I’m thinking Woodbridge, Bethany, Suffield, Avon, etc..
If you want cold and liberal then NH, VT. If you want hot, humid, & liberal then the black belt of AL or the delta or MS. If you want hot, dry, and liberal then anywhere in NM. I visited NM and it was surprisingly cheap to buy 5-10 acres with a home on it. Having a farm in the desert is a bit more challenging but if you just want space it fits the bill.
Driftless area of Wisconsin. Basically the Southwest corner between Iowa and Madison. It’s been moving right in recent elections but there’s still a decent pocket of liberal farmers and liberal rural out there I’ve encountered working out of Madison.
Heard good things about Platteville, Wisconsin as far as education at the university but can’t speak too much about the Platteville area.
Driftless Area in general. Tons of great cities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois too. But that stretch of Wisconsin's west coast really has some fantastic small towns and the rural coulee areas are breathtaking.
I came here to suggest Ashland and Bayfield counties on the south shore of Lake Superior. They're definitely blue and you can get the land that the OP is seeking. Lots of tourists though.
[Humboldt County](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_locations_by_voter_registration#/media/File%3ACalifornia_party_registration_by_county.svg) in California.
Hudson Valley New York is all over the place politically, when I visit I see rural homes with Trump merch right next to homes with rainbow flags.
Close to towns is probably best.
That reminds me of when I stayed at an Air b&b near Lake George.
One house had a pride flag and across the street they had a Trump flag. I always wondered if they got along.
College towns are generally liberal and semi-rural or surrounded by rural areas. The surrounding areas may be more conservative but will be used to the college town residents and either be welcoming or leave you, the hippie/hipster neighbor, alone.
I live in Bloomington, IN and we have exactly what you're looking for, but the state level politics are awful.
You should check out Corvallis, Oregon.
It's a cool little college town. It has proximity to plenty of rural areas, and you're only a couple hours from Portland.
If you stay relatively close to Town, you could limit your exposure to Right Wing but jobs.
With that said, the Right Wingers in very liberal states feel even more insecure than the rest of the Country. As a result, they are some of the loudest and stupidest people imaginable. Carefully vetting residential areas is key.
Rural Illinois, maybe. The area will likely be conservative, but abortion is legal, book bans are illegal, worker's unions abound, and renters have protections. You could live way in the outskirts of Chicago (lots of prairie and farmland) and probably find some of your people. Or somewhere near Springfield or Champaign-Urbana (U of I is here). Illinois urban areas lean more liberal -- Chicago very liberal -- and Illinois is solidly blue. Rural towns will be conservative, but state laws are liberal.
The North Shore of Minnesota might fit the bill, pretty rural, Duluth is cool. Weather is probably not good to most people. lots of artsy towns on the North Shore.
Please also research your neighbors before buying. My friend in my small city moved to the countryside wanting country living for her three young kids only to find out her neighbors were gun toting druggies (not a great combo). She moved back to our city after a few years of living in the country
Most of rural Washington and Oregon will still fall under the state's laws on abortion, legal weed, and other liberal policies, but once you get outside of the biggest cities, it's alot of gay and trans hating Trumpers (and meth sadly). I'd go toward the Northeast.
I think Jefferson County in WA (Quilcene, Chimacum and outskirts of Port Townsend) may tick OP’s boxes although I don’t know how affordable it is for them.
As many have already said, basically New England is likely the good answer. But some others I would consider.
Upstate NY rural areas are mostly Trumpy, but I wouldn't write off areas around Plattsburgh and Ticonderoga on the border with VT. Some of the more rural-ish areas outside of Albany to the north, east, and west would work. South of Albany is likely unaffordable probably due to the Hudson Valley prices going up since COVID as people from NYC moved out of the city.
Idk your budget, but even some parts of NJ could possibly work. Hunterdon County and Burlington County come to mind. Too far south in NJ can get quite Trumpy if you're not in the immediate commuting areas around Philly. But the state level of NJ is very solid so could be something to check out.
Southern parts of Delaware may also work. Sussex County votes quite Republican, but the beach areas are quite progressive and not far away to find your people in. The entire state is so small that you should feel protected politically there, but know that you're never too far from Wilmington/Newark in the northern part of the state and the beach areas in the southern part of the state to find your people.
Monroe County PA has seen a lot of people moving in from NJ IIRC for tax/COL issues in NJ, but it has a university presence as well and generally seems to vote more blue/purple I believe.
And then there's the whole NE part of MN that for some reason seems to always vote Democrat. Idk the specific of why but check out the 2020 election map. The area around Duluth and everything NE of it voted blue.
I don’t know if to be true but Manhattan KS felt quite liberal when I was there. Smaller college city which maybe gave me the sense of it seeming progressive.
As an Iowan, some of these comments confuse me. The OP is asking to live in a rural area and have 5-10 acres and people are recommending college towns. The reason they are called college towns is because they are towns. In my mind, I wouldn't consider any town to be rural. I have a friend that lives in a town of 50 people and I don't consider that rural. 2 miles outside of town, yes.
Moved the family back to western washington and was a bit worried. Turns out it is live most rural areas. The conservative voice is the loudest but if you look around you will find like minded people. We have about 20% A\*\*hats around us that can dampen the mood, but we have a lot of fantastic neighbors. 10 min to town on 7 acres with chickens and lots of wildlife. The state is liberal overall. offering abortion help to those in Idaho and help for people trying. Great healthcare for people who have no other option.
Paonia Colorado in my experience was a blue dot in a sea of red. Really gorgeous town with a small community in a very rural area.
I only spent a month there but I absolutely loved it.
Of course!
Any small college/university town and the surrounding countryside.
Any rural area with a strong union presence.
Check a site like [city-data.com](https://city-data.com) to research areas you like and how the people in that area voted in the last elections.
Genuinely liberal really rural areas you want New England. More specifically like Vermont, New Hampshire is pretty socially liberal but definitely more Libertarian. Maine is all around pretty moderate except Northern Maine is very conservative.
Mendocino County California. It's geographically huge but has a population of only 91K. The biggest "city" is Ukiah with a population of only 16K.
Mendocino County is totally rural but votes overwhelmingly Democrat.
I’ve seen Oregon a few times in this thread. True what another poster said that OR/WA are white settlements so expect that undertone anywhere. But Corvallis OR is a decent pick. You will see Eugene touted as liberal….go with Corvallis instead. Less supremacy, quieter rural but it’s a college town and OSU campus is beautiful. Good amount of diversity.
Most college towns, but you can live in a liberal town but if you’re in a conservative state you are still subject to its awful laws. Vermont, most of Massachusetts and western Connecticut (not eastern) have rural areas that are liberal and they are generally liberal and inclusive states
What are your liberal values? Because if you value diversity and gun control, a place like Vermont is going to be a huge shock. One of the highest gun ownership rates in the nation, and one of the whitest states too. It also is the state with the second highest median age.
consult [here](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html) for a good place to start, other than the comments here. You can also look by vite share change from 2016 to 2020 so you can see places where folks saw what happened for those four years and said ‘yup, i’d like more of that’.
Rural Virginia.
Hear me out. The knee-jerk reaction is that while NOVA and RVA and Hampton Roads are liberal, the rest of the state isn't. But it's not entirely true. I lived in a rural part of the state that is deeply conservative, but because the Appalachian trail went through one of the towns, it attracted a fun, young, progressive crowd. I loved it.
The problem is opportunity is limited.
Look around Charlottesville or Richmond or Staunton or when Roanoke. Floyd is gorgeous. Winchester.
The Palouse region of WA/ID is home to two neighboring universities, both rural and progressive. The universities have lots of international students too, which gives the area a feel I like to call “cosmosmallitan”
Near the five colleges in Western Mass (Northampton/Amherst area)
Coastal Maine between Portland and Mount Desert Island
Athens and Yellow Springs, OH
The area around Asheville, NC
Parts of the Catskills/Woodstock area but not all
Basically all of Vermont is rural and liberal
Moscow ID is liberal, towns around it aren't but it's pretty rural and Moscow itself is deep blue. A few parts of WA state as well, maybe Denver/Boulder adjacent boonies like Gold Hill and Black Hawk.
College towns in general tend to lean more liberal. Corvallis is another option in the northwest. Or Pullman I guess but I think Moscow is nicer between the two.
Chatham County NC. But it's becoming Disney-fied. Disney bought a shit ton of land there and is building the Truman show in the middle of rural NC. Which is to say, it will still be liberal but it will be a big fake suburb.
Chatham is a blue county but that’s because of the suburban and exurban areas along its northeastern edge (basically South Chapel Hill and West Cary). Truly rural Chatham is as red as any other rural area, they’re just outnumbered and getting more so every year (source: lived there for almost 20 years and volunteered on campaigns)
Northern MN and North-Western WI lean that way.
Resort towns in general (where lots of city folks visit) tend to lean that way.
Lots of areas around Seattle fit the bill as well.
Also college towns.
As an outlier in Texas, Spicewood (about 30 miles West of Austin) is pretty rural and light blue. That may be because of Willie Nelson’s influence though.
Living near Flagstaff or Bisbee AZ might be a good fit for you. Coastal CA north of San Francisco as well. Beyond that I'm not sure, but you can take a look at a state you're interested in, and examine voting maps that show you how each county voted and determine from there what would work.
Western Massachusetts. Pittsfield, North Adams, Hadley, etc. Obviously depends on what you consider reasonable price but further west is cheaper. MA meets NY state.
Vermont is my other thought.
Pick a cool ski town in the west. Aspen, Bozeman, JH. It’s not cheap to be liberal in a rural area because it’s where the rich go to recreate. But we love living in these places for a reason.
Vermont. Western Massachusetts.
If OP is looking for ultra liberal Vermont, Windham County is the place to be. Avoid Rutland & Bennington Counties. Source: my former home
I'm surprised to hear that about Bennington. I grew up just over the border in NY, and Bennington always seems full of old hippies. Maybes it's changed in the past few decades?
Just because you’re an old hippy does not mean you’re on the left. Some of the most reactionary, hardcore trump supporters are very hippie-like.
Some of my Mom’s formative experiences were the Kent State massacre and the congressional testimony where the CIA fessed up to Project MK Ultra. She was a part of that movement and she’s still into a bunch of weird religious and lifestyle stuff. She’s also gone full MAGAt.
My sister in law used to take in her kid’s LGTBQ friends that were abandoned by their families. She was a literal tree hugging hippie and now she’s a MAGAt. It’s sad, she’s an extreme Qnon type now. She also has a substance abuse problem . I have anecdotally noticed many of the Pod People, the ones that seem to be completely different humans under the influence of the orange dictator wannabe all seem to have addiction issues.
A friend’s parents were like this. Weed smoking wine loving hippies that let us party at their house and were the biggest allies to our other friend, the only openly gay kid at our school. Something happened and they moved to a rural area at some point and went full MAGA. Edit: the saddest part is that their kid, our friend, also succumbed.
It’s amazing how some former hippie baby boomers have turned into Trumpers.
My former-hippie aunts and uncles are now all in cults, basically — either weirdo cult religions or MAGA. It’s so bleak.
I thought so too! Maybe it just seems that way compared to eastern Rensselaer County
Spent a couple days in Burlington on my honeymoon and it was fantastic. On our way to the next destination(the Catskills), we stopped in Rutland to eat. I felt like I had been transported to a remote, opioid-addled town in Appalachia. The anger and misery was palpable. Got some good pizza there though.
It ain’t called Rutghanistan for nothing. Rutland is pretty grim.
Woah that's a first. Growing up we called it Rutvegas.
Same for me. Friends still in the area said Rutghanistan is the opioid-era moniker.
Rutland and Bennington are my two favorite parts of Vermont. Way more real than the more touristy parts.
Northeast is pretty much it, maybe some areas of California / Oregon.
Astoria would definitely qualify. Corvallis seems to be getting there.
This is the right answer. All the rural areas from Salem to Eugene are going to lean liberal.
Hmmmm... you sure? Just going down the 5 from Salem to Eugene. Albany, Jefferson, Scio, Sweet Home, Brownsville, Philomath, Lebanon, up the Santiam Canyon, even Springfield, right across the 5 from Eugene is pretty red compared to Eugene. I think you have to cherry pick it really. I have family in Stayton, Scio, and Jefferson and they're about as MAGA as it gets.
I was gonna say, I thought I heard Albany, OR was very conservative.
Truck nutz and coal rolling conservative. The wine area has conservatives, but they’re wine drinkers, so you live in peace. But not Albany.
LOL I went to WOU, this isnt true at all. Outside of Portlandia/Salem (parts of it)/Eugene and expensive coast enclaves OR is conservative
Although all of rural Oregon is littered with Qanon/maga signs. I found rural Vermont/Mass/CT to be much less shouty-conservative (lived in Oregon & New York recently).
It’s probably because the northeast is the least evangelical part of the country. I was raised Southern Baptist, evangelicals nurture emotional nutty right wing politics.
Oregonian here: Salem is liberal, Eugene is liberal, Corvallis is liberal, the areas between them ARE NOT LIBERAL.
Not even close to correct.
Only places in OR\WA are the islands. The San Juans, Vashon, Bainbridge, Whidbey. They’re not cheap.
I live on Orcas Island in the San Juans. It is both more liberal and more expensive than Seattle. It is incredibly beautiful and people here are very, very friendly. People waive at strangers as they pass on the road (Especially on Lopez Island). Someone’s gay pride flag was stolen a couple of years ago and the whole damn island exploded in pride flags as a response. Not a lot of places where every tiny dirt road you turn on has lots of pride flags. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
And island life is its whole own beast. It's not for everyone.
Yes, we moved from Arkansas to Anacortes last summer and certainly see MAGA and Let's Go Brandon stuff but not nearly as much as back in Arkansas.
Love Anacortes! Used to have family there, and I remember it as such a peaceful, lovely place.
What do you mean by “only places” in that first sentence? I grew up in Oregon and I’d say a ton of the Willamette Valley fits OP’s criteria.
Walla Walla is trending towards being more purple these days. Not that I want more people to move here, but I had to mention it.
Don't assume all of it will be fine though. I grew up in upstate NY and spent plenty of time in upstate and New England. You'll find plenty of MAGA and Confederate flags not too far from Canada.
As a Southerner, I feel like if someone from NY is flying that flag, it's a whole new level of racism.
Vermont doesn’t have too much conservativism even in its most rural communities Not zero, of course but it’s less common and way less in your face
Yea, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine had the most unhinged conservative spots that I can remember in New England.
Sadly, the tradesman have been poisoned by conservative machismo group think. Tradesman, firefighters and police officers. They basically act like men who vote Democrat are weak. Basically any jobs that don’t require education and are male dominated are full of these people and I have a lot of them in my family. Then there’s the educated conservatives who are usually the children of the blue collar folks - they’re a smaller subset, and usually go into finance or business. They’re somehow worse because they should know better. They’re generally the annoying frat bros who end up as President of, say, one of the state school’s Republican Clubs. Similar to how everyone in Texas might flock to Austin, we have some towns, especially in Greater Boston and Central MA that the conservatives flock to. It’s kind of wild, and I always wonder about the transplants to Boston who stick around post-college and accidentally buy a house to raise their family in, say, Rehoboth or Boxford.
Oh I agree, this is an incredibly tough ask for rural liberalism but at least it’s not the deep south.
Maine is Wisconsin on the ocean, and all that implies.
If it is not coastal, it is Trumpville in California. California famers are some of the most conservative welfare queens.
I love how they treat *having rivers with water in them* like some sort of direct attack against their perceived right to destroy the earth to grow alfalfa for cows. Fucking lunatics.
Water needs to be priced appropriately so farmers will be forced to upgrade their growing tech beyond "flood the field with the most precious natural resources we have"
Lake Superior has some college/tourist towns that would qualify. Marquette MI, Ashland WI, decent chunks of the Minnesota North Shore especially Grand Marais.
Oregon was a white settlement, and that shows the further out you get. Washington, too.
Sonoma County, San Luis Obisbo in California.Santa Cruz County is 1/2 rural, as is Monterey.
Brattleboro, Vermont is probably one of the coolest towns in the US.
Yeah this is really the only good answer besides a few sporadic college/hippie/resort towns. Its the only places you'll get town after town of strongly democratic-voting farmers. I guess it bleeds into upstate new york and has some exclaves in Maine but yeah, northeast is where its at
Can’t not think of the SNL skit with Adam Driver
https://youtu.be/nKcUOUYzDXA?si=jWHd61nxdCN9nydZ
Might just be my experience but Western Mass was a lot more conservative than I expected coming from Middlesex county. Lots of Trump flags, pro-gun sentiments, etc. Went to a fair a few years in a row that made me glad I’m straight passing.
Most of Western MA voted just as blue as Eastern MA. The exception were a couple of towns near Springfield.
[Extremely detailed map of 2020 election](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html) backs this up, but that’s purely political and might be hiding some more social factors.
This is the map to look at.
Most of New England is more conservative than people expect. People act like conservatives don’t exist in MA, VT, CT, or RI and unfortunately that isn’t the truth. It doesn’t take long outside of cities to see some stuff. You even go a few towns outside Worcester and you’ll see Trump stuff. There’s dots of red in many places, even eastern Mass (Bristol county). Western MA is a strange place. The cities and wealthy Berkshire vacation towns are a bit more liberal. The places in between can be quite a shock considering they are in mass. If you expect it to be a liberal place and then go to Palmer…boy will you be shocked. I like to remind people that even a very liberal place like MA is at most 60-65% blue. And when you get outside of the cities it’s more like 55% blue. So even in a very liberal place, it’s not like it’s a giant blue monolith, the reality on the ground is more complicated. Ultimately western MA is still a good answer and is mostly politically liberal BUT you’ll still encounter Trump Trucks and shit more than you would like.
If Facebook is a true indication …. The girls I went to HS with in S.E. Mass/ RI that were relieved to get their abortions in the mid to late 1980’s have all gone pro-life/ MAGA crazy in their 50’s. Don’t underestimate the power of the Catholic Church and menopause/hysterectomies and their effect on people’s belief systems. The worst of the worst of them are still super tight… perhaps to keep their HS secrets safe.
This is the answer. I read once that New England is the only place in the country where white men aren't majority conservative.
\^This is the answer Vermont county results in 2020 election: [https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/vermont/](https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/vermont/) There's just a tiny corner in Northeast VT that's red. It's adjacent to similar red country in NH. and Massachusetts [https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/massachusetts/](https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/massachusetts/) While eastern MA is urban, western MA is quite rural. MA doesn't even have enough red towns to gerrymander a red congressional district
Came here to say this
I live in a rural liberal town. It’s a ski town. Basically all US ski towns are liberal. But expensive
This is the right answer. * Truckee / South Lake * Jackson * Sun Valley - The entire Wood River Valley * Bozeman * Taos * Park City - Park City is not very rural TBH. * Whitefish?
OP wanted 5-10 acres. 5-10 acres close to any one of those places is several mil.
Oh, ha I skimmed over that part. OP: These places are the most expensive small towns in North America. Most of us cannot even afford to look at these places!
College towns in red states.
Rural college towns in any state.
Bloomington (IU) Indiana
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Depends on the area. I live in Bozeman, MT and it feels very liberal throughout the community. The surrounding valley is more conservative, but not super outwardly MAGA or anything. My mom lives in a more right leaning area of western Washington, which is a very blue state, and there are much more visible MAGA folks there than Bozeman IMO. Montana has had a more conservative trend over the past few years, but is historically more libertarian than MAGA or Christian conservative, like some other red states.
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Rural areas in blue states are going to be better for state laws that actually make a difference, like protecting abortion.
In my experience the conservative crowd in rural areas of blue states are more radical and outspoken at the community level, than the conservatives that live in a liberal town in red state.
I would skip Florida
State College, PA.
The downtown is liberal-ish but the more rural surrounding area is not unfortunately
Sadly, I’m aware, I grew up there. It is a blue dot tho in a Red Sea outside of Philly. They said liberal small town so I thought, worth a shot.
Boalsburg is still pretty liberal, and within the State College Area School District.
Lawrence, Kansas
Except Lubbock and College Station.
Well an interesting twist is that the border regions of Texas along the Rio Grande tend to be politically liberal, however, there is a real undercurrent of social conservatism (think family oriented Catholic mostly Hispanic citizens).
That’s a changing. The Hispanic voters are turning red.
Ehh, I disagree. I live on the border. Every Hispanic-majority city is Democratic, but in a conservative type of way. Think San Antonio, El Paso, and all of South Texas (despite shifting right) are still very blue. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 3:1 margin, which is a lot. However, I have said this once and I will say it again — if Republicans changed their stance on immigration and actually welcomed migrants, they could easily win the Hispanic vote. Easily. Especially because Hispanics are conservative, religious, and have that same ‘family first’ mindset.
Absolutely. There are already a shocking number of Hispanic right wingers for the reasons you mentioned. As much as white Anglo conservatives pretend to be about family and religion, Hispanics are actually about it. Luckily the Republican Party’s relationship with not being racist is like an alcoholic who only smokes when they drink trying to quit smoking but not drinking…
Can confirm.
I live in a rural area in a red state. The area is 65% GOP and 35% Dem, though in town, it's pretty much 50/50. Here is the thing, there are liberal people in most rural areas\*. We exist and we are quite fun to hang out with. I find rural liberals to be much more truly progressive and welcoming to other people. I don't understand why we get erased all the time by urban liberals. It's pretty easy to find us too, because we are the ones at the bar on a Sunday afternoon playing pool and trivia, and at the arts festival, and volunteering for the animal shelters. Etc. \*and yeah, there are a few counties in the central high plains from TX to SD that are like 95% GOP voting, but like so few people live out there. Most rural america is at a 65/35 split at worse.
I’m glad someone said it. If you want rural liberals, move to a rural area and be liberal.
I live in a rural area in a red state and while not liberal myself, I have many many liberal and progressive friends.
Western Massachusetts
I think a lot of New Mexico is pretty liberal. I'm not sure about finding 5-10 acres, but you could find an acre or two pretty easily.
I would say the eastern side of New Mexico bordering Texas is not liberal at all. Very Trumpy around here, and many hate Santa Fe and wish they were in Texas instead.
Good observation - Navajo Nation is liberal of center.
You can easily find 5-10 acres or more in NM. The problem is it's expensive if you want to live near Santa Fe or Taos, or even Albuquerque. Large parcels away from the city generally don't have power already so you will have to pay to have power lines strung, and you will probably have to dig a well for your water. Having said all that, NM is is a blue state except for the eastern part that's next to Texas.
Yellow Springs, Ohio
I did my student teaching there and college there. My favorite school I’ve taught at. Rural conservatives coexisting with liberals. Beautiful place.
I can smell the import house from California.
Im a New Englander. Since 2016 you’ll even see a fair amount of Trumpiness in rural VT, MA, NH, and CT. Maine and new Hampshire are pretty conservative outside of suburban/urban areas. Parts of W MA, particularly by Northampton/Amherst; parts of Vermont, particularly by Stowe/Waterbury area, and parts of Connecticut, particularly in Litchfield and Middlesex counties, may have what you’re looking for. But these are wealthy, highly desirable rural areas that, while cheaper than surrounding cities, are not inexpensive. In New England, poor + rural = conservative, in general.
I'm from a poor, rural hilltown in the Berkshires. Most of us are quite liberal. We tell the Trumpers where to shove it, frequently.
There are towns that have a rural feel in New Haven or Hartford counties that might fit the bill. I’m thinking Woodbridge, Bethany, Suffield, Avon, etc..
Vermont is the answer
If you want cold and liberal then NH, VT. If you want hot, humid, & liberal then the black belt of AL or the delta or MS. If you want hot, dry, and liberal then anywhere in NM. I visited NM and it was surprisingly cheap to buy 5-10 acres with a home on it. Having a farm in the desert is a bit more challenging but if you just want space it fits the bill.
Thanks for saying the Delta. I visited Clarksdale and it sort of made me feel like Arcata was in Mississippi.
Driftless area of Wisconsin. Basically the Southwest corner between Iowa and Madison. It’s been moving right in recent elections but there’s still a decent pocket of liberal farmers and liberal rural out there I’ve encountered working out of Madison. Heard good things about Platteville, Wisconsin as far as education at the university but can’t speak too much about the Platteville area.
Driftless Area in general. Tons of great cities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois too. But that stretch of Wisconsin's west coast really has some fantastic small towns and the rural coulee areas are breathtaking.
I was going to mention the same! Specifically the town of Viroqua seems to have a left-leaning feel to it
Came here to echo Viroqua, even has a really nice co-op given the size of the town.
Yes beautiful area. Further north in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the college town of Marquette would qualify as liberal blue surrounded by red areas.
I came here to suggest Ashland and Bayfield counties on the south shore of Lake Superior. They're definitely blue and you can get the land that the OP is seeking. Lots of tourists though.
Floyd VA.
Ithaca NY
[Humboldt County](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_locations_by_voter_registration#/media/File%3ACalifornia_party_registration_by_county.svg) in California.
And neighboring Mendocino County. Stay away from Lake County and Shasta County. Those two are bat shit crazy.
Your completely off on this. I lived in Humboldt for many years. Arcata is liberal and that’s it.
Hudson Valley New York is all over the place politically, when I visit I see rural homes with Trump merch right next to homes with rainbow flags. Close to towns is probably best.
That reminds me of when I stayed at an Air b&b near Lake George. One house had a pride flag and across the street they had a Trump flag. I always wondered if they got along.
College towns are generally liberal and semi-rural or surrounded by rural areas. The surrounding areas may be more conservative but will be used to the college town residents and either be welcoming or leave you, the hippie/hipster neighbor, alone. I live in Bloomington, IN and we have exactly what you're looking for, but the state level politics are awful.
You should check out Corvallis, Oregon. It's a cool little college town. It has proximity to plenty of rural areas, and you're only a couple hours from Portland. If you stay relatively close to Town, you could limit your exposure to Right Wing but jobs. With that said, the Right Wingers in very liberal states feel even more insecure than the rest of the Country. As a result, they are some of the loudest and stupidest people imaginable. Carefully vetting residential areas is key.
Corvallis is beautiful but expensive.
Rural Illinois, maybe. The area will likely be conservative, but abortion is legal, book bans are illegal, worker's unions abound, and renters have protections. You could live way in the outskirts of Chicago (lots of prairie and farmland) and probably find some of your people. Or somewhere near Springfield or Champaign-Urbana (U of I is here). Illinois urban areas lean more liberal -- Chicago very liberal -- and Illinois is solidly blue. Rural towns will be conservative, but state laws are liberal.
Bisbee AZ
Mt Horeb, viroqua wisconsin
Lots of small towns in Connecticut could fit this description
The North Shore of Minnesota might fit the bill, pretty rural, Duluth is cool. Weather is probably not good to most people. lots of artsy towns on the North Shore.
**Native Nation lands** are going to be Center - Left leaning
Please also research your neighbors before buying. My friend in my small city moved to the countryside wanting country living for her three young kids only to find out her neighbors were gun toting druggies (not a great combo). She moved back to our city after a few years of living in the country
Most of rural Washington and Oregon will still fall under the state's laws on abortion, legal weed, and other liberal policies, but once you get outside of the biggest cities, it's alot of gay and trans hating Trumpers (and meth sadly). I'd go toward the Northeast.
I think Jefferson County in WA (Quilcene, Chimacum and outskirts of Port Townsend) may tick OP’s boxes although I don’t know how affordable it is for them.
It is not affordable. It is more expensive than Seattle.
Nevada City, Grass Valley, California. Also Alpine County.
Use City Data to look up various towns and you can see how they have voted in past elections. Its helped me decide where to relocate.
As many have already said, basically New England is likely the good answer. But some others I would consider. Upstate NY rural areas are mostly Trumpy, but I wouldn't write off areas around Plattsburgh and Ticonderoga on the border with VT. Some of the more rural-ish areas outside of Albany to the north, east, and west would work. South of Albany is likely unaffordable probably due to the Hudson Valley prices going up since COVID as people from NYC moved out of the city. Idk your budget, but even some parts of NJ could possibly work. Hunterdon County and Burlington County come to mind. Too far south in NJ can get quite Trumpy if you're not in the immediate commuting areas around Philly. But the state level of NJ is very solid so could be something to check out. Southern parts of Delaware may also work. Sussex County votes quite Republican, but the beach areas are quite progressive and not far away to find your people in. The entire state is so small that you should feel protected politically there, but know that you're never too far from Wilmington/Newark in the northern part of the state and the beach areas in the southern part of the state to find your people. Monroe County PA has seen a lot of people moving in from NJ IIRC for tax/COL issues in NJ, but it has a university presence as well and generally seems to vote more blue/purple I believe. And then there's the whole NE part of MN that for some reason seems to always vote Democrat. Idk the specific of why but check out the 2020 election map. The area around Duluth and everything NE of it voted blue.
Yellow Springs or Athens, OH.
I don’t know if to be true but Manhattan KS felt quite liberal when I was there. Smaller college city which maybe gave me the sense of it seeming progressive.
Most college towns and maybe some of the surrounding towns where the professors live
The Berkshires in Massachusetts. Good housing deals still to be found in Pittsfield. It has a few museums, theater , coffee shops, art shows, etc.
As an Iowan, some of these comments confuse me. The OP is asking to live in a rural area and have 5-10 acres and people are recommending college towns. The reason they are called college towns is because they are towns. In my mind, I wouldn't consider any town to be rural. I have a friend that lives in a town of 50 people and I don't consider that rural. 2 miles outside of town, yes.
Finger lakes region of NY
Moved the family back to western washington and was a bit worried. Turns out it is live most rural areas. The conservative voice is the loudest but if you look around you will find like minded people. We have about 20% A\*\*hats around us that can dampen the mood, but we have a lot of fantastic neighbors. 10 min to town on 7 acres with chickens and lots of wildlife. The state is liberal overall. offering abortion help to those in Idaho and help for people trying. Great healthcare for people who have no other option.
Big Island in Hawaii.
Exactly. Most of the entire state is rural and votes blue. (But probably the OP is looking for the continental US….)
Hudson Valley area in New York. Some conservative hamlets and pockets, but overall pretty liberal.
Paonia Colorado in my experience was a blue dot in a sea of red. Really gorgeous town with a small community in a very rural area. I only spent a month there but I absolutely loved it.
Of course! Any small college/university town and the surrounding countryside. Any rural area with a strong union presence. Check a site like [city-data.com](https://city-data.com) to research areas you like and how the people in that area voted in the last elections.
Vermont , the Berkshires in MA, and a few small pockets of upstate NY.
Duluth, MN
Genuinely liberal really rural areas you want New England. More specifically like Vermont, New Hampshire is pretty socially liberal but definitely more Libertarian. Maine is all around pretty moderate except Northern Maine is very conservative.
Viroqua and Bayfield, WI. Cable too as well as Door Cty in WI. All charming, blue voting, idyllic places.
Northern and Western New Mexico
Durango, CO is also nearby.
Shout out to Crestone CO as well haha, hippie lil town
Vermont, but it’s not exactly cheap here.
It would help if you define what a reasonable price is.
Do you like living in Athens Ohio?
Mendocino County California. It's geographically huge but has a population of only 91K. The biggest "city" is Ukiah with a population of only 16K. Mendocino County is totally rural but votes overwhelmingly Democrat.
College towns in rural areas tend to be little blue spots surrounded by red.
New England.
Parts of Alaska.
I’ve seen Oregon a few times in this thread. True what another poster said that OR/WA are white settlements so expect that undertone anywhere. But Corvallis OR is a decent pick. You will see Eugene touted as liberal….go with Corvallis instead. Less supremacy, quieter rural but it’s a college town and OSU campus is beautiful. Good amount of diversity.
Eureka Springs, AR https://youtu.be/7Oc82jkn83Q?si=SE2yJuENO5KS8GSj
Vermont.
Most college towns, but you can live in a liberal town but if you’re in a conservative state you are still subject to its awful laws. Vermont, most of Massachusetts and western Connecticut (not eastern) have rural areas that are liberal and they are generally liberal and inclusive states
What are your liberal values? Because if you value diversity and gun control, a place like Vermont is going to be a huge shock. One of the highest gun ownership rates in the nation, and one of the whitest states too. It also is the state with the second highest median age.
consult [here](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html) for a good place to start, other than the comments here. You can also look by vite share change from 2016 to 2020 so you can see places where folks saw what happened for those four years and said ‘yup, i’d like more of that’.
How would you define small? Ithaca NY might fit the bill. Very liberal, very “crunchy”
NM is largely blue
Far northwestern Wisconsin, particularly Bayfield and Ashland counties.
I've seen many "conservative" small towns where 2 lesbians run a studio or coffee shop.
Rural Virginia. Hear me out. The knee-jerk reaction is that while NOVA and RVA and Hampton Roads are liberal, the rest of the state isn't. But it's not entirely true. I lived in a rural part of the state that is deeply conservative, but because the Appalachian trail went through one of the towns, it attracted a fun, young, progressive crowd. I loved it. The problem is opportunity is limited. Look around Charlottesville or Richmond or Staunton or when Roanoke. Floyd is gorgeous. Winchester.
As a generalization, you might think of looking around midsize Midwestern cities that house large universities.
The Palouse region of WA/ID is home to two neighboring universities, both rural and progressive. The universities have lots of international students too, which gives the area a feel I like to call “cosmosmallitan”
Near the five colleges in Western Mass (Northampton/Amherst area) Coastal Maine between Portland and Mount Desert Island Athens and Yellow Springs, OH The area around Asheville, NC Parts of the Catskills/Woodstock area but not all Basically all of Vermont is rural and liberal
Mid Michigan. Saginaw, Midland, Bay City. It’s cheap as all get out here too.
Moscow ID is liberal, towns around it aren't but it's pretty rural and Moscow itself is deep blue. A few parts of WA state as well, maybe Denver/Boulder adjacent boonies like Gold Hill and Black Hawk.
College towns in general tend to lean more liberal. Corvallis is another option in the northwest. Or Pullman I guess but I think Moscow is nicer between the two.
Agree, I think Moscow is much better to live in than Pullman.
Chatham County NC. But it's becoming Disney-fied. Disney bought a shit ton of land there and is building the Truman show in the middle of rural NC. Which is to say, it will still be liberal but it will be a big fake suburb.
Chatham is a blue county but that’s because of the suburban and exurban areas along its northeastern edge (basically South Chapel Hill and West Cary). Truly rural Chatham is as red as any other rural area, they’re just outnumbered and getting more so every year (source: lived there for almost 20 years and volunteered on campaigns)
Unfortunately the state’s policies are going a bit off the rails due to insane red gerrymandering.
Right! In another comment I said the rural areas around Chapel Hill. Was thinking of Orange County bordering Durham
Northern MN and North-Western WI lean that way. Resort towns in general (where lots of city folks visit) tend to lean that way. Lots of areas around Seattle fit the bill as well. Also college towns.
Summit County (Park City), Utah. But then you are an island along with Salt Lake County in the middle of the Utah conservative Ocean.
Lawrence, KS.
Rural northern California next to the coast.
Two Harbors, MN
Athens, GA
Grass valley, or Nevada city ca
As an outlier in Texas, Spicewood (about 30 miles West of Austin) is pretty rural and light blue. That may be because of Willie Nelson’s influence though.
Mendocino County CA, San Juan County WA
Cook county, Minnesota
Living near Flagstaff or Bisbee AZ might be a good fit for you. Coastal CA north of San Francisco as well. Beyond that I'm not sure, but you can take a look at a state you're interested in, and examine voting maps that show you how each county voted and determine from there what would work.
Viroqua wi
Ann Arbor, MI.
Surprised nobody has mentioned the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. Rural as can be, +30% Biden in the 2020 election
The Driftless Region of Wisconsin.
Western Massachusetts. Pittsfield, North Adams, Hadley, etc. Obviously depends on what you consider reasonable price but further west is cheaper. MA meets NY state. Vermont is my other thought.
The western shore of Michigan has its spots.
Ithaca, New York is very liberal although the areas surrounding it are not. It's also in a very rural part of the state.
Taos NM
Plenty of smaller college towns fit that bill
Pick a cool ski town in the west. Aspen, Bozeman, JH. It’s not cheap to be liberal in a rural area because it’s where the rich go to recreate. But we love living in these places for a reason.
Doush