I have family in Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida.
Don't live in any of their bigger cities. Instead, choose about 45-60 minutes away.
Illinois has great people, but it is assured of not getting better for decades. It's liberal run and taxes are terrible and they have nothing to show for it. Consider it off limits.
Missouri is good anywhere 45+ from St. Louis.
Indiana is loaded with a lot of decent people, and you can feel they nearly all have a church upbringing. Places 20+ minutes away from Indy are fine.
Tennessee, well, just don't make Memphis your bigger city to be around. Chattanooga might be the next one to stay away from, but it's nothing like Memphis.
Texas is hot and a lot of it is very arid. Consider living north, east, or south of DFW.
Florida is nice across the west and central portions. South and west of Miami is nice, but be assured being that far south means more storms and hotter weather. We like the north and northwest parts of Florida, down to maybe Sarasota. Orlando is really for tourists.
The last three states have no state income tax, while Florida and Tennessee have cheaper property tax than a chunk of Texas, as I was told. In Texas, you want to be in a county that has bad schools, because Texas apparently taxes the rich counties to mostly subsidize the non-taxing counties for their schools, as explained to me.
Thanks