The key is to find a nice small/medium sized city with a university in one of the lower ranked states (for instance Knoxville TN). Then you get the best of both worlds — higher income and education plus low taxes etc.
Lexington, KY is a really neat town. Plus it’s close to Louisville and Cincy. And the Cincy airport is on the KY side of the river, closer to Lexington, so there’s good access to a bigger airport.