Just for giggles - get your home insurance, car insurance and life insurance policies.  Call an office in North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and Utah.  Ask for quotes for the same exact level of coverage, and give them an address in ND, CO, TX or UT so they can give you the local pricing.  You'll quickly see a very different price for the same exact coverage in each of the other states.  You'll (hopefully) figure out very quickly how/why things are different in this and other states.