Virginia still has cheap areas and is a blue state thanks to the DC area and Hampton Roads, but the cheap areas suck and don't necessarily have broadband access or mobile coverage.
Are you a blue voter or do you just like blue areas?
https://www.kiplinger.com/real-estate/places-to-live/601488/25-cheapest-us-cities-to-live-in
Michigan isn't a friendly place for taxes on middle-class families. Things have changed with the influx of people from neighboring blue states. For example, my hometown of Grand Rapids, which once had an average midwestern cost of living, is now no longer affordable:
- So-called affordable housing in Westside is around $2000/mo
- Rooms start around $800/mo, which is more than my mortgage payment an hour south in Kalamazoo
- Houses under $500,000 are plentiful, but you'll be a belligerent in a bidding war to get one. Furthermore, you won't be getting a palace at that price.
Also, if you are looking for somewhere temperate, you'll only have that here May through August.