New Study Reveals How Americans Can 'Vote With Their Feet' to Maximize Quality of Life

“Voting With Your Feet: Finding Your Place to Go” unveils the SatisCation™ Life Satisfaction Index—an interactive, data‑driven guide for smarter relocation.

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, April 23, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A groundbreaking white paper released today by data‑analytics firm SatisCation shows that Americans don’t have to wait on the next election cycle to improve the institutions that shape their everyday lives—they can relocate to places that already deliver the blend of taxes, schools, safety, climate, and culture they want.

Titled “Voting With Your Feet: Finding Your Place to Go,” the paper revisits economist Charles Tiebout’s seminal theory that people reveal their preferred mix of public services and taxes by moving. It then bridges his decades‑old model to the era of big data with the debut of the SatisCation Life Satisfaction Index (LSI), a free web tool that converts the collective knowledge of 45 public datasets into a single, personalized score for any U.S. address.

"For decades, economists have recognized that people 'shop around' for communities that offer their preferred combination of public services, tax levels, and quality of life factors," said Max Laraia, Director of Research at SatisCation. "Our Life Satisfaction Index makes this complex decision process significantly more accessible by allowing users to rank their priorities and see personalized scores for potential places to live."


How the LSI Works

Users select and rank their top five factors from 14 available options, including education quality, housing affordability, climate preferences, safety, and recreational opportunities. The platform then integrates these preferences with the user's demographic information to calculate location-specific LSI scores that can be compared across different addresses. SatisCation addresses both the governmental and the non-governmental factors that influence life satisfaction. This comprehensive approach recognizes that decisions about where to live involve complex trade-offs between various priorities, from school quality to climate preferences.


Real‑World Impact

A scenario in the paper contrasts “Jim,” a 26‑year‑old remote worker prioritizing affordability and nightlife, with “Mary,” a 40‑year‑old mother focused on schools and safety. Jim’s optimal score points him toward Macon, GA, while Mary’s directs her to Lincolnshire, IL—illustrating how the approach can yield two very different, yet equally rational, relocation strategies.


Download & Explore

The full paper and interactive LSI dashboard are available today at https://satiscation.com/white-papers/voting-with-your-feet


About the Author

Max Laraia is a director of research and writer for StatisNostics. He will graduate from George Mason University with a Bachelor's of Science in Economics in May 2025. Max was also an Undergraduate Scholar at the Mercatus Center and has previously interned at the American Enterprise Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.


About SatisCation

SatisCation empowers individuals and families with advanced data tools for life satisfaction and well-being. Founded by Dr. David P. Mackinnon, the company merges decades of therapeutic insight with robust analytics to illuminate how external factors influence overall life satisfaction and quality of life. While the Life Satisfaction Index focuses on external factors, it complements-not replaces-internal considerations like mental health and relationships.

Max Laraia, Director of Research
SatisCation, LLC
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