Here are the most and least free metro areas in America:
The 20 Most-Free Metro Areas
1. Naples-Marco Island, FL
2. Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, FL
3. Manchester-Nashua, NH
4. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL
5. Bradenton-SarasotaVenice, FL
6. Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL
7. Rockingham CountyStrafford County, NH
8. Palm Bay-MelbourneTitusville, FL
9. Sioux Falls, SD
10. Tampa-St. PetersburgClearwater, FL
11. Charlottesville, VA
12. Jacksonville, FL
13. Tyler, TX
14. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN
15. Pensacola-Ferry PassBrent, FL
16. Ocala, FL
17. Boulder, CO
18. San Angelo, TX
19. Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
20. Richmond, VA
The 20 Least-Free Metro Areas
1. El Centro, CA
2. Visalia-Porterville, CA
3. Merced, CA
4. Kingston, NY
5. Glens Falls, NY
6. Bakersfield, CA
7. New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ
8. Modesto, CA
9. Fresno, CA
10. Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA
11. Hanford-Corcoran, CA
12. Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH
13. Fairbanks, AK
14. Utica-Rome, NY
15. Binghamton, NY
16. Stockton, CA
17. Anchorage, AK
18, Madera-Chowchilla, CA
19. Yuba City, CA
20. Longview, WA
Most- and Least-Free Metro Area in the Ten Most Populous States
1. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA
2. El Centro, CA
3. Tyler, TX
4. Laredo, TX
5. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
6. Kingston, NY
7. Naples-Marco Island, FL
8. Palm Coast, FL
9. Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI
10. Champaign–Urbana, IL
11. Lancaster, PA
12. Johnstown, PA
13. Cincinnati-Middleton, OH-KY-IN
14. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
15. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI
16. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI
17. Newark-Union, NJ-PA
18. Ocean City, NJ
19. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
20. Albany, GA
The complete list of 384 areas can be found in Table A2 of the paper’s appendix.
(Via: EconomicFreedom.org)