I'm looking at Prescott AZ, or Prescott Valley, AZ (very close to each other). Flagstaff AZ is intriguing but they get a lot of snow. I don't know how long it sits on the ground, though. I'd like to be within an hour and a half or less from a major metro area.
Sparks NV is a suburb of Reno. Might be a candidate. Otherwise NV is just too dang hot.
I'd look at Santa Fe, NM or areas around it. Same thing with suburban Albuquerque or areas around it (Rio Rancho, for example).
Utah should be a candidate but I can't find a happy median between snow to the north and desert to the south.
Ummm......you need to visit AZ in the summer if you don't like heat, LOL. Higher elevations have cooler summers but snow in winter.
Be aware desert = dust. Some people's allergies work overtime there - certainly did for me and DH! Loved NM but wow, we had to travel around with a box of tissues for the whole 10 days.
Also - water is a Big Political Issue in the West. VERY BIG. Droughts are a regular occurrence and we are not talking a one-year deal. Droughts these days are more the 5-7 yr kind, where garden watering and washing the car are restricted, and sometimes the quality of water from your tap can look or smell questionable.
One of my bosses had a good motto - "Don't let the tax tail wag the dog!"
Don't be so fixated on low vs high taxes. The important thing to look at is "what do you GET for your tax dollars?" Are the hospitals nearby and well-funded (hospital consolidation is a big issue in many parts of the US)? What are the public services like - are the police and fire depts well funded, or suffering as many are?
Live out in the semi-rural areas, as many retirees do, for lower cost RE - only to find fire danger every year (did you know the average FEMA reimbursement for disasters is only $20K?) and if you do need police or emergency you call the county, because you don't have any municipal police force.
I live in coastal CA and love it altho it is expensive. But it is
what we get for our tax dollars that matters, so you have to be careful to look at what happens when things go wrong for you. When my DH had a stroke, we were 10 min from the emergency room (and fortunately already in the car, having just left the house).
And yes, don't overlook the social element. You can't really choose a place to live with statistics. This is a long-term project for you. You can refine it with data, but you shouldn't set your heart on someplace that in the end, won't really ever feel like home to you or your spouse.