Out of curiosity, what is your plan after your contract expires? Are you planning to continue with your education or will you reenter the civilian job market in some way? Are any of the locations available to you for transfer better or worse with respect to these future plans or do you necessarily plan to move to another state again once your contract expires? If it were me, I'd keep my long-term plans in mind in considering where to go next, and I'd consider the economies of these potential places as part of that analysis.