What would be the best state to be in when things pop off?

Your best bet is to find a location that is far away from a military base (especially air force), missile silos, major population centers, nuclear reactors, and is not downwind of an area likely to be heavily bombed (fallout and all - though this will reduce significantly over time).

There used to be a lot more fallout predictive maps online, but I suspect some of them are out of date due to decommissioning of bases and silos. Some of the maps differ wildly as well. One area I see consistently safe from fallout and targets is the Rio Grande Valley area, though you'll want to stay away from El Paso due to potential targets of White Sands Missile Range in NM and Fort Bliss. Laughlin might also be a target, but yeah.

Something else to consider is heavily forested areas near target zones - those could be uncontrolled wildfires.

Essentially, if you live in the northern hemisphere, your best bet it to be near ground zero, because survival is going to suck in any significant exchange. Also, if you can't grow your own crops, slaughter and cook meat, and cannot defend yourself ... you can survive the initial days, but your chance for survival will be low.

What the hell does “pop off” really mean? Lol. I’m still going to go ahead and answer WV or if you don’t mind the cold Montana or Alaska.

Depends what pop off means?

If it means another civil war... I'd say the North. that's where most of the money is. The only exception is Texas but I'm pretty sure Texas would just secede rather than fight a war for the interests of Alabama and Mississippi.

If it's due to climate change I'd say the Mid-West... mostly protected from wild fires and hurricanes and should still have farming for a while.

If it's from the fall of civilization maybe closer to the great lakes.

or if it means err'body getting krunk then I'd want to be in da club.

Not california. They are the first sacrificial layer. We'll call them "operation human shield"

Alaska would not be a good choice. Very close to Russia. Even has some towns that identify as Russian (kinda like East Ukraine). I've gone into stores in those Alaskan towns where not a written or spoken word is English. On the plus side they did have a super creepy Russian hamburger joint with a funny knockoff Ronald McDonald sitting on the bench outside.

When I was in the military, our warfare scenario had Dial-a-Bomb calculators to determine where the fallout of a nuclear blast would be and long it would take to get there. You could actually survive a surface blast a few miles away if you were upwind. Surviving the initial blast or an EMP pulse isn't the real problem.

I've read a lot of apocalypse fiction. A EMP fries all cars less than 30 years old and kills the electric grid for years. Cities without power or transportation would become war zones in 72 hours. Crime would hit much sooner... the first night and the second night for sure. It's one thing to sit and wait for rescue to come to you, but once people realize that there will never be a rescue, things will deteriorate quickly. You don't want to wait around if you live in NYC or a similar area. You need to get out fast. But where will you go? And how will you be met when you get there? Probably with guns and be told to move on NOW.

For those in the country, it's better, but still bleak. The survivors from the cities will forage in wider and wider circles. Every deer, squirrel, raccoon, and mouse will be caught and eaten within two months. If you have a generator, the sound would draw human predators for miles. So would lights at night.

And here's the tragic part that most people don't know, you simply cannot grow enough calories to survive... even if you know how to farm. Raising cattle or sheep will be nearly impossible by yourself because poachers will kill them and kill you if you try to stop them.

Survivors will need to band together in defendable positions where they can fish, raise and defend cattle and sheep, and grow community gardens.

tl;dr

There is no best state when the SHTF. You need to be with the right people in a place where you can defend yourself and forage enough calories to survive. That's probably by the sea or with a small group in a very remote wilderness area.

Not even close. What happens is that people start attacking others that have prepared.

That's why you need those vehicles from Damnation Alley. They probably have one in Area 51, another reason to hang around there

I would like to point out that Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana are covered with active missile silos and launch sites. They would all be first in line for popping off.

One Second After is one of the better EMP apocalypse book I've read. Both of these scenarios occur. The sequels to this book are also good, but they are post-apocalypse books dealing with power struggles among the survivors.

IIRC, this was the first book I read that brutally calculated the calories from a garden and how much you would need to survive. The bottom line was that you couldn't in a primitive society where you couldn't preserve food until a community organized to do it. You would need to raise chickens, goats, cows, etc. to survive and that requires a community to protect the animals from poachers.

And why didn’t you call racist when he called out a “white thing”

Tennessee/Kentucky would be good places. Plenty of game in the forests, numerous freshwater sources, and extensive cave systems would increase chances of survival. The mountains would give some protection from fallout on the east coast and break up large storms like those in the midwest, and the climate is temperate. The mountains aren't easy to traverse, which makes for great hiding places.

Europe.

Montana, I think that is is the best

Where was this in alaska? I lived there 30+ years and worked/traveled all over the state. Are you talking about that tiny village in the Kenai? I can’t imagine it having a hamburger stand. Have never seen what you’ve described, but would like to go see it.

Alaska is a bad choice simply because of winter. Good luck with that.

Talking Delta Junction and surrounding area.