I’m tired of rust. Not just on cars, but the rust on bridge supports and the rusted rebar with concrete spalling is expensive for the taxpayers too.
Some places must use less, or use something like beet juice instead, even though they still have snow or ice. I think Missouri uses less salt than Illinois. Colorado is very dry, so even though they use salt there is less moisture to activate it.
Washington uses calcium chloride with corrosion inhibitors with sand where possible. Rust can happen but it’s more common on the coast depending on the vehicle. Hawaii it’s the salt air from the ocean you worry about. I’ve lived in Washington state my whole life and we’ve only had two rusty vehicles
The 60s Dodge d100 bought for $300 around 1977 had Flintstone floors as my brother remembers from riding to school in the truck. Got our money’s worth and more building our house. Our 73 Volvo showed rust at 15yrs old but living in Hawaii for 11yrs is mostly the cause. Our other cars have gone 19yrs ir more without more than surface rust on the exhaust.
Sounds like you are thinking about moving??
If so, Tennessee is the salt capital of the world, our streets are salted even in the 100° summers… It is the worst state to live in too… 
When I was growing up in New York State in the '60s, I remember the state and local communities piling up the salt in staging areas in anticipation of the winter… And they put plenty down… And it destroyed everything… When the melted snow and the salt got into the concrete superstructure of bridges, it caused the rebar to rust and the rusted rebar expanded and “exploded” the concrete out…
And those of us that washed our cars at public car washes found out when they changed the water in the recycling tanks… Going in a weekend almost always guaranteed you washed your car with recycled “super saturated salt water”.
I agree the coast is worse than places like Kanas, but there’s an area in the US called the Rustbelt. It’s appropriately name because of the amount of snow they get and the TONS of salt they use. The lake effect snow from the Great Lakes is significant. Areas like Tug Hill in central NY north of Syracuse sees significantly more snow then anyplace east of the Rockies. Syracuse is the snowiest city in the country. Its snowfall totals are more than double what Boston area receives. And Tug Hill annual snowfall totals are double what Syracuse receives. It’s rare to see a vehicle here in the Boston/southern NH area with rust through panels with today’s manufacturing techniques and rust proofing methods. But it’s still very common in places central NY. Here’s a link to the rust belt with map.
Personally - I’ll put up with Rust over Hurricanes, Tornados and Earthquakes any day.
Syracuse is bypassing I-81 through Downtown area partly because it’s elevated and it’s ALWAYS under constant repair.
Pretreating the roads before a storm supposedly uses less salt overall, so you might want to look for places that regularly do that.
That’s the rustbelt, it has nothing to do with salting the roads.
That would be the Salt belt
HUH? It has EVERYTHING to do with salting the roads. Municipalities put down TONS and TONS of salt annually to combat the snow/ice. Syracuse alone puts down 30,000 TONS of salt annually. I take it you live in the south.
Beginning to understand road salts’s impact on watersheds in Syracuse - The Daily Orange
Whatever that stuff in Missouri, beet juice or whatever, it was terrible to get off the car again. Took several car washes after driving through there when they treated the roads.
Minnesota used to use just sand but with higher traffic loads included salt to meet the bare roads policy. There are groups against salt, sand, driving, or using anything on the roads. There is always some group against anything but its just part of winter so wash your car.
The “Rust Belt” and the “Salt Belt” are 2 different things
The Rust Belt , formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt , is an area of the United States that underwent substantial industrial decline in the late 20th century.
The Salt Belt is a region mainly in the northeastern United States in which road salt is used in winter to control snow and ice.
They may share a lot of the same states, but they have different meanings.
Syracyse has, on average more snow than Buffalo but Buffalo uses more salt per lane mile and Buffalo’s winter temperatures tend to be higher so the temp frequent;y crosses the freezing point twice a day which makes the salt more activly corrosive. Cars are more resistant than they used to be, we used to be, I can remember seeing 3 and 4 year old rusty car but fuel and brake lines can still rust out at 10 years.
Lived in Grand forks ND, many times too cold for salt, they would just sand the packed snow in the streets.
Only had a little trouble with rust in Anchorage, owned same 2 cars most of the 12 year there. The GTI got the most driving, no rust. Cold, but not much salt use.
The town where I was on the faculty for several decades tried using clay, from the local clay pits. It didn’t help at all with traction (in fact, I think it led to less traction, due to its nature), and it made a heck of a mess on the roads and cars.
Finally, after ~5 years of that–supposed–money-saving practice, they joined the rest of the world and began using sand and salt.
Pulled into El Paso TX, temp around 65. Woke up next morning 6 inches of snow. Me? No problem, learned to drive in MN. Then found I-10 had been packed down to ice by traffic and TX had no snowplows, or sand&salt trucks. Drove ‘white knuckled’ until I got to Las Cruces NM, there the roads were cleared. I think I spent an hour in a Dennys recovering.
Buffalo is also twice the size of Syracuse
A friend told me California uses cinders. I’ve had to use chains in California, followed a snowplow in a convoy to cross the Sierras, saw no salt.
The Roads in the Sierras aren’t always treated heavily for ice because traditional salt is less effective at extreme cold, massive amounts would be needed for vast, high-altitude areas, and Caltrans focuses on plowing to keep roads passable (not bare) during storms.
Using cinders for traction and prioritizing main routes. They suggest chains as the solution for severe conditions, as it’s impractical for them to fully de-ice every mile.
For Ice Control in my home turf, York County, VA, they rely on the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to use common materials like sodium chloride (rock salt) usually at intersections and they treat the roadways with a solution of brine (saltwater solution) before storms. They aim to reduce solid salt usage and keep major roads passable.
