Climate change is fueling heatwaves, hurricanes and floods, gradually making certain places in the US challenging, if not outright miserable, to live in.

Scientists, and some members of the public, are starting to question where in the US will remain comfortable to call home.

The answer, broadly speaking, is north and maybe west. Florida has seen a population boom in recent decades but the southern portion of the state is on course to be submerged by rising seas. The Gulf coast will get supercharged hurricanes, while the south-west and south-east US will be baked by increasingly hostile heat.

“Areas towards the north and away from the ocean and that central corridor where you get tornadoes probably look best,” said Vivek Shandas, an expert on climate change’s impact on cities at Portland State University. Shandas recommends looking to live in a “band roughly above the 42nd parallel” – a line of latitude that divides New York and Pennsylvania and forms the southern borders of Oregon and Idaho.

Places close to a reliable source of water without being flood-prone as the seas rise are attractive, such as areas near the Great Lakes and the Pacific north-west. “Seattle doesn’t break 90F that often so it’ll be nothing like Phoenix in terms of tolerability of heat,” said Shandas. “Places like Portland, Oregon, and Boise, Idaho, will be relatively safeguarded, apart from a bit of wildfire smoke.”

There will be bastions elsewhere. “Cincinnati, for example, is surprisingly good,” said Shandas. “It’s close to the Great Lakes, away from hurricanes, away from the eastern seaboard. It will get more heatwaves, but then again we all will.”

Boise, Idaho: another place which could be shielded from the worst of climate change. Photograph: Troy Maben/AP

Much of the east coast will look dicey if the seas rise at such a pace that they’ll be 6ft higher by the end of the century, but plenty will rest on local decisions made to shield residents from flooding. New York City, for example, is flanked by rising water and is already stiflingly hot in summer, but a multibillion-dollar strategy to build flood defenses and buy out vulnerable areas should help stave off the worst impacts.

Climate resiliency is a growing focus for many towns and cities that fret about expensive clean-up costs from disasters, shading people from the heat or dealing with an eroding tax base should residents decide to uproot and head somewhere safer.

The scope of these climate considerations is vast, touching on everything from transport links to the availability of flood insurance. Jesse Keenan, a climate adaptation expert at Harvard University, said that he likes Buffalo, New York, and Duluth, Minnesota, as climate refuges as they tick many of the appropriate boxes.

“Their sources of energy production are stable, they have cooler climates and they have access to plenty of fresh water,” Keenan said.

“They also have less vulnerability to forest fires, as compared to somewhere like the Pacific north-west. They also have a legacy of excess infrastructural capacity that allows them to diversify their economy in the future. Land prices are cheap and they have a relatively well-educated and skilled labor force.”

These safe havens are more of a fantasy wishlist for many moderate-to low-income people as property and rental values rise in desirable areas. Others won’t want to leave more vulnerable parts of the US due to more umbilical links, to family and jobs and a sense of home.

“As we saw after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Maria, communities that are able to move can do so, especially if family and friends do the same,” said Shandas. “Those with less resources are left behind.”