OK, from what I see you don't have much in any of the counties you mentioned that require digital modulation or trunking. So the good news is you can go very cheap.
Right now, Radio Shack has a deal for a PRO-84 handheld with headphones for $49.97. It has 200 channels and service searches which means you can tell it to scan for common police or fire frequencies when you are somewhere that you don't know what frequency the police or fire departments might be on.
The downside of a radio like this is it doesn't have "alpha tags". A radio with "alpha tags" would not only display the frequency but also a short text description for each channel, so you don't have to remember what agency uses that frequency. Radio Shack has the PRO-137 now for $179.99 and it has 1000 channels plus alpha tagging and "signal stalker" which will lock on to close transmissions and show you what frequency they are on.
There are used alpha tagging capable scanners available here on Radio Reference in the "Equipment For Sale" area, or on eBay. I personally use a Radio Shack PRO-97 which is 1000 channels with alpha tagging and squelch tone decode. You can find these on eBay from time to time under $120.
I bought an old PRO-75 scanner off of eBay for my son back in December for $40 including shipping. It doesn't have alpha tagging, but it does have 200 channels. So like most things, the more you spend the more toys you get.
Check out the Wiki here on Radio Reference and you can see a lot of info on the other common scanner models and feel free to ask opinons. As the saying goes... everybody has one!