Jacob... As mentioned above, you'll get a lot based off of brand...just like chevy or ford, most people have a favorite brand.
Ok so here's my 2 cents. I was in the same shoes as you since the spring. I finally found something a few weeks ago.
In my search I looked at Nitros, Tritons, Stratos and I think one Skeeter.
Nitro = Was a nice looking boat. Had a wide deck. The one I was looking at had a 90 (smaller than what I wanted). You'll also find that nitros just don't hold their value very well. Im not slamming them. Every time I go to bps I look at them. Bottom line for me, I just didn't LOVE nitros.
Triton: Love everything about them.... Love the way they look, perform and storage. I will say the deck is not as wide as I would have liked and of course I do have the gas smell in my lockers. I keep those open when Im not using. Never had an issue with chime walking.
Stratos and Skeeter... my personal feeling was neither brand knocked my pants. Off.... Both are very nice boats. At this point I had nothing but a triton in my mind.
Majority of guys in my club have tritons so Ive been in my fair share of them.
Ranger: Simple..Just out of my price range. Never looked at one.
Also mentioned above was the triton tr186....Thats a great boat IMO.
I ended up with a 2010 Triton TR-18 Pro....I got it for $14,800. Nada on that boat is about 20k. I got that deal b/c the guy also had a river boat and her preferred river fishing . Another thing was he has some property at a local lake and needed the cash to get some stuff done...
So to wrap this all up.... I would look for a triton.
One thing I will mention is you're going to find that people that are selling boats that are in the year and price range you're looking for feel that their boat is gold. Some have very nice updated electronics, new carpet and seats. But at the end of the day you still have a 2005 or what ever year boat you find.
Best of luck....
Mine is at the bottom of this page if you want to see it.