By Chris Melore
Retirement is the goal for most people after a long career. However, the biggest question usually is: where can you live to make the most of your savings? A new poll is revealing where older Americans can get the most bang for their buck when their professional careers end. While researchers found plenty of surprises among some of the trendy retirement spots throughout the United States, the stereotypical destination for retirees still tops the list: Florida.
According to the survey by WalletHub, Florida still ranks as the number one state to retire in. The Sunshine State beats out the competition with its relatively low taxes for retired people and lower costs for senior health care services.
Researchers note that Florida residents also enjoy the second-most shoreline miles of any state, giving every retiree a chance to enjoy a relaxing day at a local beach. All of that helps Florida also have one of the lowest death rates among Americans 65 and older in the country. Although Florida is number one for retirees, the researchers do note that the state is still expensive to live in, carrying a generally high cost of living compared to other states on WalletHub’s list.
“Being retired brings freedom, but it also naturally is a time of financial constraint, with many seniors living on a fixed income. To make the most of your retirement savings, you should retire in a state where the cost of living and tax rates are friendly to retirees, if you have the resources to. You should also consider factors like the quality of the state’s healthcare system and the abundance of activities that you enjoy,” says WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe in a media release.
Rounding out the top five states to retire in are Colorado (2nd), Virginia (3rd), Delaware (4th), and Wyoming (5th). Trendy retirement destinations like Arizona (14th), Hawaii (26th), and Texas (32nd) finished further down the list than some might expect. In the case of Hawaii, retirees end up paying dearly for living in paradise. Hawaii had the highest adjusted cost of living of any state in the nation. Arizona has the third-lowest number of seniors still in the workforce, and Texas is actually home to the third-lowest percentage of seniors based on their state’s population.
At the opposite end of the retirement spectrum, the survey ranks Kentucky as the worst state to retire in. The state ranks near the bottom in terms of both health care (44th) and quality of life (41st) scores. Rounding out the bottom five include New Jersey (49th), Mississippi (48th), Rhode Island (47th), and Oklahoma (46th).
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Despite both being among the worst five states when it comes to cost of living, New York and California are literally on opposite sides of the country on this poll. New York just misses out on being in the bottom five, ranking 44th. New York is let down by its last-place score for affordability. Meanwhile, California managed to overcome high taxes and an expensive cost of living to still finish 17th on the 2024 list.
Best & Worst States to Retire
| Overall Rank | State | Total Score | Affordability Rank | Quality of Life Rank | Health Care Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 62.19 | 4 | 1 | 29 |
| 2 | Colorado | 61.00 | 14 | 27 | 3 |
| 3 | Virginia | 60.85 | 11 | 13 | 11 |
| 4 | Delaware | 59.57 | 3 | 34 | 22 |
| 5 | Wyoming | 59.04 | 7 | 7 | 37 |
| 6 | Idaho | 58.46 | 9 | 24 | 24 |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 57.75 | 28 | 8 | 5 |
| 8 | Minnesota | 57.53 | 39 | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | Montana | 57.17 | 21 | 12 | 16 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 56.28 | 35 | 2 | 8 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 55.98 | 2 | 38 | 39 |
| 12 | Utah | 55.45 | 18 | 20 | 28 |
| 13 | South Dakota | 55.01 | 29 | 23 | 10 |
| 14 | Arizona | 54.82 | 19 | 33 | 25 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 54.77 | 15 | 15 | 38 |
| 16 | Massachusetts | 54.66 | 44 | 3 | 2 |
| 17 | California | 54.59 | 33 | 22 | 9 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 54.43 | 31 | 21 | 14 |
| 19 | North Dakota | 54.03 | 24 | 29 | 21 |
| 20 | Missouri | 53.80 | 22 | 32 | 30 |
| 21 | Michigan | 52.75 | 27 | 14 | 32 |
| 22 | Nebraska | 52.73 | 38 | 18 | 6 |
| 23 | Maine | 52.27 | 40 | 5 | 15 |
| 24 | Alabama | 52.10 | 1 | 44 | 49 |
| 25 | Ohio | 51.90 | 30 | 11 | 36 |
| 26 | Hawaii | 51.70 | 37 | 28 | 7 |
| 27 | Alaska | 51.05 | 34 | 37 | 18 |
| 28 | Iowa | 51.00 | 36 | 9 | 31 |
| 29 | Kansas | 50.99 | 26 | 31 | 33 |
| 30 | Georgia | 50.83 | 10 | 39 | 41 |
| 31 | New Mexico | 50.44 | 20 | 45 | 35 |
| 32 | Texas | 50.23 | 25 | 36 | 34 |
| 33 | Nevada | 50.19 | 8 | 43 | 43 |
| 34 | Connecticut | 50.06 | 45 | 26 | 4 |
| 35 | Indiana | 49.84 | 23 | 30 | 40 |
| 36 | Vermont | 49.58 | 48 | 6 | 13 |
| 37 | Oregon | 49.10 | 41 | 25 | 19 |
| 38 | Maryland | 48.97 | 43 | 19 | 17 |
| 39 | Tennessee | 48.41 | 6 | 48 | 46 |
| 40 | West Virginia | 48.07 | 5 | 40 | 50 |
| 41 | Illinois | 47.37 | 47 | 16 | 26 |
| 42 | Arkansas | 47.28 | 13 | 49 | 42 |
| 43 | Washington | 47.19 | 45 | 17 | 27 |
| 44 | New York | 46.49 | 50 | 10 | 12 |
| 45 | Louisiana | 45.88 | 16 | 46 | 47 |
| 46 | Oklahoma | 45.57 | 17 | 47 | 45 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 45.20 | 42 | 42 | 23 |
| 48 | Mississippi | 44.01 | 12 | 50 | 48 |
| 49 | New Jersey | 43.69 | 49 | 35 | 20 |
| 50 | Kentucky | 43.30 | 32 | 41 | 44 |
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.
Survey methodology:
In order to identify the most retirement-friendly states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Affordability, 2) Quality of Life, and 3) Health Care.
Researchers evaluated those dimensions using 46 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for retirement. The team then calculated each state’s weighted average across all metrics to determine its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Source: Study Finds
Chris Melore has been a writer, researcher, editor, and producer in the New York-area since 2006. He won a local Emmy award for his work in sports television in 2011.
Image: Pixabay
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