Best and worst states for retirement
Active senior couple on a walk in a beautiful autumn nature.
While many Americans already have plenty of worries when it comes to retirement – whether it be their personal financial well-being or the uncertainty of Social Security’s future – location sometimes get overlooked when it could be key.
According to a new report by Bankrate.com, finding the right state to live in could be the dividing factor on whether your retirement days are happy ones.
To determine the best and worst states, analysts looked at seven relevant features in the life of a retiree, and used government and experts sources to compare states against one another. The categories examined included: cost of living (20%), taxes (20%), health care quality (15%), weather (15%), crime (10%), cultural vitality (10%) and well-being (10%).
The end result found South Dakota to be the best place to retire due to ranking first on overall well-being and second for low taxes. Meanwhile, New York was the worst, driven by its high cost of living and high taxes.
Here are the best and worst states to retire, according to Bankrate.com:
1. South Dakota
2. Utah
3. Idaho
4. New Hampshire
5. Florida
6. Montana
7. North Carolina
8. Wyoming
9. Nebraska
10. Mississippi
11. Hawaii
12. Massachusetts
13. Virginia
14. Michigan
15. Missouri
16. Iowa
17. Colorado
18. Texas
19. Delaware
20. North Dakota
21. Tennessee
22. Maine
23. Indiana
24. Alabama
25. Kansas
26. Vermont
27. Wisconsin
28. Minnesota
29. Arizona
30. Kentucky
31. Pennsylvania
32. New Jersey
33. West Virginia
34. Rhode Island
35. Connecticut
36. Alaska
37. Georgia
38. Ohio
39. Oregon
40. Oklahoma
41. South Carolina
42. Nevada
43. Washington
44. Illinois
45. California
46. Arkansas
47. Louisiana
48. Maryland
49. New Mexico
50. New York
