What states are the best and worst for retirees? WalletHub released its 2023 ranking that looked at 47 metrics related to affordability, quality of life and healthcare.
No. 1 was Virginia, with Florida and Colorado coming in closely behind. Although none of those states received the highest marks in any of the three categories, their overall totals were the highest.
The top 10 included:
1. Virginia
2. Florida
3. Colorado
4. Wyoming
5. Delaware
6. New Hampshire
7. South Dakota
8. Minnesota
9. Idaho
10. North Dakota
Helping Delaware enter the top states was its No. 2 rank for WalletHub’s Taxpayer ranking. South Dakota scored no. 2 for its percentage of the workforce aged 65 and older, while Florida made No. 5 for theaters per capita and No. 2 for its percentage of the population aged 65 & older. New Hampshire was No. 2 for the lowest property-crime rate.
WalletHub ranked these states as the worst for retirement:
41. Arkansas
42. Maryland
43. Washington
44. Illinois
45. Louisiana
46. New York
47. Oklahoma
48. Mississippi
49. New Jersey
50. Kentucky
New York’s very low rankings on taxes and adjusted cost of living hurt its performance. Arkansas scored poorly on museums per capita. It also scored low on theaters per capita, as did Mississippi. Washington had high costs for in-home services and high property-crime rates.
The five states with the highest adjusted cost of living were Alaska, New York, California and Massachusetts.
