10 Best and Worst States to Retire 2023: WalletHub
New states claim top and bottom spots on just-released rankings of the best states for retirement
We have a new state topping WalletHub’s just-released 2023 list of the “Best States to Retire,” and conversely a new state bottoming out the rankings as well.
According to the new study—which compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: affordability, quality of life and health care using 47 key metrics—Virginia is the “Best Place to Retire” in the U.S. this year.
The Old Dominion State swapped places with Florida to take over the No. 1 spot in this year’s rankings. Virginia’s total score of 57.55 just topped Florida’s 57.43, with Colorado remaining closely behind in the third spot for the second consecutive year at 57.41.
While Virginia didn’t crack the top 10 in affordability (16th), quality of life (11th) or health care (11th), and didn’t make the top five in the lowest adjusted cost of living, annual cost of in-home services, taxpayer ranking, percentage of workforce age 65 and older, museums per capita, theaters per capita, population age 65 and older, property crime rate, or life expectancy, a solid performance in the top half of most metrics led to the top overall ranking.
Surprisingly, Wyoming came in at No. 4 with a score of 55.60, up dramatically from the 13th spot in the 2022 rankings. Top-10 rankings in “affordability” and “quality of life” spurred the rise, and Wyoming also ranked 5th in WalletHub’s “taxpayer” ranking.
Rounding out the top five is Delaware at 55.49, down one spot from 4th last year. Delaware ranked 6th in affordability, and 2nd in “taxpayer” ranking, but 33rd in quality of life.
The rest of the top 10 include No. 6 New Hampshire (55.00), No. 7 South Dakota (53.61), No. 8 Minnesota (53.50), No. 9 Idaho (53.20) and No. 10 North Dakota (53.03). See the embedded map for complete rankings.
NEXT PAGE: 10 Worst States to Retire
