Hollywood has its awards season; we have our “best places to retire” season—and we’re right in the middle of it.
While we’ve recently covered new lists of the “most affordable places to retire overseas” and the “2022 World’s Best Place to Retire,” the latest list to hit our radar ranks all 50 states in terms of which are the best for retirement.
To determine “2022’s Best States to Retire,” WalletHub compared the 50 states across 47 key indicators of retirement-friendliness. The analysis, released Jan. 24, examines affordability, health-related factors and overall quality of life. Affordability was weighted with 40 total points available compared to 30 for quality of life and health care.
At first glance, this list might explain why so many people migrate from New York and New Jersey—which finish at or near the bottom of the WalletHub rankings—down to top-ranked Florida when it’s time to retire.
While New York and New Jersey finish last and next-to-last in the “affordability” rankings, Florida ranks fourth in affordability and fifth for quality of life, helping it nab the top spot overall despite ranking 27th for health care.
Mississippi was lodged in between last-ranked New Jersey and 48th-ranked New York at the bottom of the rankings.
Here’s a closer look at the top and bottom five states in WalletHub’s new rankings, and you can check out the full rankings in the chart below.
Top 5
1. Florida: No stranger to top spots on “best places to retire” lists no matter the source, the Sunshine State earned the top spot (with a score of 59.41) on the strength of ranking fourth in affordability and fifth for quality of life. Notably, Florida also had the highest percentage of population age 65 and older of any state (20.1%, which is 1.9 times higher than in Utah, where it is lowest at 10.8%).
2. Virginia: Virginia is for Lovers… and also retirees, apparently. Virginia took the second overall spot in the rankings with a score of 59.32 thanks to ranking ninth in affordability, seventh in quality of life and 13th for health care.
3. Colorado: Colorado finished third overall with a score of 59.27 by placing fourth for health care, 11th for affordability and 21st for quality of life.
4. Delaware: Delaware had a composite score of 56.34 to finish fourth overall. Delaware ranked sixth for affordability, 35th for quality of life and 15th for health care. Delaware also finished second behind Alaska in WalletHub’s “best” rankings for taxpayers.
5. Minnesota: Despite ranking a distant 36th in the affordability rankings, finishing first in health care and third for quality of life lifted Minnesota to the fifth spot overall with a composite score of 55.85. Minnesota also tied for fourth in WalletHub’s “Highest Life Expectancy” rankings.
Bottom 5
46. Oklahoma: With a composite score of 43.97, Oklahoma finished near the bottom for retirement thanks to placing 44th for both quality of life and health care, and 21st for affordability.
47. Kentucky: Kentucky’s composite score of 42.49 is the result of finishing 47th for health care, 42nd for quality of life, and 26th for affordability. Kentucky also ranked 47th for life expectancy.
48. New York: Affordability absolutely crushed New York in these rankings, with the Empire State ranked the least-affordable state in the U.S. overwhelming its solid rankings for quality of life (12th) and health care (7th). New York also ranked 48th in WalletHub’s ranking for adjusted cost of living and taxpayers. On the plus side, New York was top-ranked for “most museums per capita” and tied for first for “most theaters per capita,” and ranked third for highest life expectancy. New York’s composite score was 42.47.
49. Mississippi: Ranking last and next to last in quality of life and health care sealed Mississippi’s fate, despite being 12th for affordability. Its composite score was 41.17. Mississippi did have the lowest adjusted cost of living among the 50 states (85.87, which is 2.1 times lower than in Hawaii, where it is highest at 182.59), but also ranked 49th for life expectancy, above only West Virginia.
50. New Jersey: Like New York, the weighted “affordability” category was the main factor behind WalletHub ranking New Jersey the “Worst State to Retire in 2022.” New Jersey ranked 49th for affordability, 34th for quality of life and 28th in health care, leading to a composite score of 40.27.
HOVER OVER STATE FOR OVERALL RANKING:
SEE ALSO:
• ‘Best Places to Retire’ Rankings Dominated by Two States
• 2022’s 4 Most Affordable Places to Retire Overseas
• 2022 World’s Best Place to Retire Is…
• 4 Very Different ‘No. 1 Places to Retire’
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.