Top 10 Best (and Worst) States to Retire

Could this really be Wyoming?
Could this really be Wyoming?

We love our Hawkeye friends, but Iowa at No. 4 on the list of best states to retire? Come ON. But when you take affordability, quality of life and healthcare into account, it ranks where it should for retirement.

WalletHub is out with its list of the best and worst states for retirement, and while there were some surprises (Delaware, Wisconsin) and some expected (Rhode Island at dead last, thanks to taxes), all were interesting in their own way.

Weather, number of museums, golf courses—there seemed to be some outdated stereotypes in the methodology—were all included in the calculations.

“Even in the most affordable areas of the U.S., most retirees cannot rely on Social Security or pension checks alone to cover all of their living expenses,” according to the site.

“Social Security benefits increase progressively with local inflation, but they replace only about 40 percent of the amount you earned if you were an average worker,” it added, citing the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

With that in mind, here are the results:

Top 10 Best States to Retire

1   Florida

2   Wyoming

3   South Dakota

4   Iowa

5   Colorado

6   Idaho

7   South Carolina

8   Nevada

9   Delaware

10  Wisconsin

Top 10 Worst States to Retire

41   New York

42   Arkansas

43   Kentucky

44   Vermont

45   New Mexico

46   New Jersey

47   Hawaii

48   Connecticut

49   Alaska

50   Rhode Island

John Sullivan
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With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.

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