Vermont Business Magazine Vermont is in the middle of the pack and South Dakota is the best state in which to retire, according to a new Bankrate.com report. Utah, Idaho, New Hampshire and Florida comprise the rest of the top five.Vermont was ranked26th-best state(tied with Wisconsin).The study examined 7 categories: cost of living, taxes, health care quality, weather, crime, cultural vitality and well-being. Vermont did well in cultural vitality (#1), health care quality (#2), well-being (#2) and crime (#3). However, it was dragged down by bottom-10 rankings in cost of living (#41), weather (#44) and taxes (#47).
The study examined seven categories (weightings in parentheses): cost of living (20%), taxes (20%), health care quality (15%), weather (15%), crime (10%), cultural vitality (10%) and well-being (10%).
South Dakota placed first in well-being, second in taxes, 10thin cultural vitality and 12thin health care quality. Its only bottom-half ranking was the weather (#38).
“You need asophisticated understanding of what will make you happyin retirement,” said Bankrate.com analyst Taylor Tepper. “Yes, South Dakotans enjoy a low tax burden, but theyare also more satisfied with their lives than anyoneelse. They savor theirday-to-day lives, feelfinancially secure and have a strong sense of community. Residents in the other top states feel similarly. These attributes may better determine what makes for a satisfying retirement than, say, warm weather.”
Utah, Idaho and New Hampshire were also dinged for cold, snowy winters, but they fared very well in the other categories. Utah scored top-10s for taxes, well-being and health care quality. Idaho did particularly well in crime, health care quality and well-being. New Hampshire had more top-10 rankings than any other state (crime, health care quality, taxes, well-being and cultural vitality). But besides the weather, it also rated poorly in the cost of living metric.
Florida is extremely popular among retirees for its warm weather and low taxes. A relatively high crime rate and a subpar grade for health care quality kept the Sunshine State from an even higher ranking.
Among other traditionally popular retirement destinations, Hawaii also did well (#11 overall), but Arizona (#29) and Nevada (#42) did not. The main culprits in Arizona’s case were low ratings for cultural vitality and crime. Nevada was dragged down by health care quality, well-being and crime.
The study found New York is the worst state to retire. The Empire State landed in the bottom 10 of three categories: cost of living (#50), taxes (#49) and health care quality (#41).
New Mexico and Maryland tied for the second-worst spot on the list. New Mexico’s main drawbacks were crime and health care quality; Maryland’s were cost of living and taxes.
Louisiana came in fourth from the bottom and Arkansas was fifth-worst, largely owing to the same four factors (well-being, health care quality, cultural vitality and crime).
| STATE | OVERALL RANK | COST OF LIVING | CRIME | CULTURE | HEALTH CARE QUALITY | TAXES | WEATHER | WELL-BEING |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: Bankrate’s 2018 “Best and worst states for retirement” study | ||||||||
| South Dakota | 1 | 19 | 21 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 38 | 1 |
| Utah | 2 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 32 | 9 |
| Idaho | 3 | 12 | 4 | 31 | 8 | 20 | 41 | 8 |
| New Hampshire | 4 | 43 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 43 | 7 |
| Florida | 5 | 27 | 33 | 26 | 36 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| Montana | 6 | 23 | 26 | 7 | 19 | 6 | 45 | 10 |
| North Carolina | 6 | 12 | 29 | 40 | 30 | 11 | 12 | 19 |
| Wyoming | 8 | 28 | 9 | 16 | 22 | 1 | 46 | 16 |
| Nebraska | 9 | 17 | 18 | 25 | 12 | 25 | 29 | 17 |
| Mississippi | 10 | 1 | 23 | 48 | 26 | 24 | 5 | 47 |
| Hawaii | 11 | 48 | 35 | 3 | 17 | 27 | 1 | 3 |
| Massachusetts | 12 | 46 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 34 | 11 |
| Virginia | 13 | 30 | 4 | 17 | 24 | 31 | 16 | 18 |
| Michigan | 14 | 4 | 23 | 27 | 32 | 12 | 40 | 32 |
| Missouri | 15 | 3 | 41 | 28 | 35 | 16 | 17 | 39 |
| Iowa | 16 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 12 | 40 | 33 | 21 |
| Colorado | 17 | 35 | 28 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 37 | 6 |
| Texas | 17 | 20 | 36 | 43 | 44 | 13 | 4 | 13 |
| Delaware | 19 | 32 | 40 | 24 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 40 |
| North Dakota | 20 | 29 | 17 | 14 | 8 | 30 | 49 | 5 |
| Tennessee | 21 | 7 | 45 | 36 | 46 | 14 | 13 | 29 |
| Maine | 22 | 39 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 28 | 47 | 24 |
| Indiana | 22 | 9 | 30 | 42 | 38 | 9 | 25 | 42 |
| Alabama | 24 | 6 | 44 | 47 | 17 | 35 | 7 | 38 |
| Kansas | 25 | 14 | 31 | 34 | 32 | 23 | 19 | 33 |
| Vermont | 26 | 41 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 47 | 44 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 26 | 21 | 15 | 19 | 6 | 38 | 42 | 27 |
| Minnesotta | 28 | 26 | 11 | 23 | 1 | 46 | 48 | 4 |
| Arizona | 29 | 34 | 43 | 39 | 27 | 21 | 11 | 15 |
| Kentucky | 30 | 9 | 10 | 46 | 39 | 33 | 15 | 45 |
| Pennsylvania | 31 | 31 | 12 | 30 | 21 | 26 | 30 | 34 |
| New Jersey | 32 | 42 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 50 | 24 | 28 |
| West Virginia | 33 | 18 | 19 | 38 | 43 | 19 | 22 | 50 |
| Rhode Island | 34 | 40 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 41 | 28 | 41 |
| Connecticut | 35 | 44 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 44 | 31 | 20 |
| Alaska | 36 | 44 | 49 | 5 | 27 | 3 | 50 | 25 |
| Georgia | 37 | 15 | 38 | 49 | 40 | 36 | 6 | 31 |
| Ohio | 38 | 5 | 20 | 33 | 36 | 45 | 26 | 44 |
| Oregon | 39 | 37 | 27 | 22 | 42 | 10 | 35 | 35 |
| Oklahoma | 40 | 7 | 41 | 44 | 47 | 32 | 10 | 46 |
| South Carolina | 41 | 23 | 46 | 41 | 27 | 37 | 8 | 37 |
| Nevada | 42 | 33 | 38 | 32 | 47 | 5 | 27 | 43 |
| Washington | 43 | 38 | 37 | 29 | 34 | 17 | 36 | 22 |
| Illinois | 44 | 36 | 25 | 35 | 30 | 29 | 23 | 36 |
| California | 45 | 49 | 32 | 20 | 19 | 48 | 14 | 14 |
| Arkansas | 46 | 2 | 47 | 50 | 50 | 39 | 9 | 48 |
| Louisiana | 47 | 16 | 48 | 45 | 44 | 42 | 3 | 49 |
| Maryland | 48 | 47 | 33 | 21 | 24 | 43 | 20 | 30 |
| New Mexico | 48 | 22 | 50 | 37 | 49 | 34 | 21 | 26 |
| New York | 50 | 50 | 13 | 13 | 41 | 49 | 39 | 23 |
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