Idaho may not be where the majority of Americans envision spending their retirement, but the state may offer friendlier conditions to retirees than any other state in the union, according to a new analysis that ranks US states in accordance with their performance on retirement-related factors. Vermont also made the top 10 and was the only state in the Northeast near the top of the list. New Hampshire was 13th and New York 39th.
Conversely, retirees who are considering Louisiana for their home may want to take a second look at their options, as this state ranks last of the 50 states in this analysis.
The 2013 MoneyRates.com Best States to Retire and Worst States to Retire features ranked each of the 50 U.S. states by examining a variety of factors in each state, including:
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Senior population
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Economic factors, including cost of’ living, taxes and unemployment
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Violent and property crime rates
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Climate
‘·’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Life expectancies at age 65
While this analysis favored some traditional retirement havens, such as Florida (No. 6) and Arizona (No. 7), it also captured strong performances from some less-obvious retirement destinations, such as No. 1 finisher Idaho, Iowa (No. 2) and South Dakota (No. 4). The range of places on the list gives retirees a wide variety of destinations to consider, says Richard Barrington, CFA, senior financial analyst for MoneyRates.com.
‘A comfortable retirement isn’t always about warm weather and beachfront property,’ says Barrington. ‘Freedom from crime, low property taxes and a reasonable cost of living may be more important to some people. We think the diversity of our list gives people a true range of choices to consider.’
On the other end of the rankings, Louisiana’s poor finish was mainly because of its high crime rates and low senior life expectancies. Barrington says that these problems may help explain why so few seniors inhabit the state today.
‘Notably, Louisiana has an unusually small proportion of seniors among its population,’ says Barrington. ‘That seems to confirm that seniors don’t typically find it a great place to retire.’
As for the other places on the worst list, Barrington says that these locales aren’t necessarily bad for retirees, but that prospective residents should examine each state’s downsides carefully before making committing to a move.
‘It’s not to say that people can’t be happy retiring in these bottom-ranked states,’ says Barrington. ‘It’s just that there are some prominent flaws that older people should be aware of before choosing those areas as places to retire.’
Here are the top states in MoneyRates.com’s Best States to Retire 2013, starting with No. 1. Please note that there are 11 states on the list instead of the usual 10 because of a tie for 10th’ place:
1. Idaho
Best areas in the study: Crime (No. 1 in the nation), Economic factors (No. 4 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Climate (No. 31 in the nation), Life expectancies (No. 24 in the nation)
If you are looking for personal safety and security, Idaho might be your spot. Idaho had the best scores for crime when both property and violent crimes were considered, and it also rated in the top five for economic conditions. As you might expect, Idaho's one weakness was climate -- annual precipitation isn't bad, but the temperatures are often below what most would consider comfortable. Overall though, there must be something to the notion that Idaho is a good place to retire: Idaho had one of the nation's fastest-growing senior populations between 2000 and 2010.
2. Iowa
Best areas in the study: Crime (No. 10 in the nation), Economic factors and Climate (both at No. 12 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Senior population (No. 24 in the nation), Life expectancies (No. 18 in the nation)
Iowa only made the top 10 in one area (crime), but it earned above-average scores in every category. This all-around consistency allowed Iowa to edge out Hawaii by the narrowest of margins.
3. Hawaii
Best areas in the study: Life expectancies (No. 1 in the nation), Senior population (No. 5 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Climate (No. 25 in the nation), Economic factors and Crime (both at No. 23 in the nation)
Hawaii has a relatively large proportion of older residents, and the growth rate of this demographic is above average as well. One reason is that people live longer there -- Hawaii ranks at the top for both overall and healthy life expectancy. Two things to watch out for though: Hawaii has the highest cost of living of any state, and the most precipitation.
4. South Dakota
Best areas in the study: Life expectancies (No. 8 in the nation), Crime (No. 13 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Climate (No. 35 in the nation), Senior population (No. 19 in the nation)
South Dakota is one of the top states for life expectancies, and it had decent rankings for everything else -- except climate. It's not especially wet there, but it is very cold.
5. Oregon
Best areas in the study: Climate (No. 5 in the nation), Senior population (No. 9 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Economic factors (No. 37 in the nation), Crime (No. 26 in the nation)
An above-average and relatively fast-growing senior population show that many people are choosing this state as a retirement destination, perhaps because of its fairly moderate climate. Its weakest point is the economy -- the cost of living is above-average, which hurts especially since the job market in Oregon is struggling.
6. Florida
Best areas in the study: Senior population and Life expectancies (both at No. 3 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Crime (No. 41 in the nation), Economic factors (No. 31 in the nation)
Florida continues to attract large numbers of retirees, and people there tend to live longer than in nearly any other state. If you choose Florida, just pick your spot carefully -- it has one of the highest overall rates of violent crime in the nation.
7. (tie) Arizona
Best areas in the study: Senior population (No. 2 in the nation), Life expectancies (No. 5 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Crime (No. 42 in the nation), Economic factors (No. 36 in the nation)
Like Florida, Arizona is a warm-weather location that has attracted many retirees and seems to be healthy based on its residents' high life expectancies. Also like Florida, Arizona is plagued by high crime rates, though in Arizona property crime is a bigger problem than violent crime.
7. (tie) North Dakota
Best areas in the study: Crime (No. 3 in the nation), Economic factors (No. 7)
Worst areas in the study: Climate (No. 44 in the nation), Senior population (No. 31 in the nation)
It may be odd to see a cold-weather state like North Dakota tied with a traditional retirement haven like Arizona. However, if you don't mind bundling up, North Dakota's strong economy and low crime rates make it worth considering.
9. Vermont
Best areas in the study: Crime (No. 5 in the nation), Senior population (No. 7 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Climate (No. 41 in the nation), Economic factors (No. 35 in the nation)
Low crime rates and long life expectancies make Vermont welcoming to retirees. There must be something to it -- Vermont has one of the highest concentrations of senior citizens of any state.
10. (tie) Minnesota
Best areas in the study: Life expectancies (No. 4 in the nation), Crime (No. 12 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Senior population (No. 38 in the nation), Economic factors and Climate (both at No. 25 in the nation)
This is another state where you have to overcome some very cold weather, but the people there must find it healthy -- life expectancies in Minnesota are well above average.
10. (tie) Utah
Best areas in the study: Economic factors (No. 3 in the nation), Life expectancies (No. 8 in the nation)
Worst areas in the study: Climate (No. 45 in the nation), Senior population (No. 31 in the nation)
Utah got outstanding scores for economic factors, and its crime rates are relatively low while its life expectancies are fairly high.
Now that you know MoneyRates.com's picks, what are yours? If you are retired, what factors did you consider in choosing a retirement destination? What do you like or regret about your decision?
Here are the worst states in MoneyRates.com’s Worst States to Retire 2013, starting with the last-place finisher in the survey:
1.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Louisiana
2.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ (tie) Mississippi
2.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ (tie) Nevada
4.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Alaska
5.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Illinois
6.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Tennessee
7.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Massachusetts
8.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ (tie) New Jersey
8.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ (tie) Rhode Island
10.’ ‘ Georgia
For the more on the best and worst states and the survey’s methodology, please see MoneyRates.com’s’ Best States to Retire 2013’ and’ Worst States to Retire 2013, as well as the’ full 50-state rankings.
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Foster City, Calif. (PRWEB) October 29, 2013’ - MoneyRates.com
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