Best & Worst States to Retire: All 50 States Ranked

Best and worst states to retire

Maine ranks first among the 50 states for retirement, with 69.4 points out of 100, and Alaska ranks last, with 34.4. The score combines eight measures that matter to retirees: living costs, property taxes, safety, life expectancy, poverty among older adults, health care workers, the share of older residents and climate.

The weights reflect common retirement priorities, but personal ones matter more: family nearby, a favorite climate or a particular hospital can outweigh any score. State taxes on pensions and Social Security are not scored; see states with no income tax.

Data years: 1991–2020, 2022, 2024, 2025Edition 2026-10-23How the score works

50 states; DC is excluded. A score compares states with each other; it is not financial or relocation advice.

Score out of 100. Rank range: the highest and lowest rank the state reaches when any one of the eight measures is left out.
Rank	State	Score	Rank range	Strongest point	Weakest point
1	Maine	69.4	#1–6	Low violent crime	Cold climate
2	North Dakota	68.0	#1–14	Low living costs	Cold climate
3	Iowa	67.9	#1–17	Low living costs	Few health care workers
4	Hawaii	66.5	#1–25	Low property taxes	High living costs
5	Idaho	66.4	#3–12	Low property taxes	Few health care workers
6	South Dakota	66.0	#3–24	Low living costs	Cold climate
7	Vermont	65.3	#3–17	Many older residents	High property taxes
8	West Virginia	64.9	#1–26	Many health care workers	Short life expectancy
9	Nebraska	64.7	#4–23	Low living costs	High property taxes
10	Wyoming	64.1	#2–19	Low violent crime	Few health care workers
11	Minnesota	63.4	#8–29	Long life expectancy	Cold climate
12	Pennsylvania	63.2	#8–22	Low violent crime	High property taxes
13	Delaware	62.2	#9–24	Low property taxes	High living costs
14	Mississippi	62.1	#2–37	Low living costs	Short life expectancy
15	Florida	61.8	#3–29	Warm climate	High living costs
16	Alabama	61.6	#4–35	Low property taxes	Short life expectancy
17	Wisconsin	61.5	#11–28	Low violent crime	Few health care workers
18	Montana	61.3	#7–26	Many older residents	Cold climate
19	New Hampshire	60.8	#4–33	Low poverty among older adults	High living costs
20	Connecticut	60.5	#6–34	Low violent crime	High property taxes
21	Indiana	60.4	#14–31	Low violent crime	Few health care workers
22	Kentucky	60.2	#5–36	Low living costs	Short life expectancy
23	South Carolina	60.2	#11–29	Low property taxes	Few health care workers
24	Missouri	60.1	#13–34	Low living costs	Short life expectancy
25	Ohio	59.8	#16–32	Low living costs	High property taxes
26	North Carolina	59.7	#19–30	Low property taxes	Few health care workers
27	Kansas	59.3	#12–38	Low living costs	Few health care workers
28	Arkansas	58.5	#8–45	Low living costs	Short life expectancy
29	Utah	58.4	#7–37	Low poverty among older adults	Few older residents
30	Rhode Island	58.4	#11–38	Low violent crime	Few health care workers
31	Virginia	57.8	#13–35	Low violent crime	Few health care workers
32	Arizona	57.6	#15–36	Low property taxes	Few health care workers
33	Oklahoma	57.0	#15–46	Low living costs	Short life expectancy
34	Tennessee	55.6	#22–44	Low property taxes	Short life expectancy
35	Louisiana	55.4	#17–48	Low living costs	High poverty among older adults
36	Massachusetts	54.7	#12–43	Long life expectancy	High living costs
37	Colorado	53.7	#25–43	Low property taxes	Few health care workers
38	Oregon	53.2	#27–41	Long life expectancy	Few health care workers
39	Georgia	53.0	#34–43	Warm climate	Few health care workers
40	Michigan	52.9	#36–43	Many older residents	Few health care workers
41	Maryland	51.0	#28–45	Long life expectancy	High living costs
42	Washington	50.9	#21–46	Low poverty among older adults	Few health care workers
43	Nevada	50.8	#38–46	Low property taxes	Few health care workers
44	Illinois	49.7	#33–46	Low violent crime	High property taxes
45	New Jersey	49.7	#19–48	Long life expectancy	High property taxes
46	Texas	48.4	#39–47	Warm climate	Few health care workers
47	New Mexico	46.6	#39–49	Low property taxes	High poverty among older adults
48	California	44.4	#33–49	Long life expectancy	High living costs
49	New York	43.1	#41–49	Long life expectancy	High living costs
50	Alaska	34.4	#50	Low poverty among older adults	Cold climate

Score out of 100. Rank range: the highest and lowest rank the state reaches when any one of the eight measures is left out.

Rank

State

Score

Rank range

Strongest point

Weakest point

Maine

69.4

#1–6

Low violent crime

Cold climate

North Dakota

68.0

#1–14

Low living costs

Cold climate

Iowa

67.9

#1–17

Low living costs

Few health care workers

Hawaii

66.5

#1–25

Low property taxes

High living costs

Idaho

66.4

#3–12

Low property taxes

Few health care workers

South Dakota

66.0

#3–24

Low living costs

Cold climate

Vermont

65.3

#3–17

Many older residents

High property taxes

West Virginia

64.9

#1–26

Many health care workers

Short life expectancy

Nebraska

64.7

#4–23

Low living costs

High property taxes

Wyoming

64.1

#2–19

Low violent crime

Few health care workers

Minnesota

63.4

#8–29

Long life expectancy

Cold climate

Pennsylvania

63.2

#8–22

Low violent crime

High property taxes

Delaware

62.2

#9–24

Low property taxes

High living costs

Mississippi

62.1

#2–37

Low living costs

Short life expectancy

Florida

61.8

#3–29

Warm climate

High living costs

Alabama

61.6

#4–35

Low property taxes

Short life expectancy

Wisconsin

61.5

#11–28

Low violent crime

Few health care workers

Montana

61.3

#7–26

Many older residents

Cold climate

New Hampshire

60.8

#4–33

Low poverty among older adults

High living costs

Connecticut

60.5

#6–34

Low violent crime

High property taxes

Indiana

60.4

#14–31

Low violent crime

Few health care workers

Kentucky

60.2

#5–36

Low living costs

Short life expectancy

South Carolina

60.2

#11–29

Low property taxes

Few health care workers

Missouri

60.1

#13–34

Low living costs

Short life expectancy

Ohio

59.8

#16–32

Low living costs

High property taxes

North Carolina

59.7

#19–30

Low property taxes

Few health care workers

Kansas

59.3

#12–38

Low living costs

Few health care workers

Arkansas

58.5

#8–45

Low living costs

Short life expectancy

Utah

58.4

#7–37

Low poverty among older adults

Few older residents

Rhode Island

58.4

#11–38

Low violent crime

Few health care workers

Virginia

57.8

#13–35

Low violent crime

Few health care workers

Arizona

57.6

#15–36

Low property taxes

Few health care workers

Oklahoma

57.0

#15–46

Low living costs

Short life expectancy

Tennessee

55.6

#22–44

Low property taxes

Short life expectancy

Louisiana

55.4

#17–48

Low living costs

High poverty among older adults

Massachusetts

54.7

#12–43

Long life expectancy

High living costs

Colorado

53.7

#25–43

Low property taxes

Few health care workers

Oregon

53.2

#27–41

Long life expectancy

Few health care workers

Georgia

53.0

#34–43

Warm climate

Few health care workers

Michigan

52.9

#36–43

Many older residents

Few health care workers

Maryland

51.0

#28–45

Long life expectancy

High living costs

Washington

50.9

#21–46

Low poverty among older adults

Few health care workers

Nevada

50.8

#38–46

Low property taxes

Few health care workers

Illinois

49.7

#33–46

Low violent crime

High property taxes

New Jersey

49.7

#19–48

Long life expectancy

High property taxes

Texas

48.4

#39–47

Warm climate

Few health care workers

New Mexico

46.6

#39–49

Low property taxes

High poverty among older adults

California

44.4

#33–49

Long life expectancy

High living costs

New York

43.1

#41–49

Long life expectancy

High living costs

Alaska

34.4

#50

Low poverty among older adults

Cold climate

How the score works

Each measure is rescaled from 0 to 100 across the 50 states: the best state on that measure gets 100 and the worst gets 0. The overall score is the weighted average of those eight scores, so a state that led on every measure would score 100.

Measure	Weight	Better when	Year and source
Regional price parity	20	Lower	2024 · BEA RPP
Effective property tax rate	10	Lower	2024 · Census ACS
Violent crime rate	15	Lower	2025 · FBI UCR
Life expectancy	15	Higher	2022 · CDC NCHS
Poverty among adults 65 and older	10	Lower	2024 · Census ACS
Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations	10	Higher	2024 · Census ACS
Population age 65 and older	10	Higher	2024 · Census ACS
Average temperature	10	Higher	1991–2020 average · NOAA nClimDiv

Living costs carry the most weight because most retirement incomes are fixed. Average temperature is scored as “warmer is better”, a common retirement preference but not a universal one; the rank range shows how much each state depends on it.

How stable is each rank?

A composite depends on its choices. To show how much, we recalculated the ranking eight times, leaving out one measure each time. The rank range in the table shows the best and worst result for each state. For 1 of the 50 states, the rank moves by two places or fewer, so their position does not hinge on any single measure. A wide range means one measure matters a lot for that state.

What the ranking leaves out

State taxes on retirement income, the cost of long-term care and the quality of particular hospitals are not scored, because each needs more detail than a single statewide figure. The measures come from different periods, from the 1991–2020 climate average to 2025 crime figures, because each agency publishes on its own schedule. Survey margins of error are not carried into the score.

We publish this ranking once per data edition and record any change to the weights in the publication log.

Best and worst states to retire

The 10 best states to retire

The 10 worst states to retire

All 50 states ranked

How the score works

How stable is each rank?

What the ranking leaves out

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