10 Best States to Retire in America

Retirement plans can be rather complex and our list of the 10 best states to retire in America might come in handy with this highly personal decision. We can’t make this decision for you, but we can certainly narrow your choice down to a few states with the best prospects for future retirees. At least if you still haven’t made the choice, that is. Even if you have, you’ll likely want to know how the state you’ve chosen fares compared to the others.

Prospective retirees aren’t exclusively interested in sunshine anymore; hence it’s safe to say Florida is not the number one destination any longer. Requirements have evolved and have become more complex in the process. Contemporary retirees have a few different points of emphasis to take into account when choosing the location in which to spend their golden years. Apart from the already mentioned warmer climate, obvious criteria also include places with a lower cost of living, lower property taxes, better healthcare, lower crime rate, and similar factors. Of course, there’s simply no place on earth, which rates are high in all of the given factors. It’s more like a complex balance of all the mentioned criteria. Furthermore, every prospective retiree values one of these factors above others, and people usually have different points of view on the matter. So, don’t get surprised if some of the northern states make an appearance on this list. Although the climate isn’t their forte, this doesn’t mean they won’t rate high in other fields. Wyoming is one of such states, and here’s Equality state’s breakdown on the list of the 10 best places to retire in Wyoming.

In order to compile our list of best states to retire in America, we have decided to heed all of the aforementioned factors excluding the weather which has always been a sort of an acquired taste in our opinion. Some people like warmer places, while others enjoy the fresher climates. Although retirees, in general, tend to choose the warmer Sun Belt states, no one can really enjoy the constant 100 plus degree summers of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Nevada deserts, for instance. Weather is a rather subjective factor which is almost impossible to rate in any conventional manner, thus we have decided to exclude it. The cost of living in all 50 states has been pulled from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s cost of living data series for the first quarter of 2016. Effective real-estate tax rates for all 50 states can be found on WalletHub’s page. Not only that, but they also disclose the median home value per state, annual taxes on an average $176,000 home, and annual taxes on a home priced at state value. As far as healthcare is concerned, healthcare index is already included in the overall cost of living indexes, so we have decided to go with the number of total active physicians per 1,000 people. The relevant data has been obtained from the AAMC 2015 State Physician Workforce Data Book. Crime rates have been obtained from the FBI. The latest available info is for the year 2014 and was published in October 2015. We have only taken the violent crime figures per 1,000 people into consideration as they include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault figures within. All four factors have been assigned points from 1 to 10, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia have been appropriately ranked. States with the best overall score have managed to find their spot on our list of the 10 best states to retire in America. Let see them! 

10. Colorado

Real-estate tax rank: 9th

Cost of living rank: 35th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 16th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 23rd

Colorado ranks in the middle, in most of the given categories, but still manages to find its spot on our list of the best states for retirement. It has 2.73 physicians per 1,000 people and 3.09 crimes per the same number of people. At the same time, Colorado is somewhat expensive overall. The cost of living index of the Centennial State amounts to 104.5, which is somewhat above the national average. However, Colorado ranks 9th overall in the effective real-estate tax rate which comes to 0.62% of the real-estate value. Annual taxes on a median $176,000 home come to $1,097, while annual taxes on a $239,400 Colorado median house come to $1,495.

9. Minnesota

Real-estate tax rank: 32nd

Cost of living rank: 28th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 14th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 10th

North Star State is slightly more expensive than Colorado in terms of real-estate taxes. The effective tax will take you 1.19% of the house value which means you’ll pay $2,091 for the $176,000 house or apartment. Minnesota’s median house doesn’t cost much more than the national average. For $185,200 worth of real-estate, you’ll spend $2,204 a year here. Moreover, Minnesota’s cost of living index amounts to 99.3, while the state boasts 2.83 physicians per 1,000 of its inhabitants. Finally, there are only 2.29 violent crimes per 1,000 people here, which makes it one of the safest states for living in the US.

8. West Virginia

Real-estate tax rank: 7th

Cost of living rank: 24th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 28th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 22nd

West Virginia ranks 8th on our list of best states to retire in America. It might not have the most physicians in the US states. Still, 2.47 of them per 1,000 people is just slightly short of the national average. 3.02 violent crimes per 1,000 people give it a slightly better rating, and so does 97.8 cost of living index. Where the Mountain State excels, though, is the real-estate tax, which is among the lowest in the country. 0.59% translates to $1,035 a year for the $176,000 home. What’s even better is the fact that the median house value in West Virginia comes to $100,200 which means the average homeowner will only spend $590 a year on property tax.

7. Idaho

Real-estate tax rank: 14th

Cost of living rank: 16th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 50th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 7th

The Gem State might rank almost dead last in the number of physicians per 1,000 people, but it compensates on that shortcoming with the very low crime rate. There are only 1.9 total physicians per 1,000 people here, but there are also only 2.12 violent crimes in the same sample as well. The cost of living index of 92.5 is among the lowest in the country, and so is the effective real-estate tax rate of 0.77%. This means that Idahoans only pay $1,354 a year for the $176,000 home. Since their homes cost $160,500 on average, they usually pay more around $1,237.

6. Mississippi

Real-estate tax rank: 15th

Cost of living rank: 1st

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 51st

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 17th

Mississippi ranks 6th on our list of best states to retire in America. It is the absolute best state for retirement and living alike if the cost of living is the most important factor to you. It ranks first in the country thanks to the 85.3 cost of living index. At the same time, the Magnolia State ranks dead last when it comes to the total number of physicians per 1,000 citizens – there are only 1.85 of them. The violent crime rate of 2.79 crimes per 1,000 people is better than the national average, and so is a 0.78% tax rate. Mississippi homeowners pay $1,377 for the $176,000 home and only $790 for the $100,800 home, which is the average real-estate price in this state.

5. Maine

Real-estate tax rank: 35th

Cost of living rank: 38th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 8th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 2nd

Surprisingly, Maine ranks 5th on our list of the 10 best states to retire in America. It’s the safest place to live in the US after Vermont (crime rate of 1.28 per 1,000 citizens), and it has 3.14 doctors per 1,000 people which is above the national average. On the other hand, Maine tends to be rather expensive. The cost of living index of 111.3 is above the national average by some extent, and property tax of 1.27% ranks in the bottom half as well. This means that homeowners in the Pine Tree State pay $2,233 for their $176,000 homes. Luckily for prospective retirees, median real-estate price in Maine is similar to the national average. $173,600 home translates to $2,206 worth of property taxes per year.

4. Virginia

Real-estate tax rank: 16th

Cost of living rank: 29th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 24th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 4th

If you’re planning on retiring in the Old Dominion, you should know that Virginia which ranks 4th on our list of best states to retire in America has some of the lowest crime rates in the country. Only 1.96 crimes per 1,000 people earn it fourth overall score in that category. A total number of physicians per 1,000 people of 2.56 agrees with the national average and cost of living index of 99.9 does the same. Property tax amounts to 0.8%, which means people pay $1,401 for their $176,000 homes here. In truth, median house price in Virginia comes to $243,500 which means you’ll need $1,941 per year for this expense.

3. Utah

Real-estate tax rank: 11th

Cost of living rank: 18th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 44th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 8th

The Beehive State doesn’t have too many physicians overall. Only 2.08 of them per 1,000 people. However, it does have the low crime rate with only 2.16 violent crimes in the same sample. The cost of living index of 93.1 means things are generally less expensive in Utah, and the real-estate tax of 0.69% follows the same pattern. Utahans spend $1,210 a year on $176,000 homes or $1,463 on $212,500 homes, which is the average here.

2. Wyoming

Real-estate tax rank: 8th

Cost of living rank: 15th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 48th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 5th

Wyoming’s tax rates are among the lowest in the country. 0.62% means people spend $1,094 for $176,000 homes, which is the national average for real-estate prices. Equality State’s median housing price amounts to $189,300 which means Wyomingites usually spend $1,179 a year on this balance-sheet item. The cost of living index of 92 allows prospective retirees to save money by living in Wyoming, but they’ll have access to only 1.97 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants which is close to the bottom of the list. Luckily, Wyoming’s violent crime rate of 1.96 crimes per 1,000 people ranks fifth overall in the US. And now, let see the number one on our list of best states to retire in America.

1. Kentucky

Real-estate tax rank: 18th

Cost of living rank: 8th

Physicians per 1,000 people rank: 37th

Violent crimes per 1,000 people rank: 6th

According to our methodology, Kentucky earns the number one spot among the 10 best states to retire in America. Only Kentucky’s total number of 2.25 physicians per 1,000 citizens is below the national average. 2.12 violent crimes per 1,000 inhabitants rank high, and so does 90.3 cost of living index. Finally, property tax of 0.84% means Kentuckians spend $1,471 worth of taxes a year on $176,000 homes. In truth, Bluegrass State’s median housing price amounts to $121,600 which means people there spend $1,018 on property taxes on average.