Which State Is The Best For Retirement? Idaho, Utah Near Top Of Rankings

When people are done with their professional lives and want to spend the rest of their days lounging around, there are almost too many options to consider. Anyone who wants to spend their retirement years away from home has a ton of research to do, but consumer financial service company Bankrate put together a ranking of all U.S. 50 states to help decide where to go after their life’s work is done.

The states are ranked according to seven different categories: Cost of living, crime, culture, healthcare quality, taxes, weather and general resident well-being. All of these categories then factor into a final ranking out of 50. The best state for retirees, according to Bankrate’s list, might be a bit surprising.

South Dakota came out on top mostly because of how it ranked in well-being and tax friendliness. It was also the top state for well-being, based on Gallup’s 2017 data on the subject. That means South Dakotans feel better about spending time in the place they live than other states. Financial stress factored into that, too, meaning they are less stressed about money. After all, it was listed as the second most tax-friendly state, which is appealing to just about anyone.

The Mount Rushmore State was joined in the top five by Utah, Idaho, New Hampshire and Florida. All of those states aside from Florida are in the bottom half of the United States in terms of population. Florida is packed with people, but also enjoys beautiful weather and low taxes.

The bottom of the barrel for retirement was New York, according to Bankrate’s findings. The Empire State was ranked 50th in cost of living and 49th in taxes. It did not fare much better in healthcare quality or weather. It did pretty well in the crime and culture rankings, but cold winters and sky-high rents in places like New York City apparently make it an unappealing retirement spot.

These rankings can and will change over the years, so if millennials are ever able to retire, South Dakota might not be the place to be anymore.