Dream retirement locales typically conjure images of sandy beaches and palm trees, not cornfields and cow pastures (though these can be idyllic in their own right). But according to a recent report from Bankrate.com, Nebraska ranked as the best state to retire.

Bankrate.com, a consumer finance site, looked at 11 public and private data sets dealing with retirement life and organized its survey of the states into five categories of different weightings, ranking them by their affordability (weighted at 40%), wellness (25%), weather (15%), culture (15%) and crime (5%).

Nebraska’s average annual temperature of 49 degrees left it in the cold in the weather category, but it placed in the top 15 in both affordability (where it ranked 14th) and wellness (where it ranked 8th). And it was in the top half among all states for culture (ranking 21st) and crime (19th). In toto, that was enough to land it on the top spot for retirement.

The nation’s midsection is well represented in the top five; along with Nebraska there was Iowa (whose affordability and culture were its strong suits), Missouri (where affordability played a big role, too) and South Dakota (which did well in all categories save for weather). Florida came fifth, aided by its weather (ranking No. 2 after Hawaii), along with culture.

According to this study, the worst state for retirement is Maryland, where tasty crab cakes evidently aren’t enough to raise its profile for retirees. The state ranked 47th in affordability, 42nd in culture, 37th in wellness and 33rd in crime. But at least the weather is OK, with a ranking of 18th among all states.

After Maryland, the worst state for retirement was New York, followed in order by Alaska, Illinois and Washington.

Bankrate.com provides a nifty slider graphic (www.bankrate.com/retirement/best-and-worst-states-for-retirement/) that lets you see which states are the best based on your criteria.