The Best States For Retirement Living

Planning for retirement can be a tricky deal, as is making a decision on where to live during one's Golden Years.

Bankrate.com is the latest organization to take a crack at helping retirees to figure out at least the residency part of the equation with the release of a "Best States For Retirement" ranking.

If that title sounds familiar, it's because WalletHub released a similar report just a few months ago, with a state ranking that differs somewhat from the Bankrate list. Just as one example, WalletHub ranked Virginia as the 5th best state to retire in, while Bankrate ranks the state at 39.

If anything, the differences in the rankings show just how many factors go into a happy retirement, not to mention how complicated it is for advisors and their clients to make sure they get the planning just right.

In this latest ranking, Bankrate said it looked at 11 public and private datasets and used them to grade states in the following five categories, with their weightings in parentheses: affordability (40%), crime (5%), culture (15%), weather (15%) and wellness (25%).

For example, Maryland was deemed the worst state for retirement largely because it scored low in the crime and culture categories and was 47th in affordability, the category with the highest weighting.

The personal finance website noted that moving to a new location for retirement is quite common in the U.S., with a 2018 Transamerica survey showing that 38 percent of respondents moved at least once after retiring. Census data also shows that nearly 570,000 people 65 or older moved to a new state or the District of Columbia over the past year, Bankrate said.

The same survey showed retirees most value proximity to family and friends, affordable cost of living, access to excellent health care and hospitals, good weather and a low crime rate, Bankrate said.

“Where to live is probably one of the most personal decisions one can make because it’s not just about preferences, it’s also about the financial considerations that are associated with it,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said in a prepared statement.

The following states, in ascending order, were ranked by Bankrate as the best for retirement living:

10. Hawaii

The state crushed the competition in the weather category, as might be expected, but those brilliant beaches and the tourism industry they fuel come at a cost to retirees: Hawaii ranked 45th in affordability.

9. Montana

The state ranked second in the culture category, which looks at the number of arts, entertainment and recrational destinations, and restaurants per capita.

8. North Carolina

The state was 12th in weather and 13th in affordability, but was the lowest ranked among the top 10 in the wellness category at 33. The wellness ranking considers a state's health-care and disability services, as well as the Gallup-ShareCare Wellbeing Index, Bankrate said.

7. Kansas

The state's biggest selling point for retirees is affordability, where it ranked 7th. However, it ranked 39th in the crime category and 37th in culture.

6. Kentucky

Kentucky can boast its relative affordability, where it ranked 9th, and its safety, with a 9th place ranking in the crime category. Its worst category was culture, at 46.

5. Florida

The state was second only to Hawaii in the weather category, and ranked 13th in culture. The report also noted that it's a good place to hang out with other retirees: Nineteen percent of the population is 65 years or older.

4. South Dakota

If you're a retiree who doesn't care about getting a suntan, this may be your state. South Dakota scored well in all categories except weather, where it was 39th.

3. Missouri

The state topped all others in affordability, but it was among the worst in terms of crime rate, ranking 42nd. It was also in the bottom half of the list in wellness and culture.

2. Iowa

Iowa had respectable scores in all categories except weather, where it placed at 34.

1. Nebraska

The top state on the list stood out in the wellness category, where it placed at 8, and was among the top 20 in the affordability and crime categories.

The full report can be viewed here.