Best States for Retirement 2021 – What We Considered

  1. Healthcare conditionsUsing figures from the Centers for Disease Control on life expectancy at age 65 and available nursing-home capacity, as well as healthcare cost data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), the study measured the effectiveness, availability and affordability of healthcare in each state.
  2. Personal securityBased on statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on incidents of violent and property crime in each state, this study measured the risk to your physical safety and your possessions due to crime.
  3. Local economyFigures on employment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on property taxes from the Tax Foundation and on cost of living from C2ER were used to measure the affordability and economic strength of each state.
  4. Weather conditionsFigures on temperature averages and extremes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were used to measure how comfortable and consistent each state’s temperatures have been, while precipitation statistics from NOAA were used to measure whether states were particularly drought-prone or experienced heavy amounts of rain or snow. Data from the Universal Ecological Fund were measured relative to the size of each state to determine the frequency of severe weather events.
  5. Popularity with older residentsFinally, to get a bottom-line measure of how popular each state is with older residents, the study considered U.S. Census data on the percentage of each state’s population that is aged 65 or older.

     Florida

    South Dakota

    Florida’s high ranking as a state for retirement is no surprise. It also ranked number one in last year’s survey and has long been a popular destination for retirees.

    Iowa

    South Dakota

    This Midwestern state presents a clear contrast to Florida as a retirement option, but it has performed consistently well in this annual study.

    Arkansas

    South Dakota

    This state has moved steadily up the rankings in recent years. Its strongest suit is affordability, due to a low cost of living and low property taxes.

    Oklahoma

    South Dakota

    This ranking represents a huge leap from last year’s 27th place. Oklahoma benefited from having available nursing-home capacity added to the healthcare criteria.

    Idaho

    South Dakota

    Returning to the top ten after narrowly missing last year and placing sixth the year before, Idaho had top-ten rankings in the healthcare, personal security and economic categories.