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WalletHub: Best and worst states for retirement

Posted on January 14, 2019January 14, 2019 By Ray Hanania No Comments on WalletHub: Best and worst states for retirement
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WalletHub: Best and worst states for retirement

A new report from WalletHub.com ranks Illinois at only 28 in terms of the best states for individuals to retire. The number one state is Florida, followed by South Dakota, Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia. The survey measures a range of benefits including taxes, home service costs, senior percentage of population, and health care facilities per capita. Illinois averages 32 of 50 states in terms of all 8 criteria measured

Retirement might be the end of your career, but it doesn’t have to be the end of financial security or life satisfaction. Retirement generally coincides with the age at which we may receive Social Security or pension benefits. However, not everyone can retire when they want to. 25 percent of non-retired adults haven’t saved any money for retirement, though not necessarily through any fault of their own.

But in addition to when to retire, a good question to ask is where. Finding the best states to retire can be difficult without doing lots of research. Even in the most affordable areas of the U.S., most retirees cannot rely on Social Security or pension checks alone to cover all of their living expenses. Social Security benefits increase with local inflation, but they replace only about 39 percent of the average worker’s earnings.

If retirement is still a big question mark for you because of finances, consider relocating to a state that lets you keep more money in your pocket without requiring a drastic lifestyle change. To determine the best states to retire, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 46 key indicators of retirement-friendliness. Our analysis examines affordability, health-related factors and overall quality of life. Read on for our findings, insight from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology.

A Look at Illinois

With almost 25 percent of all nonretired adults having no retirement savings or pension, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s Best States to Retire as well as accompanying videos.

To help retirees find a safe, enjoyable and wallet-friendly place to call home, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 46 key metrics. The data set ranges from adjusted cost of living to weather to quality of public hospitals.

Retiring in Illinois (1=Best; 25=Avg.)

  • 21st – Adjusted Cost of Living
  • 24th – Annual Cost of In-Home Services
  • 50th – WalletHub ‘Taxpayer’ Ranking
  • 32nd – Elderly-Friendly Labor Market
  • 38th – % of Population Aged 65 & Older
  • 17th – Property-Crime Rate
  • 26th – Life Expectancy
  • 47th – Health-Care Facilities per Capita

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-retire/18592/

Main Findings

Source: WalletHub

Best & Worst States to Retire

Overall Rank
(1=Best)
State Total Score ‘Affordability’ Rank ‘Quality of Life’ Rank ‘Health Care’ Rank
1 Florida 65.60 1 7 27
2 South Dakota 63.72 9 22 5
3 Colorado 62.19 26 9 4
4 New Hampshire 61.80 25 3 9
5 Virginia 60.82 14 13 24
6 Utah 60.73 16 14 16
7 Iowa 60.41 27 8 10
8 Wyoming 60.13 8 12 36
9 Pennsylvania 59.94 23 5 22
10 Minnesota 59.88 43 1 1
11 Delaware 59.67 15 28 17
12 Wisconsin 59.32 30 4 20
13 Idaho 58.37 18 19 31
14 Arizona 57.60 28 29 12
15 Missouri 57.60 17 36 26
16 Michigan 57.50 29 16 21
17 Ohio 57.43 20 27 28
18 South Carolina 57.15 4 39 37
19 North Dakota 56.89 35 21 6
20 Texas 56.85 5 38 38
21 Massachusetts 56.60 44 2 3
22 North Carolina 56.42 19 31 34
23 Maine 55.94 39 10 14
24 Kansas 55.73 24 26 35
25 California 55.40 34 15 15
26 Nebraska 55.26 41 17 8
27 Nevada 54.96 12 35 41
28 Illinois 54.87 38 25 11
29 Montana 54.39 31 23 33
30 Georgia 53.48 13 40 42
31 Washington 53.42 36 18 32
32 Alaska 53.16 37 32 25
33 Oklahoma 53.07 6 42 43
34 Indiana 52.94 21 37 40
35 Oregon 52.21 40 24 30
36 New York 51.36 47 11 13
37 Tennessee 51.22 7 44 44
38 Connecticut 51.09 48 20 7
39 Alabama 50.88 2 46 48
40 Hawaii 50.66 49 34 2
41 Maryland 50.55 42 30 19
42 Louisiana 50.06 10 45 45
43 Mississippi 48.87 3 50 50
44 Arkansas 48.53 11 49 46
45 New Mexico 47.92 33 47 39
46 New Jersey 47.85 45 33 29
47 Vermont 47.76 50 6 23
48 West Virginia 47.26 22 41 49
49 Rhode Island 45.94 46 43 18
50 Kentucky 43.85 32 48 47

 

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Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

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  • Orland Park Statement on Settlement of William Sanchez vs. Village of Orland Park, et al., Lawsuit - December 5, 2025
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  • WalletHub releases Credit Card Debt study, shows $16 billion increase - December 5, 2025
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Baby Boomers, Chicago, General Topics, Health, News, Orland Park, Seniors, Suburban Chicagoland, Taxes Tags:baby boomers, best states, elderly, retirement, seniors, WalletHub, worst states

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