The Very Best States for Retirement—and Nope, Florida Is Not No. 1

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Retirees and Florida seem to be as natural a combo as peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti and meatballs, and, well, older people and warmer weather. Except, as it turns out, the Sunshine State may not be the best place to live out one’s golden years after all.

Here’s the shocker: Florida was ranked only the 17th best state to retire in, according to a recent report from Bankrate.com. The personal finance website looked at the costs of living, health care quality, crime rates, cultural vitality, weather, taxes, seniors’ overall well-being, and the number of other seniors in all 50 states.

So where should they go instead? New Hampshire, of course.

Wait, what?!

That’s right. The cold, snowy Northeastern state earned high marks for having low crime and tax rates (except for those sky-high property taxes).

“A lot of the states that made our top five are not places that people usually think of when they think of retirement destinations,” says data analyst Claes Bell, who wrote the Bankrate.com report. “But there’s more to a good place to retire than good weather.”

The state rose from the 15th spot on last year’s ranking after Bankrate.com rejiggered the weighting of its criteria to what’s most important to retirees—adding culture (or things to do) and the number of fellow seniors.

That change actually boosted Florida 11 spots above its position last year. But it still didn’t come close to cracking the top 10.

Florida didn’t make the top 10 because it “has issues with its crime rate and its cost of living is relatively high compared to other states. The health care quality is also a little problematic,” Bell says.

And the revised methodology put a new light on places that are seeing an incursion of older folks, many of them returning after spending years elsewhere. That’s certainly the case in New Hampshire. Many of Portsmouth, NH–based Realtor® Stephen Oates‘ older clients are moving back to the state’s coastline because they have a connection to the area.

“I’ve seen more people coming back from the South,” says Oates, of the Bean Group. “Usually they’re coming back to be closer to their grandchildren and their family.”

The fact that the state doesn’t have any income tax (for those boomers still picking up consulting or freelance work) or sales tax is a bonus. And it helps make up for the fact that the coastal areas can still be fairly pricey.

The other top states for retirees were Colorado, Maine, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Idaho, according to the report.

The worst state for retirees? Alaska.

“A lot of seniors are not going to be attracted to a place with really frigid weather that Alaska has,” Bell says. Plus, the state also has “issues with crime. Its health care quality is low, and the cost of living of there is surprisingly high.”

The other bottom-dwelling states for retirees were West Virginia, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma, California, and Mississippi.

But whether or not a certain state made the list shouldn’t be a reason to just pick up and move.

“Most people tend to stay in their states when they retire,” says Rodney Harrell, AARP’s livable community expert, to remain close to their family and friends. “It’s relatively few that do move across the country to some relatively new state.”

Those who do are looking for affordable housing and a decent cost of living, as many retirees are on fixed incomes, he says. They want to live in walkable communities with plenty of public transportation for when they are no longer able to drive. And they want lots of opportunities to socialize in their old age.

“People are generally looking for a good quality of life,” Harrell says.

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