Find Your Best State to Retire

What are your priorities? Tax rates, health care availability, education, low crime, inexpensive housing? No one state has everything going for it, but some hit on multiple best lists. Also consider this technique…look at a state that ranks well with your main priority, then dig deeper in our best of lists and there are bound to be towns and villages that fit your other criteria. The following state lists are based on census, law enforcement, weather service, housing stats and other facts, not our personal opinions. We have covered the Worst States to Retire too but if you want to keep it positive, below is a quick reference of how states rank and what could be considered the best states to retire in several categories. It’s important to use this as a jumping off point or just fun reference. True research is needed if you actually get close to choosing a new state to call home.

All state categories lists show with the states with the best performance first, and then it’s fellow top 10 or 15 in order of rank.

States with Lowest Overall Taxes for Retirees

Lowest tax states mean that when you combine personal, property and sales tax, these states mean less out of pocket for every $1 earned or spent than others. Taxes are expensive pretty much everywhere and really add up in some states, but these few are more affordable tax-wise than most.

See the List of States with Lowest Taxes

Alaska

No income tax or state sales tax! Very low local sales tax rates averaging only 1.43%. An additional money related bonus is that permanent residents receive a portion of oil revenue annually, around $1500 last we checked.

Delaware

Low income tax of 2.7% combined with super low sales and property tax make this state a winning place to retire.

Tennessee

Very low income tax, and it’s going away in 2021. Fairly low sales tax of 4.3% and low property taxes as well.

Florida

No income tax! A slightly above average sales tax rate of 6.8% is more than made up for by the low, low property taxes and very interesting homesteading deductions. Too much to detail here but basically those are for 25+ year residents who’ve stayed in the same house and also have lower income levels.

New Hampshire

No income tax! No sales tax! But….pretty high property taxes, so do your research carefully.

Oklahoma

Income tax less than 2%, very low property taxes and reasonable average sales taxes of around 3% make life a little more manageable.

Pennsylvania

Low income tax of 3% is not even applicable to most retirement income. Average sales tax and fairly high property tax force a lower ranking of this state.

Nevada

No income tax! High sales tax at 8+% but low real estate taxes help keep overall costs low.

States with No Income Tax

Alaska
Florida
Nevada
New Hampshire
South Dakota
Texas
Tennessee (as of 2021)
Washington
Wyoming
states with no income tax

States with Lowest Violent and Property Crime Rates

Which states have the lowest crime? Here’s a quick list of results. This information was gleaned from the statistics contained in the FBI’s 2017 Crime in the US report. Highlighted states appear on both lists.

Lowest Violent Crime

Listied in order of lowest violent crime first…

Maine
Vermont
New Hampshire
Virginia
Connecticut
Idaho
Kentucky
Rhode Island
Minnesota
Utah

Lowest Property Crime

Listed in order of lowest property crime first…

New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Massachusetts
Maine
Vermont
Pennsylvania
Idaho
Connecticut
Virginia

States with Lowest Cost of Living

See the Cheapest States to Live In
Listed in order of lowest cost of living first…

Mississipi
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Missouri
Kansas
Alabama
Georgia
Indiana

States with Highest Educational Attainment of Residents

See the Which States Have the Most Educated People
Listed in order of most high education residents first…

Massachusetts
Colorado
Maryland
Connecticut
New Hampshire
Vermont
Virginia
Minnesota
Washington

Most Affluent States by Median Household Income

These States have the Most Wealthy Residents
Listed in order of most affluent households first…

Massachusetts
Maryland
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Alaska
New Jersey
Connecticut
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Virginia
California

States with Best Health Care Systems and Access

See the States with the Best Health Care
Listed in order of best health care systems and access first…

Vermont
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Minnesota
Hawaii
Rhode Island
Colorado
District of Columbia
Maryland
Iowa

States with Best Weather

These States Have the Best Year Round Weather
Listed in order of best weather first…
California
Hawaii
Arizona
Texas
Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Delaware
North Carolina
Louisiana

States with Best Economy

See Where Things are Looking Up
Listed in order of best economy first…
Washington DC
Washington
Massachusetts
Texas
Colorado
California
Utah
Nebraska
Rhode Island
Maryland

States with the Least Poverty

See the States with the Lowest Poverty Levels
Listed in order of lowest poverty rate first…
New Hampshire
Wyoming
Maryland
Connecticut
North Dakota
New Jersey
Minnesota
Alaska
Hawaii
Massachusetts

More Best States to Retire Resources

Once you find some states that you’re interested in, browse our pages of cheap retirement towns, safe places to live, and ways to find active retirement or alternative living communities.

Worst States to Retire
Best Places to Retire
Cheap Safe Places to Retire
Safest Places to Retire List
Alternative Communities
Active Retirement Communities