The Best and Worst Place To Retire in Every State
- Best city: Cheyenne
- Average income of households with retirement income: $35,005
- Average income of households with Social Security income: $21,592
- Average monthly total cost of living: $1,987
- Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,196
- Average single family home value (May 2024): $368,600
- Livability: 83
- Worst city: Laramie
- Average income of households with retirement income: $25,747
- Average income of households with Social Security income: $21,607
- Average monthly total cost of living: $2,196
- Average monthly mortgage cost: $2,171
- Average single family home value (May 2024): $364,435
- Livability: 70
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities across the United States to find the best and worst places to retire in every state. First, GOBankingRates found the total population, total households, population of ages 65+, percentage of population below poverty rate of residents aged 65+, total number of residents under poverty rate of ages 65+, the number of households that receive Social Security income, the number of households that receive retirement income, the average retirement income for households whom receive retirement income, and the average Social Security income for households that receive Social Security income, all sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey DP03 and S0101. For each city, the cost of living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces and using the national average expenditure costs for retired residents aged 65+, the average expenditure cost for each city can be calculated. The average single family home value for May 2024 was sourced from Zillow Home Value Index, and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, the average mortgage cost for each city was calculated. The average mortgage cost and expenditure costs can be summed to find the total monthly cost of living. The percentage of the population aged 65+ who are below the poverty line was scored and weighted at 1.00, the Social Security income was scored and weighted at 1.00, the average Social Security income for households with Social Security income was scored and weighted at 1.00, the percentage of households with retirement income was scored and weighted at 1.00, the average retirement income was scored and weighted at 1.00, the monthly expenditure costs were scored and weighted at 1.00, the monthly mortgage cost was scored and weighted at 1.00, and the livability was scored and weighted at 1.00. The highest score was recorded for the best place to retire in each state, and the lowest score was recorded for the worst place to retire in each state. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Jun. 24, 2024.
