These 5 States Are the Most Expensive Places to Retire

If your nest egg isn’t quite as large as you had hoped, you might want to avoid spending your golden years in New York.

The Empire State is the most expensive place in the U.S. in which to retire, according to WalletHub’s 2022 rankings of the best states for retirees.

A handful of other states in the northern half of the U.S. round out the top five least affordable states for retirees in 2022. The five places where your dollar won’t go very far are:

1. New York
2. New Jersey
3. Vermont
4. Illinois
5. Washington

WalletHub’s affordability rankings are based on multiple measures, which include the cost of living, tax friendliness and the cost of in-home services and adult day health care. The affordability rankings even reflect the share of the population age 65 and older who can’t afford a doctor visit.

At the other end of the spectrum, the most affordable states for retirement are mostly in the South, with Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina taking the top three slots. Florida and Nevada round out the top five for affordability.

Finding your perfect place to retire

Although state, city and country rankings can offer important insights about the cost of retiring in specific areas, remember that choosing where to retire is a highly individual decision. A cookie-cutter approach will not serve you well.

In fact, in many cases, the best place to retire is the place where you live right now, as we detail in “7 Reasons Not to Move for Retirement.”

However, if you plan to move and hope to avoid paying too much in taxes, check out “This State Just Eliminated Taxes on Retirement Income.”