Best Places to Retire 2014

I am always seeking “home” and so far Santa Fe is the closest I have felt to finding home. I love the food, the four seasons, the “Santa Fe style architecture”, the variety of cultures and the beautiful landscapes. So an article on the best places to retire peeks my interest in finding home.

“When you think retirement, do sunny beaches and palm trees come to mind? According to Bankrate, you might actually be a lot happier enjoying your sunset years sans palm trees in a landlocked state – like somewhere in the Great Plains or the Mountain West. South Dakota tops the list of best places to retire. New York came in last. Bankrate looked at key surveys measuring cost of living, crime rate, quality of health care, taxes, personal well-being and weather.”

Bankrate ranked all 50 states according to their cost of living, crime rate (violence and property crimes), health care quality, state and local tax burden, personal well-being and weather. The overall ranks of 1 to 50 go from best to worst. Below is the data we selected to come up with state rankings for retirement. Notice New Mexico falls in the middle.

Check out how your state ranks for retirement
State	Overall score	Score: Well – being *	Score: Cost of living **	Score: Health care quality ***	Tax burden % of state income	Violent crime per 100k people	Property crime per 100k people	Possible sunshine average annual %
Alabama	45	64.1	93.4	39.4	8.3	449.9	3502.2	57.7
Alaska	48	67.6	135.3	38.1	7	603.2	2739.4	37.7
Arizona	16	67.2	101.3	45.9	8.9	428.9	3539.2	84.5
Arkansas	47	64.3	91.5	36.5	10.3	469.1	3660.1	65
California	28	67.6	122.9	43.8	11.4	423.1	2758.7	71.9
Colorado	2	68.9	98.8	55.2	9	308.9	2684.7	72
Connecticut	40	65.9	132	54.8	11.9	283	2140	56
Delaware	33	66.5	106.9	54.3	10.1	547.4	3340.9	56.5 ****
Florida	39	66.2	99	40.1	9.2	487.1	3276.7	66.8
Georgia	21	66.6	94.2	40.1	8.8	378.9	3410.6	62.7
Hawaii	46	68.4	158.1	49.7	9.6	239.2	3075.2	59.3
State	Overall Score	Well- Being *	Cost of living	Health Care quality *******	Tax burden % of state income	Violent crime per 100k people	Property crime per 100k people	Possible sunshine average annual %
Idaho	8	66.3	90.6	46.4	9.5	207.9	1983.5	64
Illinois	26	66.9	95.9	44.6	10.2	414.8	2578.7	56.8
Indiana	35	64.9	91.6	41.4	9.5	345.7	3029.2	57.7
Iowa	9	68.2	92.4	60.7	9.3	263.9	2271.8	60
Kansas	15	66.9	91.7	51.7	9.4	354.6	3143.2	65.8
Kentucky	41	63	90.9	34.6	9.5	222.6	2552.9	54.7
Louisiana	44	64.9	95.8	35.2	7.6	496.9	3540.6	64.3
Maine	12	67.7	109.1	64.7	10.2	122.7	2509.9	57
Maryland	42	67.2	116.5	42.2	10.6	476.8	2753.5	57
Massachusetts	20	68	121.4	63.7	10.3	405.5	2153	55
Michigan	30	65.4	95.7	51.8	9.6	454.5	2530.5	49.2
Minnesota	11	69.7	101.8	67.1	10.7	230.9	2568.3	55
Mississippi	36	63.7	89.3	32.5	8.4	260.8	2811	62.5
Missouri	27	64.5	93.6	45.1	9	450.9	3314.4	58.3
Montana	7	69.3	98.8	48	8.6	272.2	2583.7	58.8
Nebraska	6	69.7	90.2	54.6	9.4	259.4	2754.9	63.3
State	Overall Score	Well- Being *	Cost of living	Health Care quality *******	Tax burden % of state income	Violent crime per 100k people	Property crime per 100k people	Possible sunshine average annual %

Nevada	18	66.6	95.9	35.4	8.1	607.6	2809.4	76.3
New Hampshire	13	68.2	119.4	66.7	8	187.9	2324	43.5
New Jersey	37	66.9	128.2	52.3	12.3	290.2	2047.3	56
New Mexico	24	65.7	95.5	33	8.6	559.1	3600.7	75
New York	50	65.5	129.1	46.1	12.6	406.8	1922	50.8
North Carolina	25	65.8	97.3	47.1	9.8	353.4	3369.5	60.3
North Dakota	4	70..4	100.8	56.8	8.8	244.7	2010.1	58.7
Ohio	38	64.2	93.2	44.5	9.7	299.7	3117.4	51
Oklahoma	43	64.7	90.5	34.6	8.5	469.3	3401	61
Oregon	34	66.7	108.3	46	10.1	247.6	3224.2	48
Pennsylvania	23	65.5	101.6	47.8	10.3	348.7	2166.3	53.3
Rhode Island	29	65.2	125.3	55.6	10.5	252.4	2572.3	58
South Carolina	32	65.3	97.3	45.1	83	558.8	3822.2	62.3
South Dakota	1	70	99.2	54.2	7.1	321.8	2060.1	63
Tennessee	31	64.3	90.8	46.3	7.6	643.6	3371.4	58.3
State	Overall Score	Well- Being *	Cost of living	Health Care quality *******	Tax burden % of state income	Violent crime per 100k people	Property crime per 100k people	Possible sunshine average annual %

Texas	19	66.9	93	38.4	7.5	408.6	3361.8	62.2
Utah	3	68.2	92.6	57.1	9.4	205.8	2991.8	68
Vermont	14	69.1	119.5	60.4	10.5	142.6	2398.7	49
Virginia	10	66.8	96.4	51.4	9.2	190.1	2162.1	60.7
Washington	22	68.3	102.4	48.9	9.4	295.6	3658.6	44.3
West Virginia	49	61.4	97	32.8	9.7	316.3	2364.9	40
Wisconsin	17	67.7	97	64.1	11	280.5	2453.8	54
Wyoming	5	65.6	97.2	43.4	6.9	201.4	2293.8	65.7

*Scores taken from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. The higher the score, the better the general satisfaction of residents with their surroundings.

**Scores from the Council for Community and Economic Research. The higher the score, the more expensive the state.

***Health care scores came from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The higher the score, the better the health care quality.

****Delaware’s sunshine was approximated by combining the average of Maryland and New Jersey.

Sources: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Healthways; the Council for Community and Economic Research; the FBI; the Tax Foundation; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.