Retirement: What are the top states for retirees?

Florida settled at eighth on Bankrate’s 2024 list, trailing behind more affordable states like West Virginia, Georgia, Missouri, and Mississippi. Delaware, which has one of the lowest property tax rates in the country, home insurance rates that are about 50% lower than the national average, and a high proportion of residents over the age of 62, took the top spot.

“This ranking is really just speaking to: where are the most affordable places for retirees that also have access to decent health care within reasonable costs,” said Alex Gailey, lead data reporter at Bankrate who compiled the list. “And then also, do they score well in terms of overall well-being and some of these other factors.”

The annual list compiled by Bankrate ranks states based on five factors—affordability, overall well-being, the cost and quality of health care, weather, and crime. Although the sunshine state still stands out in terms of weather and well-being (ranking 3rd in both), affordability, which accounts for 40% of the overall score, pushed Florida to the bottom half of the top 10. 

Not so long ago, Florida’s reputation as a paradise with a relatively low cost of living was well deserved. In 2022 it topped the Bankrate list of best retirement states, and a 2023 analysis by SmartAsset revealed that, of the top ten cities baby boomers were retiring to, four were in the sunshine state. 

But that popularity may have upended the affordability that drove so many retirees there in the first place. During the pandemic, both young professionals and wealthy Americans poured into Florida in droves, attracted to low taxes and its “open” approach to Covid-19. Between 2021 and 2022, Florida became the fastest growing state in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  The state has also become a tax haven for prominent billionaires such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Citadel’s Ken Griffin.

Since 2013, home prices in Florida have increased almost 160%, trailing only Idaho in terms of growth, according to a recent analysis by Construction Coverage.

It isn’t just home prices that are beginning to offset the state’s tax benefits. As climate change has increased the frequency of natural disasters like hurricanes and floods, the…