Retirees have a different way of defining "quality of life." They consider a range of factors that younger people usually don't including cost of goods and services, taxes, health care access and quality, crime rate and even the weather. Based on all these components, Bankrate evaluated all states in the US and came up with the best places for retirees to live in 2016.
Wyoming topped the list for several reasons. It has the lowest tax rate in the whole country, has the fifth lowest crime rate and is also the least populous state. Wyoming also ranked as the eight best state for weather. The only downside is its health care quality which only ranked as thirty-seventh in the US.
Colorado follows in on second place. It has the third best weather in the country and ranked fourteenth place for health care quality. There is plenty of outdoor activity in Colorado which is why it has the lowest obesity rate. The Centennial State's lowest score is in the cost of living, where it ranked thirtieth. Crime rate in Colorado is also smack-dab average ranking twenty-fifth place.
Utah is among the country's most densely populated states and has one of the fastest-growing populations but it ranked seventh for both healthcare quality and cost of living. It also has the sixth best weather in the country. For tax, the Beehive State ranked twenty-third place and for crime, twenty-second place.
Idaho has the second lowest crime rate in the entire US. It also has the third lowest cost of living and seventh best weather. However, retirees planning to move to Idaho shouldn't expect many tax breaks. The state ranks twenty-seventh in tax values.
Virginia is famous for being the birthplace of 8 US presidents. It has the fourth lowest crime rate and the tenth best weather, too. It is highly-ranked in terms of the quality of healthcare, garnering thirteenth place. Virginia's lowest marks are in its taxes where it ranked twenty-first and in its cost of living where it placed twenty-second.
