The 15 best, worst states for retirement in 2023

Virginia is the top state for retirement this year, coming into 11th place for both healthcare and quality of life, but lagging in 16th place for affordability, according to one new ranking.

The rankings for 2023 come from Wallethub, a personal finance website. 

To identify the best and worst states for retirement, researchers examined three key dimensions: affordability (40 points), quality of life (30 points) and healthcare (30 points). 

A state's healthcare score is based on components such as physicians and nurses per capita, healthcare facilities per capita, life expectancy, and percentage of residents age 12 and older who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Kentucky is at the bottom of the list in terms of overall ranking, coming into 33rd place for affordability, 41st place for quality of life and 46th place for healthcare.

Below are the top 15 states and bottom 15 states. For the complete ranking and scoring, click here

The best 

1. Virginia

2. Florida 

3. Colorado

4. Wyoming

5. Delaware 

6. New Hampshire

7. South Dakota

8. Minnesota

9. Idaho

10. North Dakota

11. Utah

12. North Carolina

13. Missouri

14. Pennsylvania 

15. Montana


The worst

1. Kentucky

2. New Jersey

3. Mississippi

4. Oklahoma

5. New York 

6. Louisiana

7. Illinois

8. Washington

9. Maryland

10. Arkansas

11. Rhode Island

12. Texas

13. Oregon

14. West Virginia

15. Kansas

Editor's note: This article was updated Jan. 25 at 10:16 a.m. CT. 

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