Hawai’i Ranked Third Worst State to Retire

File photo by Jamilia Epping.

While retirement may sound like paradise, it turns out that paradise may not be the best place for retirees.

A study, Best & Worst States to Retire, recently conducted by the financial website WalletHub, lists Hawai’i as the third worst state to retire.

Using three key dimensions with 24 relevant metrics, analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the best and worst places in the country to retire. Metrics range from cost of living and availability of services to entertainment options, like theaters and museums.

Hawai’i received poor standings across the board, including low ranks in adjusted cost of living, annual cost on in-home services, lowest museums per capita, and number of nurses per 100,000 residents.

Hawai’i, however, did ranked first in “Highest Life Expectancy.”

The breakdown in ranking is as follows, with “1” representing the best and “51” representing the worse:

• Adjusted Cost of Living (51)
• Annual Cost of In-Home Services (49)
• WalletHub ‘Taxpayer’ Ranking (20)
• Museums per Capita (47)
• Property-Crime Rate (40)
• Number of Health-Care Facilities per Capita (38)
• Number of Nurses per 100,000 Residents (46)

Florida, Wyoming, South Dakota, South Carolina, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Montana, Nevada, and Virginia were listed among the top 10 best states for retirees.

Wallethub used data from the United States Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Retirement Living Information Center, the Genworth Financial, the United Health Foundation, the County Health Rankings, Measure of America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Charity Navigator, Gallup Healthways, GolfLink.com, and its own research to conduct its study.