The first you want to look at is whether it’s a 2nd amendment state
Stevenson Wash overlooking the Columbia and the bridge of the Gods. No state income tax in WA. Cross the river and no sales tax in Oregon. 40 minutes from Portland Airport and out of the city far enough to enjoy life. Less rain fall than the places further west near the coast.
I live in Kentucky...plan to retire here. Cost of living is low in west kentucky. The stats about life expectancy don’t apply if you take care of yourself with diet and exercise. Sure there’s a sales tax. Weather though is great...hot summers and warm winters. But you do get some winter for about two weeks and four season are nice. Land is cheap here at least compared to up north.
Not for everyone, certainly, but it's perfect for us.
Rather than go on about what's so great about it I will just say this:
The weather sucks
There is no mall
There is no theater
There are twelve churches but only two bars
There are no freeways, only two lane blacktop and dirt roads
Access by boat or airplane only. There is no bridge and no road in or out.
With a population of less than 3000 you can't be anonymous. You WILL be well known whether you like it or not.
EVERYONE is armed, litterally for bear (and wolves).
You would hate it here.
I wonder if Kentucky is such a bad state for retirement if you exclude the Appalachia region (at least as far as amenities and life expectancy goes). Most retirees may have a good life in the rest of the state. And perhaps the same for most states (avoid the parts that don’t have much for retirees but cling to an area that does).
It sure isn’t in Georgia. Yankees, trust me. It’s a crap hole. Do NOT retire here. Stay where you are, where all the social amenities and services you voted for are.
When we retired my criteria was Second Amendment friendly, no motorcycle helmet laws, tax friendly, no or minimal public transit, not Democrat controlled, to name a few. And it had to be west of the Mississippi River.
It’s all about what you personally want, not what other folks think you need.
Adult volunteer activities, theater companies, golf courses and country clubs are the last thing I’d look for.
The fewer the people the better.
These surveys are almost always biased towards the result desired by the author. Take Kentucky, for example. My wife’s from KY. You can buy land for 1-2K per acre in most areas of the state. A 500K home in Delaware will get you 2000 sq. ft. and 1/2 acre, while in KY it would buy you a 3,000 sq. ft. house with 150 acres. Maryland is the worst state hands down. Everything is taxed, houses/land are expensive, and regulations are burdensome.
Michigan is my favorite.
Two years ago I moved from Central FL to rural NW Tennessee. My small town has a population of 2000, and everybody knows everybody here on a first name basis. We have a decent city park with a walking path and good tennis courts, and a county golf course.
The people here can only be described as “down home”. I’ve developed some wonderful friendships here, and have a number of teen workers whose company I’ve greatly enjoyed.
During the summer I have songbirds and cicadas everywhere, and at night I have the sound of bullfrogs croaking beside my little koi pond. The sky is filled with stars at night.
Property values are very low. There’s a 4-bed, 1940’s house a couple of streets over that has been advertised for $50k. I’m looking at starting to flip some houses around here, which might provide good retirement income (I’ve already got a work crew chomping at the bit to get started).
Marking.
Cost of living (which would include taxes) and access to health care are vital...good weather and good golf courses are a plus.
Florida is great but no as cheap as they say. My homeowners insurance went up a thousand to over three. Electric has gone up a lot. Food is always higher and gas isn’t the cheapest for sure. You definitely need to have a nice savings to live here.
Funny, I moved to Kentucky because I saw it as a great place to retire. The land is beautiful (I’m in eastern Kentucky). I have access to healthcare. And I exercise daily. People are friendly. And the Cost of living is great!