One thing you don't want to do when you retire is regret where you live.
Whether that means you stick close to the place that's been home for umpteen years or go in search of the greener pastures you've been envisioning since the last office Christmas party, you want to be sure that where you retire isn't going to turn your golden years into scenes from a Stephen King movie (say, “Misery”).
So you might want to take heed of WalletHub's latest take on how the 50 states rank in terms of things that are important to retirees (well, important to anybody, really).
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Using data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Council for Community and Economic Research, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Retirement Living Information Center, Genworth Financial, United Health Foundation, County Health Rankings and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Charity Navigator, Gallup Healthways, GolfLink, The Tax Foundation, America's Scenic Byways, NOAA Office for Coastal Management, U.S. News & World Report, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and throwing in its own research, WalletHub evaluated all the states to see which came out highest and lowest on the retirement desirability scale.
States were graded on a 100-point scale that took into account things like the availability of adult day care (not how you envision spending your retirement, I'm sure, but still) and the quality of elder-abuse protections; access to public transportation; elderly food insecurity; the percentage of the workforce that's 65 and older; the death rate for adults 65 and older; and the share of geriatricians required to meet the estimated need.
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Of course it looked at other, cheerier statistics, too, but the states that came off worst were judged on all of those things and still didn't make a very good showing. Some could be called cultural deserts, lacking such amenities as theaters, museums, scenery and golf courses; others with a high violent-crime rate would make you afraid to use such amenities, even if they were there.
(If you need cheering up after reading this and realizing you live in one of these states, you can always head over to our list of the 15 best states to retire.)
Here for your delectation (perhaps in a similar manner to the way horror movies thrill audiences) are the 15 states WalletHub says are the worst for retirement:
15. Oklahoma
Total score: 52.44
- Affordability rank: 7
- Quality of Life rank: 44
- Health Care rank: 43
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14. Georgia
Total score: 52.15
- Affordability rank: 24
- Quality of Life rank: 37
- Health Care rank: 42
13. Maryland
Total score: 51.94
- Affordability rank: 44
- Quality of Life rank: 17
- Health Care rank: 14
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12. Vermont
Total score: 51.5
- Affordability rank: 47
- Quality of Life rank: 16
- Health Care rank: 13
11. New York
Total score: 51.16
- Affordability rank: 46
- Quality of Life rank: 6
- Health Care rank: 28
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10. Alabama
Total score: 50.55
- Affordability rank: 3
- Quality of Life rank: 48
- Health Care rank: 48
9. Hawaii
Total score: 50.31
- Affordability rank: 49
- Quality of Life rank: 36
- Health Care rank: 3
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8. New Mexico
Total score: 49.76
- Affordability rank: 39
- Quality of Life rank: 42
- Health Care rank: 35
7. Louisiana
Total score: 49.15
- Affordability rank: 17
- Quality of Life rank: 41
- Health Care rank: 46
Related: 15 worst states for retirement in 2016
6. West Virginia
Total score: 48.29
- Affordability rank: 16
- Quality of Life rank: 43
- Health Care rank: 49
5. Arkansas
Total score: 46.89
- Affordability rank: 20
- Quality of Life rank: 50
- Health Care rank: 45
4. Mississippi
Total score: 46.28
- Affordability rank: 10
- Quality of Life rank: 49
- Health Care rank: 50
3. Rhode Island
Total score: 45.14
- Affordability rank: 48
- Quality of Life rank: 46
- Health Care rank: 22
2. New Jersey
Total score: 44.94
- Affordability rank: 50
- Quality of Life rank: 28
- Health Care rank: 33
1. Kentucky
Total score: 43.06
- Affordability rank: 38
- Quality of Life rank: 47
- Health Care rank: 47
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