Virginia: Top 5 on the Best State to Retire

The Best and Worst States to Retire

• With more retirees responsible for their own financial security, choosing the right retirement destination can make all the difference.
• WalletHub compared the retirement-friendliness of all 50 states. Here are the spots that ranked the highest.

In retirement, just like in real estate, it's "location, location, location."
With more and more retirees responsible for their own financial security, choosing the right retirement destination can make or break any lazy-day fantasies.

To that end, WalletHub compared the retirement-friendliness of all 50 states using criteria such as cost of living, crime rate, tax-friendliness on pensions and Social Security income, number of health-care facilities, access to public transportation as well as the weather and proximity to golf courses and museums. This is retirement after all.

Some of the states that ranked the highest were no surprise — Florida snagged the top spot. Others, like South Dakota and Iowa, were less expected. Among the least desirable were high-tax states like New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Here are the 10 best and worst places to retire, according to WalletHub. (And if you are thinking more outside the box, here are the world's top 5 retirement destinations.)

Overall Rank (1=Best)	State	Total Score	Affordability' Rank	Quality of Life' Rank	Health Care' Rank
1	Florida	66.79	1	5	20
2	Colorado	66.17	23	8	2
3	South Dakota	65.89	2	32	6
4	Iowa	62.46	26	11	9
5	Virginia	62.02	18	9	21
6	Wyoming	61.66	4	30	29
7	New Hampshire	61.51	29	14	4
8	Idaho	61.39	11	20	25
9	Utah	61.14	22	24	12
10	Arizona	60.67	21	21	17

Worst States to Retire

Overall Rank (50=Worst)	State	Total Score	Affordability' Rank	Quality of Life' Rank	Health Care' Rank
41	Alabama	50.55	3	48	48
42	Hawaii	50.31	49	36	3
43	New Mexico	49.76	39	42	35
44	Louisiana	49.15	17	41	46
45	West Virginia	48.29	16	43	49
46	Arkansas	46.89	20	50	45
47	Mississippi	46.28	10	49	50
48	Rhode Island	45.14	48	46	22
49	New Jersey	44.94	50	28	33
50	Kentucky	43.06	38	47	47

 Source: WalletHub