The best and worst US states to retire in, ranked

The Villages, Florida. felixmizioznikov/Getty Images WalletHub ranked the best US states for retirees in 2026.

Its report compared affordability, quality of life, and healthcare across states.

Wyoming and Florida topped the list, while Kentucky ranked last.

Retirement is full of decisions, and the state you choose to retire in could be the most important one.

A recent WalletHub study pitted the 50 states against one another across three main categories — affordability, quality of life, and healthcare — to determine the best places for retirement.

The three factors were assessed using 46 different metrics.

To determine a state's affordability, metrics such as adjusted cost of living and retired taxpayer-friendliness were considered.

Quality of life included metrics such as the risk of social isolation , the mildness of the weather, and even the number of bingo halls per capita, while the healthcare category considered metrics such as nurses, dentists, and health aides per capita, life expectancy, and more.

"Retirement is supposed to be relaxing, but it can also be incredibly stressful given that it typically puts people on a fixed income, which may not be enough for them to live comfortably," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the study.

"As a result, the best states for retirees are those that have low taxes and a low cost of living to help retirees' budgets stretch as far as possible." WalletHub used data from the US Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other sources.

These are the states to retire in, ranked from worst to best.

50.

Kentucky Louisville, Kentucky. alexeys/Getty Images Affordability rank: 34 Quality-of-life rank: 42 Healthcare rank: 47 With low rankings across all three categories, WalletHub found Kentucky to be the worst state for retirees in 2026.

49.