Florida isn't the best place to retire. This study says it's Iowa. Why Iowa?

Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read
13

Florida has long been the state that the rest of the country, at least much of the eastern part of the country, couldn’t wait to retire to. It’s known for beach and golfing communities peppered with, or even created for, senior living communities like The Villages.

But because of the state’s soaring prices for everything from groceries to healthcare and its crime rates, selecting Florida as the place to retire is not as easy a choice.

A study by consumer financial services company BankRate ranked all 50 states from best to worst for retirees, based on affordability, overall well-being, the cost and quality of healthcare, weather and crime.

Although Florida is still in the top 10 states to retire to in 2023, it was surprisingly outranked by Iowa, Delaware, West Virginia, Missouri and even Mississippi, primarily because of their affordability.

What state is the best to retire to for quality of life?

Iowa topped the list for quality of life in retirement. Iowa’s cost of living is the biggest draw for retirees on a fixed income. Census data shows that almost 20% of Iowa’s population is 65 or older.

It is the sixth cheapest state to live in the U.S., with low housing costs and homeowners insurance costs sitting below the national average – a stark contrast from Florida’s insurance crisis that has been raging on over the past year.

Retiring? Thinking of heading straight for Florida? This list doesn't rank state so high

Which states have the lowest cost of living for retirement?

These rankings are based on the quality of life retirees will find in each state. BankRate weighted its affordability scores for each state with the most value in its rankings to reflect most Americans’ experience with inflation and rising costs.

Here are the top 10 rankings for best places to retire to in 2023:

  1. Iowa

  2. Delaware

  3. West Virginia

  4. Missouri

  5. Mississippi

  6. Wyoming

  7. Pennsylvania

  8. Florida

  9. Hawaii

  10. Nebraska

How much money do you need to retire? Most Americans calculate $1.8 million, survey says.

Florida vs. Iowa, how do these states compare?

Florida’s affordability score paled in comparison to Iowa’s third-place affordability ranking. Florida ranked in the bottom 50th percentile as the 35th most affordable state.

For quality and cost of healthcare, Florida took the 21st spot and Iowa placed 11th.

For crime rankings, Florida placed 27th and Iowa took 12th place.

Florida did score higher than Iowa in two of BankRate’s categories: overall well-being and weather. Florida placed third in both categories and Iowa took 31st and 38th place, respectively.

Florida’s low affordability score is influenced by its place as the state with the highest inflation rate in 2023 and the insurance crisis that is gripping the state and leaving hundreds of thousands of people without insurance coverage in the hurricane-prone state.

Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida isn't an affordable place to retire so study favors Iowa