Illinois near the bottom for the best places to retire

[January 26, 2022]  By Kevin Bessler

(The Center Square) – A new study says that Americans should look at states other than Illinois when considering where to retire.

The personal finance website WalletHub ranked the Land of Lincoln 45th in the country for best states to retire.

Even in the most affordable areas of the country, most retirees cannot rely solely on Social Security or pension checks to cover all of their living expenses. Social Security benefits increase with inflation, but they typically replace only about 40% of the average worker’s earnings.

To determine the best states to retire, WalletHub used 47 key indicators of retirement-friendliness, including affordability, health-related factors, and overall quality of life.

Researcher Jill Gonzalez said Illinois came in dead last in taxpayer ranking, despite the fact that the state exempts nearly all retirement income from taxation.

“One is just general tax friendliness, so right now in Illinois, property taxes are pretty high, income taxes are pretty high,” Gonzalez said. “That is not helpful.”

Illinois also received low marks for health-care facilities per capita, ranking 48th in the country.

“Not only hospitals, but things like geriatric hospitals and specialties, home health aids, physicians in general, private practices and all of those things,” Gonzalez said.

According to the study, the top three states to retire in are Florida, Virginia and Colorado. New Jersey received the lowest ranking, followed by Mississippi and New York.