Two-thirds of non-retired American adults say their retirement savings are not on track.

This means that where people decide to live after leaving the workforce will influence how far their money will go, a study released Monday by personal finance website WalletHub finds. The best states for retirees have low taxes and cost of living to help retirees’ budgets stretch as far as possible.

“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 a statement.

“Having access to excellent medical care and homemaking services is also crucial, especially for people who don’t plan to retire in close proximity to their families.”

In order to identify the most retirement-friendly states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across these three key dimensions:

  • Affordability, including adjusted cost of living, inheritance or estate tax friendliness and annual cost of adult day health care
  • Quality of life, including share of the population that is 65 and older, mildness of weather, access to public transportation, museums and theaters per capita, and violent and property crime rates
  • Health care, including family medicine physicians per capita, top-rated geriatrics hospitals, home health aides per capita and death rate of population 65 and older

Researchers evaluated those dimensions using 46 relevant metrics, and graded each one on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for retirement.

See the gallery for the 12 best states for retirement in 2025, according to WalletHub.

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