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The 7 most affordable U.S. states to retire—and none of them are Florida

Published Wed, Aug 31 20229:49 AM EDT

Cheyenne DeVon

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retired couple sitting in chairs at the beach

Cdwheatley | E+ | Getty Images

If you want to make your money stretch after retiring, look no further than the Great Lakes state.

Michigan ranks as the most affordable state to retire in 2022, according to a recent Bankrate analysis. This is due to a low cost of living and light tax burden for residents.

To compile the overall list of best states to retire, Bankrate ranked states according to five categories: affordability; health and wellness; culture and diversity; weather; and crime.

To calculate affordability, Bankrate analyzed the July 2022 Cost of Living Index from the Council for Community and Economic Research and property and sales tax rates from the Tax Foundation’s 2022 rankings.

Here are the seven most affordable states to retire, according to Bankrate:

1. Michigan
2. Tennessee
3. Missouri
4. Mississippi
5. Kentucky
6. Oklahoma
7. Georgia

Despite its top ranking in affordability, Michigan didn’t place as highly in other categories. It ranked in the 30s for health and wellness, culture and diversity, and weather, and ranked 29th for crime.

And although Florida is known to have good tax benefits for retirees, it came in at No. 18 for affordability since the state’s cost of living has been rising, Bankrate reports. However, the state scored high marks in other categories, including ranking No. 1 for culture and diversity and No. 5 for weather.

When thinking about where to retire, there are a number of things to consider. Everyone has different priorities.

Ask yourself questions such as, “how will your income be taxed?” says Clark Kendall, president of Kendall Capital Management in Rockville, Maryland, and author of “Middle-Class Millionaire.”

“Look at how you’re going to spend your money, too,” Kendall adds.

Additionally, you should think about which activities you’d like to pursue after retiring and what locations will make those possible.

“When you’re considering a community, you have to think about what you still want to do,” says Ginni Field, a real estate broker in Oceanside, California, who specializes in senior buyers and sellers. “Do you still want to be able to play golf, tennis or pickleball?”