Bankrate’s annual Best and Worst States to Retire Study found that Delaware is the best state for retirees in 2024, followed by West Virginia (2), Georgia (3), South Carolina (4) and Missouri (5).
Delaware moved from second to first place this year, and Iowa — the No. 1 state last year — dropped to ninth place.
- Alaska (50), New York (49), Washington (48), California (47), and North Dakota (46) landed at the bottom of the rankings.
Go deeper: Delaware ranked No. 1 for several reasons, most notably because it’s a tax-friendly state for retirees. It doesn’t have state or local sales tax, and it doesn’t tax Social Security benefits. It also has lower property taxes relative to the rest of the country, averaging roughly $1,939 annually, according to ATTOM data.
