All 50 states ranked for retirement from worst to best

JohnnyJet

The best place to retire depends on what you value.

• When deciding the best place to retire, it's important to consider affordability, quality of life, and health care.
• Minnesota is the best for quality of life and healthcare, but has low affordability for retirees.
• Florida is the best state for retirees, not surprising considering it has the most senior citizens.

On a global scale, the United States is 24th on the list of the best countries for retirement.

However, the US is very large and experiences can vary drastically within the country.

If you decide to stay in America when you are done working, you might want to know which state is best for retirement. WalletHub recently released their 2018 retirement rankings. Using 41 metrics in three broad categories, they were able to rank every state to find the best and worst places to retire.

The three main categories used were affordability, quality of life, and health care. WalletHub weighted the affordability section 40% and the other two areas were given equal weight of 30%.

Florida tends to be the first state that comes to mind when retirement communities are brought up, and for good reason. The Sunshine State has the highest percentage of residents 65 years and older, WalletHub says. Florida is also tops in the overall affordability category.

Where you decide to live during retirement depends on what you value. Residents of Hawaii have the highest life expectancy, while the lowest is found in Mississippi. On the other hand, the cost of living is totally flipped with Mississippi coming in first and Hawaii ranked last.

If you are looking to be entertained in retirement, New York might be a good option. Despite the state's lackluster overall rating for retirement, WalletHub's analysis found that the Empire State has the most museums and theaters per capita.

The same state - Minnesota - can claim to have the best quality of life and health care. However, a low score on the affordability measure kept Minnesota from being one of the best overall states for retirement.

Check out how your home state ranks overall, as well as for each of the three categories: affordability, quality of life, and health care.