Retirement Blog | worst-states-to-retire-2012-northeast-and-midwest-come-up-losers

Notes: This is a reprint of an article from 2012, which appears to have disappeared from our site. Over the years we have produced many of these “Worst States for Retirement Lists”. Connecticut has been the “winner”, so has Illinois. Hope your state is not next! In Feb. 2018 we updated this article – see”Worst States for Retirement – 2018“.

January 10, 2012 — There are plenty of best places to retire lists. But how about the places where it’s not such a good idea to retire? Last year our “Worst 10 States for Retirement” article caused quite a sensation, so we are back at it again for 2012. The purpose is to try to help baby boomers understand where, all other things being equal, they can enjoy their hard-earned retirement without taking on more problems. To make sure you don’t miss updates to this and other lists like it, sign up for our Free weekly “Best Places to Retire” newsletter.

Your retirement is unique

Every individual has to consider his or her own criteria for identifying the worst or best states to retire. One of the most important factors for anyone is proximity to family and friends. So, if you want to be near your grandchildren the worst state on our list could be the best state on your list. Likewise, you might not share the same considerations we used to develop this list. Tax issues might be most important for you, or you might not care about spending winters in a warm state. Our 2012 list is based on 5 considerations that we think will be <!–more–>important to most people, but freely admit that these factors could be totally irrelevant to many other folks.

Our Top Weighting Criteria

This year we expanded the criteria we used from 3 to 5 factors. The factors for 2012 are: Fiscal health, property taxes, income taxes, cost of living, and climate. Each criterion was worth up to 1 negative point. If these are not key factors for you, your list might look very different. Also new this year is “customize your worst states” feature that allows you to select the criteria that are important to you. You will find detailed explanations of these factors along with our sources following the list.

The 10 Worst States for Retirement – 2012

Three new states made our list this year: Vermont, Minnesota, and Maine. That means that 3 states were lucky enough to leave the list: Ohio (low property and income taxes), Nevada (in terrible financial shape but no income tax and low property taxes), California (bad financial shape and high property taxes, but almost no income tax on our prototypical couple, plus a great climate). The additions and subtractions do not necessarily mean that these states got worse or better since last year; that probably has more to do with the changes from our new rating factors. And, since the data is always trailing, the ratings might not be a perfect reflection of today’s reality.

1.Connecticut. We actually had a numerical tie for 1st place. CT won the tie-breaker because it has much higher property taxes, income taxes, and cost of living than Illinois. It offers no exemption for social security, and most pension income is taxable. CT had the 3rd highest tax burden of any state in 2009. The Nutmeg State does have considerable charm and some terrific places to live, if you can afford to live there.

2. Illinois. Illinois and Nevada are the 2 states in the most economic trouble. Illinois’s pension funding, deficit spending, unemployment, and foreclosure rates are among the worst of any states. The state began to address its problems last year when it raised income tax rates. Although Illinois does not tax most pension or social security, other earnings and investment income is taxed at a fairly high rate thanks to its 5% flat tax rate.

3. Rhode Island. The Ocean State has severely underfunded pension/health liabilities and budget deficits. It has the 5th highest median property taxes paid. Our prototypical couple would face much higher income taxes here than they would in most other states. It does have some great places to live, thanks to its extensive coastline and numerous bays and harbors.

4. Vermont. The Green Mountain State has very high median property and income taxes, with a top 10 cost of living. Winters here are better for skiing than golf.

5. Massachusetts. In the Bay State our prototypical retiree couple would face property taxes that are among the highest of any state. Even though social security income is exempt, income taxes would be high for our couple because of the flat rate applied to other earnings. Most government pensions are exempt, but private sector ones are taxed. The cost of living is high.

6. New Jersey. New Jersey residents are the biggest losers when it comes to property taxes – the median property tax in the Garden State is the highest in the U.S. at $6579. It also has the highest tax burden (as reported by the http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/44.html“>Tax Foundation), a large budget deficit issue, and a very high cost of living. New Jersey has both an estate and an inheritance tax. On the plus side, it excludes most pension and social security income for couples making less than $100,000.

7. Minnesota. Another newcomer to our list, Minnesota, would impose the 4th highest income tax on our prototypical couple. That is mostly due to the absence of any pension or social security exemptions. Property taxes are just below the top 10. Minnesota has a large budget deficit issue. Anyone care to winter in Minnesota?

8. New York. The Empire State was essentially tied with #9 Maine. We broke the tie because New York has the 4th highest median property taxes and one of the highest tax burdens. Surprisingly, the state did not earn any negative points for income taxes, since it offers generous exemptions for social security and pensions, along with a high standard deduction. Its cost of living is one of the highest, plus a very cold winter climate. On the plus side, New York’s Governor Cuomo is waging a campaign to limit property tax increases and improve the state’s fiscal condition.

9. Maine. Maine’s property taxes are much lower than New York’s, while Maine’s income tax on our prototypical couple would be about $1000 higher. Winters are even colder, but cost of living is lower. Maine’s governor has vowed to try to exempt retirement income from taxation, although nothing has happened on that front yet.

10. Wisconsin. Property taxes are among the highest in the country. It has a high foreclosure rate. Wisconsin’s high income taxes are mitigated somewhat for retirees because social security income is exempt and because there is a high standard deduction.

Criteria used in developing this list

Fiscal health. Just as the U.S. government is spending more than it takes in, many of the 50 states have serious financial problems of their own. “http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899358839“>The Widening Gap:” from the Pew Center on the States provides a good understanding of the problem. To determine the fiscal health component of our rankings we used 4 inputs this year: deficit, unfunded pension liabilities, unemployment rates, and foreclosures. Why do we think these are important things to rate on, you might ask? Just think about the turmoil Greece and Spain are experiencing as they are finally start to address their deficits and borrowing. Social services are being cut, taxes are being raised, and there is civil unrest. Similarly for states that run into financial trouble, the pain will be acute when the piper is paid, and you probably don’t want to be part of it. We combined these factors; if a state was in the top 10 for all four problems it received 1 negative point in the rankings (.25 each).

Property taxes. In our opinion property taxes are usually the most oppressive taxes for retirees, since they can be so high in some states and bear no relation to one’s income. The 10 states with the highest property taxes were awarded 1 point on a sliding scale, with New Jersey actually earning 1.1 points since its median taxes are so much higher than any other state.

State income taxes. We think too many baby boomer retirees focus too much attention on state income taxes as a reason to move. That’s because unless you have a lot of income, they are not a factor. In our analysis we created a hypothetical couple that has $70,000 in earnings from social security, pension, earnings, and retirement savings; equal to the top earning quartile of people 65+. Using data from the Congressional Research Service we assumed this couple received 20% of its income from social security, 23% from pension, and 47% from earnings and investments. We used those inputs to estimate income taxes for each state at tax-rates.org. Obviously, your earning profile will probably be different. If your joint earnings are significantly below $70,000, this rating component is probably not significant. Here is where you can see the ratings with this component eliminated. The 10 states with the highest taxes on this factor earned up to 1 negative point.

Cost of living. Most people retiring today are very concerned about how they are going to make it work financially. We awarded states with the highest cost of living 1 negative point.

Climate. We believe the majority of today’s retirees have a bias towards places with warmer winters. States north of the Mason-Dixon line were awarded a negative 1 point for their colder climate. (See also our 2011 article – Worst Places to Retire for Weather and Natural Disasters)

You can customize your “worst states” list by using the rankings on this https://www.topretirements.com/blog/customize-your-own-worst-retirement-states/“>rankings page.

Other criteria for identifying the best or worst retirement state:

While our rankings concentrated on fiscal health, taxes, cost of living, and climate, here is a more complete list of possible criteria for developing your personal rankings of retirement states and towns:

– Proximity to friends and family

– Sales taxes (Not usually a deal breaker, but annoying)

– Inheritance and Estate taxes (Some states have neither, a few have both)

– Crime

– Recreation

– Transportation

– Healthcare

– Education including colleges

– Cultural resources

– Natural disasters

– Fitting in socially, politically, religiously</strong>

More about our sources and criteria:

Pension/Health Funding and Budget Deficit data – http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899358839“>Pew Center

Budget Deficit data – http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=711“>Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Unemployment data – http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm“>Bureau of Labor Statistics

Property Taxes – http://www.tax-rates.org/taxtables/property-tax-by-state“>Tax-rates.org

Income taxes – here we used the http://www.tax-rates.org/taxtables/income-tax-by-state“>income tax calculator from Tax-rates.org

Cost of Living – http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm“>Missourieconomy.org

For further reference:

https://www.topretirements.com/blog/great-towns/our-worst-states-to-retire-list.html/“>Worst States for Retirement – 2010

Comments:

What do you think about our criteria and our rankings? Did your state make the list, or did it deserve to? Please share your opinion in the Comments section below.

Sources used to prepare this article:
How Does Your State Compare

About.com State Income Taxes in Retirement

No Sales Tax States

Various State Tax Rate Comparisons

Michigan Retirement Exemption Changes

Tax information by Retirement Living

Individual State Income Tax Rates and Exemptions

State taxation of retirement income

Best and Worst Run States in America

Worst States to Die In

Inheritance/Estate Taxes by State

Cost of living by state