Wyoming and Florida Top Best States to Retire in 2026

Wyoming topped WalletHub's 2026 Best and Worst States to Retire
ranking, edging out Florida by a narrow margin to claim the number one
spot across three combined categories: affordability, quality of life,
and healthcare, according to Business Insider. The annual study, which
evaluated all 50 states using 46 weighted metrics, produced a top five
that also included South Dakota, Colorado, and Minnesota — while
placing Kentucky at the very bottom of the list.

WalletHub's methodology weighted affordability most heavily, given its
outsized impact on fixed-income retirees. Wyoming's first-place
affordability finish — driven by no state income tax, a low cost of
living, and a fifth-lowest violent crime rate nationally — gave it
enough of a structural advantage to hold off Florida despite the
Sunshine State's first-place quality of life finish, per Business
Insider.

The Top 10 States

The full top ten in WalletHub's 2026 ranking, in order, is: Wyoming,
Florida, South Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota, Alaska, Delaware, Georgia,
New Hampshire, and Iowa, according to Business Insider and My Federal
Retirement. Several of these states share a common structural advantage:
no state income tax. Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, and Florida all fall
into this category — a factor that meaningfully extends fixed
retirement income in each.

Minnesota's fifth-place finish was driven primarily by healthcare.
WalletHub ranked it the single best state in the country for retiree
healthcare, a category that includes physician access, hospital quality
ratings, and senior-specific health outcomes. Its affordability ranking
of 33rd — the weakest of the top five — was outweighed by the
healthcare and quality-of-life scores, per Business Insider.

The Bottom Five

At the other end of the ranking, Hawaii — despite its reputation as a
destination state — placed last in affordability among all 50 states,
dragging it to the bottom of the retirement rankings despite its natural
appeal, according to My Federal Retirement. West Virginia, Mississippi,
Oklahoma, and Kentucky rounded out the bottom five. Kentucky ranked last
overall, with low scores across all three categories: 34th in
affordability, 42nd in quality of life, and 47th in healthcare, per
Mental Floss.

The spread between Wyoming and Kentucky illustrates how dramatically
retirement quality of life can vary by state — not only in cost, but
in access to quality healthcare and in the structural factors that
define day-to-day life for residents on fixed incomes.

How WalletHub Built the Ranking

WalletHub's 46 metrics span a wide range of retirement-relevant
indicators: cost of living, tax friendliness for retirees, physician
access per capita, hospital quality, elder-abuse protections, weather,
and the percentage of residents already aged 65 and older. The breadth
of the methodology is what separates the WalletHub annual study from
simpler cost-of-living comparisons — it measures quality of retirement
life comprehensively rather than reducing the question to taxes or
housing costs alone.

The study is released annually and has become one of the most-cited
retirement planning resources in consumer finance media. Business
Insider noted that this year's results reinforced a pattern visible in
recent editions: states with no income tax and low property crime
consistently outperform states that score well on climate or cultural
amenities when the full methodology is applied.

References: Best And Worst States To Retire 2026 2 | Best Worst States Retire | Best And Worst States To Retire 2026