IL Among Best States To Retire: Ranking

ILLINOIS — Illinois is one of the nation’s best states to retire, according to a recent ranking from Bankrate.

The personal finance website determined America’s best and worst states for retirement using dozens of data points across five weighted categories. They are affordability with 40 percent, overall wellbeing with 25 percent, cost and quality of health care with 20 percent, weather with 10 percent, and crime with 5 percent.

“Those categories serve as a reminder that many things go into deciding where to move in retirement, but we weighed affordability the heaviest in the ranking to reflect the challenges that so many Americans face with their retirement savings and the rising cost of living across the U.S.,” according to Bankrate.

The Prarie State came in 16th on the list, between Virginia at 15th and Hawaii at 17th.

Delaware was ranked the best state to retire at No. 1, followed by West Virginia at No. 2 and Georgia at No. 3, then South Carolina and Missouri, respectively. Alaska was ranked the worst at 50th, with New York 49th and Washington 48th.

“In our overall ranking, the best and worst states for retirees are split geographically,” according to Bankrate. “The Midwest and the South claim the top five states, while the Northeast and West claim the bottom five states, primarily because of differences in cost of living.”

View the full ranking from Bankrate.