America's retirement havens: Best state for health and wellness

America's retirement havens: Best state for health and wellness

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Hundreds of thousands of seniors flock to sunny Florida or Southern California every year - but a new report has revealed America's hidden gem states for retirement.

The Midwest and Western US dominated the list of the best areas for seniors' health and wellbeing, with Wisconsin coming in first, followed by Minnesota.

Both had wellness scores of more than eight out of 10, which consider access to healthcare, the risk of social isolation, senior living facilities per capita, the poverty rate and social support.

Florida and California don’t even rank in the top 10.

Meanwhile, Southern states, led by Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama, made up the largest share of the worst states for seniors to retire.

The US did not rank well in Universal Drugstore’s Senior Wellbeing Report, which ranked the best places to retire worldwide.

Authors of the report said: ‘While getting older can present numerous challenges, they do not have to stop us from enjoying our senior years.

‘Aging is a natural part of life, so why shouldn’t you make the most of it and enjoy your golden years to their fullest?’

The US came in 26th out of 38 countries with a senior well-being score of 3.78.

The wellness score was calculated by combining data from several factors that impact the well-being of seniors.

These factors were collected from various sources and weighted equally to form a composite score.

For countries, the score considered healthcare access and quality, social support for those 50 and up, quality of life, and healthy life expectancy at age 60.

For US states, the score included social isolation risk, healthcare access, available senior living facilities per 100,000 people, and poverty levels among seniors. All these factors were equally weighted to rank locations based on senior well-being.

Wisconsin ranked first, with a well-being score of 8.62, thanks to its low poverty rate, abundant senior living facilities, and relatively low risk of social isolation.

Minnesota followed in second place with a score of 8.21, performing well across most factors, including a low poverty rate and reasonable access to senior living facilities.

Vermont came third with a score of 8.11, standing out for its healthcare access and balanced performance across all factors.

Washington state was fourth, with a well-being score of 8.06, followed by Iowa with a score of 8.01, and Idaho with a score of 7.81.

After Idaho came Maryland, with a score of 7.4, Oregon with 7.14, New Hampshire with 7.09, and Kansas with 7.04.

Easy access to healthcare services is paramount for seniors, who are more susceptible to severe viral and bacterial infections, broken bones, and falls

People’s senior years may also include time in a nursing home or other type of long-term care facility.

Oregon had the most senior living facilities per capita, about 29 per 100,000, followed by Wisconsin, with about 22 per 100,000.

Social support is also crucial to stave off what can become debilitating loneliness and keep an older person’s mind active.

Social isolation risk measures the odds that seniors will experience a lack of social connections, including interactions with family, friends, and community members.

Risk was lowest in New Hampshire and Idaho, respectively, ranking 24 and 26, followed by Minnesota, ranking 35, and Wisconsin, ranking 37.

On the other end of the spectrum was Oklahoma, with the lowest well-being score of 0.87.

The social isolation risk was 77, and the per capita number of senior living facilities was 4.14. The poverty rate among seniors was also high at 15.4 percent.

The average poverty rate was around 6.5 percent on average in the to 10 states.

After Oklahoma came to Mississippi, it ranked second-lowest in wellness at 0.97, had a 14.9 percent poverty rate, fewer than six retirement communities per capita, a social isolation risk of 100, and was second-last in the nation for access to healthcare.

Then came Alabama, with a wellness score of 1.5, a poverty rate of nearly 14 percent, 4.3 senior living facilities per capita, an isolation risk score of 83, and the 38th-worst healthcare access score.

Louisiana was fourth-worst at 1.79, followed by New Mexico at 1.84 and Arkansas at 2.04. West Virginia was tied with Arkansas.

Texas took spot eight with a score of 2.19, followed by Kentucky at 2.60 and New York with a score of 2.81.

The US’s life expectancy rate was lower than that of the top-performing countries including Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway.

While Americans, on average, can expect to live to around 76, several European countries’ life expectancies exceed 19 years after they’ve reached 60.

The US population approaching retirement is growing, as most of the population skews older. At the same time, fewer babies than ever have been born in the US. There were 55 births for every 1,000 women of reproductive age in 2023, CDC data shows, fewer than any other year on record.

Birth rates took a nosedive after the Great Recession in 2008 and never fully rebounded.

In addition to considering the financial toll of having a child, millions of women are choosing to prioritize their careers and personal growth before having a baby. For this reason, births are shifting to older mothers, with the birth rate highest among women ages 30 to 34.

Retirement can also be costly. More than half of Americans working full or part-time or temporarily unemployed fret about their ability to fund their retirement. Nearly half of workers with specific retirement goals, such as travel, don’t see having the money to do that in their future.

Many older Americans cannot retire at the traditional retirement age of 65.

In the past, pensions and Social Security provided financial security for retirees, allowing them to retire with dignity. But today, just 10 percent of Americans aged 62 to 70 who are retired are financially stable, according to research by labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci from The New School for Social Research.

Most older Americans either retire with a lower standard of living than they had while working or cannot afford to retire at all.