New Survey Deems New Jersey As This Year’s Worst State To Retire

Raise your hand if you've never heard anyone complain about how expensive it is to live in New Jersey.

If you're a resident of the Garden State, chances are that's been you on more than one occasion. While those of us that live here tend to have a love-hate relationship with New Jersey, one thing we will never deny is how pricey it can get to exist within this state's boundaries. It's definitely not the cheapest place in the United States to set up home base.

This probably won't come as a shock to any Jersey residents, but apparently, the Garden State isn't where you should set your sights for your endgame, either. A new study has determined New Jersey to be the worst place in the United States for people to retire. Are you surprised? If you live in NJ, probably not.

A survey recently compared states by measuring them against each other in variables such as affordability, health care costs, and quality of life. Needless to say, New Jersey didn't fair too well.

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In terms of  the cost of living metric, though, you may be surprised to learn that New Jersey didn't come in dead last. That's not to say we ranked decently in affordability or anything (we didn't), but we weren't in last place. New Jersey fell into the 42nd spot for cost of living. That means that there are eight other states out there with a higher cost of living than us.

Still, when comparing New Jersey's score in all the metrics used to determine each state's rank, our overall score landed us in last place. Or first, depending on how you look at it. We're 1st on the list for worst places for people to retire. We're last on the list for the best places (obviously, because we're the worst).

Take a look at where New Jersey fell in the various metrics used to conduct the retirement survey:

Retiring in New Jersey (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

- 42nd – Adjusted Cost of Living

- 33rd – Annual Cost of In-Home Services

- 41st – WalletHub ‘Taxpayer’ Ranking

- 38th – Elderly-Friendly Labor Market

- 28th – % of Population Aged 65 & Older

- 46th – Health-Care Facilities per Capita

That explains why so many of our grandparents and elders chose to move away once their working years were behind them. The sad truth is who knows whether this will change as the new generation progresses in age. Only time will tell.

Source: WalletHub