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New England is one of the most expensive places to retire, study shows

Five New England states made a list of the least affordable places for retirement.

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October 16, 2022

Thinking of settling down in New England? A new study may make you want to save your pennies.

Financial services company Bankrate compiled data to rank retirement in locations across the country. The study stacked up states in categories such as wellness, culture, weather, and crime. New England didn’t fare well in the study’s key category — affordability.

Five New England states made the top 10 most expensive states to retire in, with Connecticut ranking third, Massachusetts fourth, Vermont sixth, Rhode Island seventh, and Maine 10th. New Hampshire, the last state standing, came in at 14th.

The top 10 also included New York and New Jersey, but number one on the list, Hawaii, is far from the east coast.

This doesn’t fare well for potential retirees — a GoBanking survey found that New England retirees need at least $900,000 in savings to settle down.

To calculate a state’s affordability, the Bankrate study used data from the Cost of Living Index from the Council for Community and Economic Research, published in July 2022, and property and sales tax rates from the Tax Foundation’s rankings for 2022.

However, the six New England states fared well in other categories, such as well-being, in which Massachusetts topped the list, and low rates of crime, in which New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island made the top 10.

You can read the full study here.