New Jersey is the 27th best state to retire to and has the 10th highest income tax, but does offer social security exemptions. The state also has the 24th best weather and the 10th lowest sales tax. However, real estate options are not as affordable as in other states, and the cost of living is relatively high. On the plus side, New Jersey has the 4th best health care options in the country, and the crime rate is surprisingly low. It’s not like the movies portray.
If you’re thinking of retiring to New Jersey, you’ve got some decent reasons. Great health care, low crime, and a low sales tax help offset the other reasons not to choose New Jersey. The weather is surprising good relative to the rest of country with New Jersey being middle of the road (24th) for average tempuratures. You’ll get 4 seasons and maybe even snowed in on occassion but nothing too life threatening.
It’s just expensive to live in New Jersey and that makes it not a great state to choose for retirement. With the 10th highest income taxes in the country, the 7th most expensive real estate and 13th most expensive cost of living there are better options. If you’re going to pay this much to retire here, you should at least get better weather.
Best Retirement Cities reviewed all 50 states against 10 different retirement criteria to determine what was truly the best state to retire to.
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