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How does a state with favorable taxes and the best health care system rank so low on a best state to retire list? Washington offers retirees no taxes, low crime but at a cost. Washington real estate prices are high and so is the cost of living, and while they don’t charge an income tax, they try to make it up in sales tax.
If you’re weighing the pros of retiring to Washington, then you have to start with no state income tax and the 6th best health care system in the nation and low crime (14th). Washington has a natural beauty as well making it an attractive option for many retirees. However, with such a high cost of living and housing we recommend only choosing this option if you can afford it long term.
Whether it’s the sprawl of Seattle or the spillover effects of California the state of Washington isn’t a great option for all retirees. With the 3rd highest priced real estate in the nation you’d think Washington would have better weather, but the fact is it doesn’t. It’s cold and wet, but that does keep people indoors and as a result crime is low. Overall, Washington isn’t bad, it’s just not great for budget conscience retirees.
Best Retirement Cities reviewed all 50 states against 10 different retirement criteria to determine what was truly the best state to retire to.
Empower Personal Wealth, LLC (“EPW”) compensates BestRetirementCities.org (“BRC”) for new leads. BRC is not an investment client of EPW.
