10 States Where You Can Retire With Only $750K Plus Social Security

If you haven’t been able to pad your retirement nest egg with the seemingly unachievable amount of $1 million, then finding an affordable place to retire may seem unlikely. It’s a lot of pressure to consider that your retirement savings have to last you the rest of your life, but you should focus on the longevity of your golden years — and not how much gold you’ll have in those years.

Whether it’s the quality of healthcare or housing costs that have you concerned, it’s good to know that there are options for you based on what you have saved plus your Social Security income. GOBankingRates recently completed a study to determine the minimum savings you would need in each state to have a comfortable retirement, with factors including everything from the cost of groceries to utilities and using the average annual Social Security income of $22,437.

Here are some key takeaways:

• Only West Virginia and Oklahoma come in under a $700,000 estimate for what you should have in your retirement savings. 
• Eight of the 10 states that come in under $750,000 for this list are Southern.
• All 10 states on this list have an estimated annual cost of expenditures under $30,000 after Social Security is factored in.

If you are approaching retirement age and want to move to a place where $750,000 in savings plus Social Security will last you as long as you need, take a look at these 10 states.

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,778
• Average annual cost of housing: $6,711
• Average annual cost of utilities: $4,003
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,587
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $7,638
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $48,451
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $26,014

How much savings you need to retire here: $650,356

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,576
• Average annual cost of housing: $8,056
• Average annual cost of utilities: $4,122
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,414
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $7,178
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $49,955
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $27,518

How much savings you need to retire here: $687,938

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,586
• Average annual cost of housing: $8,711
• Average annual cost of utilities: $4,075
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,310
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $7,434
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $50,475
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $28,038

How much savings you need to retire here: $700,947

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,658
• Average annual cost of housing: $8,114
• Average annual cost of utilities: $4,266
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,508
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $6,575
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $50,938
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $28,500

How much savings you need to retire here: $712,510

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,610
• Average annual cost of housing: $8,792
• Average annual cost of utilities: $3,842
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,434
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $7,593
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $51,053
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $28,616

How much savings you need to retire here: $715,401

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,581
• Average annual cost of housing: $9,085
• Average annual cost of utilities: $4,172
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,152
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $6,876
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $51,169
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $28,732

How much savings you need to retire here: $718,292

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,557
• Average annual cost of housing: $8,757
• Average annual cost of utilities: $3,842
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,360
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $6,650
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $51,169
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $28,732

How much savings you need to retire here: $718,292

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,639
• Average annual cost of housing: $8,781
• Average annual cost of utilities: $3,961
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,790
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $7,261
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $52,094
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $29,657

How much savings you need to retire here: $741,419

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,658
• Average annual cost of housing: $9,681
• Average annual cost of utilities: $3,753
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,404
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $6,801
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $52,210
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $29,772

How much savings you need to retire here: $744,310

• Average annual cost of groceries: $4,682
• Average annual cost of housing: $9,096
• Average annual cost of utilities: $3,829
• Average annual cost of transportation: $4,686
• Average annual cost of healthcare: $7,336
• Average annual cost of living (total expenditures): $52,210
• Average annual expenditures after Social Security: $29,772

How much savings you need to retire here: $744,310

Methodology: In order to find out exactly how much you need to retire in your state, GOBankingRates found the annual cost of expenditures for a retired person in each state by multiplying the 65 year and older expenditures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey by the cost-of-living index for each state from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s 2024 Q1 cost of living series. To find how much money a retired person would need to save, we divided each state’s annual expenditures, minus the annual Social Security income as sourced from the Social Security Administration’s Monthly Statistical Snapshot, June 2024, by 0.04, assuming drawing down savings by 4% each year to pay for living expenses. All data was collected and is up to date as of July 17, 2024.