Final Four Retirement Destinations: The Cost of Living for Retirees in Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Alabama
Written by
Chris Adam
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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If you’re a sports fan, you likely know that Duke, Houston, Florida and Auburn are in the Final Four. And if you’re nearing retirement age, you may be curious about how the states involved may look as living options when it’s time to leave regular work behind and settle down.
That’s why GOBankingRates did some homework for you, looking at the cost of living for retirees in Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Alabama.
Also see the cost to retire comfortably for 30 years in every state.
Florida
- Cost-of-living index: 102.4
- Annual cost of living: $61,529
It’s no surprise that Florida is a popular retirement destination. After all, there’s lots of nice weather and plenty of things to do to stay busy.Â
Another advantage of moving to Florida as a retiree is that it’s one of the most tax-friendly states, as noted by Kiplinger. No state income tax is also good news for lots of retirees.
North Carolina
- Cost-of-living index: 97.6
- Annual cost of living: $58,645
North Carolina is a bit cheaper for retirees than Florida. The annual cost of living here is just above $58,000, compared with nearly $62,000 for Florida.
According to Retire NC, some of the reasons to retire in North Carolina include affordability and a nice climate. Plus, the state increased spending to support older adults.
Texas
- Cost-of-living index: 92.6
- Annual cost of living: $55,640
Per Insight Wealth Strategies, there are many financial reasons to enjoy the retiree life in Texas. First, there’s no state income tax in Texas. Second, it’s generally affordable to live in the state. The overall cost of living and housing costs are both lower than the national average.
Alabama
- Cost-of-living index: 88.8
- Annual cost of living: $53,357
Out of the Final Four retirement destinations, Alabama looks to be the most affordable. While it’s not necessarily a lot less expensive than some of the other states, it still has the lowest annual cost of living among the Final Four.
Further, Alabama has some tax breaks and good weather for retirees to enjoy.
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’ 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey by the cost of living index for each state from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s 2024 third quarter 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, November 2024, by .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 Jan. 2, 2025.
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