How Long $500K Will Last in Retirement in Each State

If you and your friend each asked yourself this question — “How much do I need to retire?” — you probably would come up with different answers. What one person happily could live on might not be nearly enough for someone else.

According to Fidelity Investments, the way to save is to have at least double your salary put away by age 30, three times by 40, six times by 50, eight times by 60 and 10 times by 67. Some experts suggest having a retirement nest egg of at least $1 million but that’s a difficult number to achieve for many Americans.

To paint a more realistic picture of retirement finances, GOBankingRates determined how long $500,000 will last retirees in every state. To do this, the study analyzed average spending data — including groceries housing utilities transportation and health care — for people ages 65 and older.

Keep reading to get a clear idea of the cost of living across America, from the cheapest state to the most expensive.

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 10 years, 0 Months, 21 days
• Annual expenditure: $49,723.48

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 11 months, 12 days
• Annual expenditure: $50,243.84

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 11 months, 1 days
• Annual expenditure: $50,417.30

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 9 months, 18 days
• Annual expenditure: $50,995.48

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 8 months, 4 days
• Annual expenditure: $51,631.47

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 8 months, 4 days
• Annual expenditure: $51,631.47

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 7 months, 13 days
• Annual expenditure: $51,978.38

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 7 months, 13 days
• Annual expenditure: $51,978.38

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 7 months, 6 days
• Annual expenditure: $52,094.02

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 6 months, 26 days
• Annual expenditure: $52267.47

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 5 months, 19 days
• Annual expenditure: $52,787.83

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 5 months, 16 days
• Annual expenditure: $52,845.65

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 5 months, 12 days
• Annual expenditure: $52,903.47

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 4 months, 21 days
• Annual expenditure: $53,250.38

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 4 months, 21 days
• Annual expenditure: $53,250.38

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 4 months, 21 days
• Annual expenditure: $53,250.38

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 4 months, 18 days
• Annual expenditure: $53,308.20

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 3 months, 22 days
• Annual expenditure: $53,712.92

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 3 months, 4 days
• Annual expenditure: $54,002.01

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 2 months, 9 days
• Annual expenditure: $54,406.74

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 1 months, 23 days
• Annual expenditure: $54,638.01

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 1 months, 1 days
• Annual expenditure: $54,984.92

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 0 months, 17 days
• Annual expenditure: $55,274.01

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 0 months, 10 days
• Annual expenditure: $55,389.64

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 9 years, 0 months, 2 days
• Annual expenditure: $55,505.28

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 11 months, 19 days
• Annual expenditure: $55,736.55

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 11 months, 1 days
• Annual expenditure: $56,083.46

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 8 months, 18 days
• Annual expenditure: $57,355.46

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 5 months, 30 days
• Annual expenditure: $58,800.91

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 5 months, 26 days
• Annual expenditure: $58,916.54

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 5 months, 5 days
• Annual expenditure: $59,321.27

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 5 months, 1 days
• Annual expenditure: $59,379.09

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 4 months, 25 days
• Annual expenditure: $59,552.54

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 4 months, 14 days
• Annual expenditure: $59,725.99

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 2 months, 31 days
• Annual expenditure: $60,593.26

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 8 years, 0 months, 25 days
• Annual expenditure: $61,923.08

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 8 months, 27 days
• Annual expenditure: $64,582.71

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 8 months, 27 days
• Annual expenditure: $64,640.52

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 8 months, 8 days
• Annual expenditure: $65,045.25

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 6 months, 23 days
• Annual expenditure: $66,143.79

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 6 months, 19 days
• Annual expenditure: $66,259.43

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 5 months, 27 days
• Annual expenditure: $66,779.79

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 5 months, 24 days
• Annual expenditure: $66,837.61

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 5 months, 9 days
• Annual expenditure: $67,184.52

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 7 years, 1 months, 27 days
• Annual expenditure: $69,786.33

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 6 years, 10 months, 24 days
• Annual expenditure: $72,445.95

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 6 years, 9 months, 29 days
• Annual expenditure: $73,197.59

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 6 years, 2 months, 9 days
• Annual expenditure: $80,771.75

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 6 years, 0 months, 14 days
• Annual expenditure: $82,737.56

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 5 years, 9 months, 11 days
• Annual expenditure: $86,553.55

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 4 years, 9 months, 3 days
• Annual expenditure: $104,939.67

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, Days: 4 years, 9 months, 3 days
• Annual expenditure: $104,939.67

Methodology: To find how long $500,000 will last in retirement across the country, GOBankingRates first found (1) the national average annual expenditures for people 65 and older, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Then, GOBankingRates created (2) state-level annual expenditure estimates by multiplying the national figure by each state’s overall cost of living index score for the 2Q 2023 from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. Finally, GOBankingRates found (3) how many years $500,000 will last in each state by dividing $500,000 by each state’s average annual expenditures estimate. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were then ranked with No. 1 being the state where $500,000 will last the longest and No. 51 being the state where it will run out most quickly. GOBankingRates provided supplemental information on the average annual cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation and healthcare for people 65 and older in each state by again using MERIC’s cost-of-living indices for each category to factor out national estimates from the CES. All data was collected on and up to date as of Nov. 2, 2023.