How Long $1 Million in Retirement Will Last in Every US Region

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In the movie “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” it comes across as comedic when the main villain, Dr. Evil, says his ransom price for the world is $1 million. His assistant, Number Two, chimes in to say that $1 million isn’t enough. What makes Dr. Evil’s initial ask so funny is not only the way he dramatically accentuates each syllable, but the absurdity of such a low ask. Even in 1997, we understood that in this save-the-world scenario, $1 million was a preposterously little amount of money.

What does any of this have to do with retirement? Well, if you’re retiring in the U.S. at age 65, and aiming to live another 35 years, or so, you’ll see, once you do the math, that $1 million in the bank likely isn’t going to be enough. Of course, how long the money will last you depends not only on how, but on where you live. 

In a new study, GOBankingRates analyzed the four regions of the U.S. to determine how many years it will take to draw down $1 million in retirement savings. The regions are ranked from where this money will last the shortest to the longest amount of time.

4. West

• States that make up this region: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming
• Average value of a single-family home: $538,990 
• Annual cost of living: $62,910 
• Average amount of years $1 million in retirement savings will last: 15.90

3. Northeast

• States that make up this region: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont
• Average value of a single-family home: $478,486 
• Annual cost of living: $58,686
• Average amount of years $1 million in retirement savings will last: 17.04

2. South 

• States that make up this region: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia 
• Average value of a single-family home: $326,042 
• Annual cost of living: $45,263 
• Average amount of years $1 million in retirement savings will last: 22.09

1. Midwest

• States that make up this region: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin 
• Average value of a single-family home: $276,787
• Annual cost of living: $41,797 
• Average amount of years $1 million in retirement savings will last: 23.93

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed the four regions of the U.S. as defined by the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics as Northeast; CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VT. South as; AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WV. Midwest as; IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, and WI. West as; AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, and WY. Using these regions the total population, population ages 65 and over, total households, and household median income were sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. The cost of living indexes were sourced for each state using the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center and using the region definitions of the states, the cost of living index for each region and category can be calculated. Using the average expenditure costs for retired households, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey for Retired Consumer Units, the average expenditure cost for each region can be calculated. Using the average single-family home value for each state, the average for the entire region can be calculated. Assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, the average mortgage cost can be calculated. The average mortgage and expenditure costs can be used to calculate the average total cost of living. The time to draw down $1,000,000 in retirement savings can be calculated using the total cost of living with the states sorted by the longest to shortest time to draw down. All data was collected on and is up to date as of May 27, 2025. 

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