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

When pondering the question, “How much do I need to retire?” there is never a one-size-fits-all answer. What one person could happily live on, another might find crimps their style. According to Fidelity, the way to save is to have at least 1 x your salary by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, and 10x 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 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.

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 11 years 3 months 12 days
• Annual expenditure: $44,319.85

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 11 years 2 months 3 days
• Annual Expenditure: $44,736.98

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 10 months 16 days
• Annual Expenditure: $45,936.22

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 11 months 15 days
• Annual Expenditure: $45,623.38

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 9 months 30 days
• Annual Expenditure: $46,509.77

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 9 months 25 days
• Annual Expenditure: $46,196.93

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 5 months 5 days
• Annual Expenditure: $47,917.58

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 7 months 24 days
• Annual Expenditure: $46,926.90

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 9 months 3 days
• Annual Expenditure: $46,457.63

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 8 months 1 days
• Annual Expenditure: $46,874.76

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 7 months 17 days
• Annual Expenditure: $47,031.18

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 6 months 29 days
• Annual Expenditure: $47,239.75

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 5 months 5 days
• Annual Expenditure: $47,917.58

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 4 months 13 days
• Annual Expenditure: $48,230.43

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 4 months 24 days
• Annual Expenditure: $48,074.00

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 4 months 9 days
• Annual Expenditure: $48,282.57

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 4 months 13 days
• Annual Expenditure: $48,230.43

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 1 month 5 days
• Annual Expenditure: $49,481.81

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 3 months 0 days
• Annual Expenditure: $48,803.98

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 2 months 10 days
• Annual Expenditure: $49,012.54

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 0 months 14 days
• Annual Expenditure: $49,794.66

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 10 months 2 days
• Annual Expenditure: $50,837.48

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 1 months 23 days
• Annual Expenditure: $49,273.25

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 2 months -1 days
• Annual Expenditure: $49,168.96

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 10 years 0 months 6 days
• Annual Expenditure: $49,898.94

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 10 months 16 days
• Annual Expenditure: $50,628.91

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 9 months 6 days
• Annual Expenditure: $51,202.46

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 7 months 17 days
• Annual Expenditure: $51,932.44

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 3 months 15 days
• Annual Expenditure: $53,809.51

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 3 months 29 days
• Annual Expenditure: $53,600.95

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 3 months 29 days
• Annual Expenditure:  $53,600.95

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 3 months 29 days
• Annual Expenditure: $53,600.95

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 2 months -1 days
• Annual Expenditure: $54,539.49

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 1 months 23 days
• Annual Expenditure: $54,643.77

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 0 month 28 days
• Annual Expenditure: $55,060.90

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 9 years 0 months 21 days
• Annual Expenditure: $55,165.18

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 8 years 5 months 26 days
• Annual Expenditure: $58,867.19

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 8 years 6 months 10 days
• Annual Expenditure: $58,606.48

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 8 years 4 months 24 days
• Annual Expenditure: $59,545.02

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 8 years 3 months 25 days
• Annual Expenditure: $60,118.57

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 8 years 3 months 3 days
• Annual Expenditure: $60,535.70

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 8 years 2 months 14 days
• Annual Expenditure: $60,900.69

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 8 years 3 months 7 days
• Annual Expenditure: $60,431.42

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 7 years 10 months 28 days
• Annual Expenditure: $63,194.89

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 7 years 8 months 23 days
• Annual Expenditure: $64,654.84

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 7 years 6 months 25 days
• Annual Expenditure: $66,010.51

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 7 years 1 month 16 days
• Annual Expenditure: $70,129.65

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 6 years 11 months 18 days
• Annual Expenditure: $71,746.02

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 6 years 4 months 28 days
• Annual Expenditure: $78,055.08

$500,000 will last:

• Years, Months, and Days: 5 years 2 months 13 days
• Annual Expenditure: $95,939.44

Location plays a crucial role in gauging how long $500,000 will last you. Cost of living varies widely across the nation.

For example, as far as location goes, Mississippi ranks as the top choice for making $500,000 last as long as possible. According to the data, however, $500,000 in Mississippi will last only about four months longer than it would in Oklahoma, which is the second-best place to retire with $500,000.

If Hawaii, California or New York are your dream retirement destinations, $500,000 won’t last nearly as long. These states are considered some of the worst choices to retire in with that size of a nest egg as savings. For example, if you were to move to Hawaii instead of Mississippi, you would get six fewer years, on average, out of your retirement savings.

But location isn’t the only thing to consider. You also need to decide how you’ll spend your money, and weigh that against the average cost-of-living expenses in your chosen state. Perhaps you plan on sharing a home with someone else who can afford to pay half of the expenses. Or maybe transportation costs aren’t an issue for you because you plan to use a free or low-cost transit system.

Whatever the case, to make your $500,000 nest egg go the distance, it’s important to choose a retirement destination that will best serve your specific needs at the most affordable cost.

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Cynthia Measom and Jami Farkas contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: In order to find how long $500,000 will last across the country, GOBankingRates first found (1) the national average annual expenditures for people 65 and older, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2021 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 3Q 2022 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 January 23, 2023.