5 States With the Highest (and Lowest) Average Retirement Income: Is It Enough?

Across the U.S., many retirees are struggling to get by or are at least worried about having enough money to last through retirement. Only 44% of retired Americans think they saved enough, according to Schroders, and 58% don’t even know how long their savings will last. Considering that the cost of living varies substantially across the U.S., you might think that retirees in low-cost places are faring better than those in high-cost places. But in general, the average retiree does not have enough retirement income to afford a comfortable retirement in their state, according to a GOBankingRates analysis.

Here are the states with the highest and lowest average retirement incomes, along with the amount needed in each state to afford a comfortable retirement, which GOBankingRates calculated based on groceries, healthcare, housing, utilities and transportation expenses, plus a 20% buffer to have to have that “comfortable” feeling.

Note that Washington, D.C., has the highest mean retirement income among retirees at $49,072, though you’d need more than twice that amount — $100,326 — to afford a comfortable retirement. That said, the following rankings exclude Washington, D.C. Here are the states with the highest and lowest average retirement income.

Below are the rankings of the top five states based on mean retirement income. As the data shows, the gap between what it takes to afford a comfortable retirement and the average retirement income varies substantially, with Virginia faring the best among these states.

• Mean retirement income: $42,676
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $86,796
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $44,120

• Mean retirement income: $40,129
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $80,621
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $40,492

• Mean retirement income: $38,967
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $100,603
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $61,636

• Mean retirement income: $37,825
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $129,189
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $91,364

• Mean retirement income: $37,730
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $70,284
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $32,554

Below are the rankings of the five states with the lowest mean retirement income, ranked backward from the 50th state to the 46th. Here too, even though the cost of living is lower than it is in the states with the most retirement income, there are still substantial gaps. In some cases, the gaps are even larger than in more expensive states.

• Mean retirement income: $23,466
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $62,652
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $39,186

• Mean retirement income: $24,639
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $58,142
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $33,503

• Mean retirement income: $24,932
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $61,403
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $36,471

• Mean retirement income: $25,913
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $62,513
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $36,600

• Mean retirement income: $26,300
• Cost of a comfortable retirement annually: $61,264
• Difference between mean and comfortable annual retirement income: $34,964

Methodology: GOBankingRates analyzed the following expenditures of Americans aged 65 and older, based on data sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey release for the full year of 2022: (1) annual spending on groceries, defined as “food at home;” (2) annual spending on housing, defined as “shelter;” (3) annual spending on transportation, defined as “gasoline, other fuels and motor oil” AND “other vehicle expenses;” (4) annual spending on healthcare; (5) annual spending on utilities, defined as “utilities, fuels, and public services;” and (6) overall average annual expenditures. Spending estimates were adjusted to the state level by multiplying each cost category by its corresponding cost of living index score in each state, sourced from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s 2024 Q1 cost of living index data. After calculating total consumption expenditures, an additional (7) savings buffer was calculated by assuming that total expenditures consume 80% of ones budget, with 20% left over for savings. GOBankingRates then combined factors (6) and (7) and factored it out by 20 (assuming 20 years of retirement) to give (8) retirement savings needed to live comfortably. All data was collected on and up to date as of July 10, 2024.

GOBankingRates used the 2022 American Community Survey to find the mean (average) retirement income in every state. All data was collected and is up to date as of April 4, 2024.