If You’re Over 65, Don’t Do This in Washington State!

It wasn't that long ago that Washington State was one of the fastest growing states in the US.  From 2000 to 2010, the Evergreen State was the eight fastest growing as it's combination of no income tax, lower cost of living, and job growth and creation in a number of sectors attracted people in droves.  Those close to, or at, retirement age accounted for just over 12% of that growth, or around 827,000 people.

Even with Washington State officially surpassing 8 million residents in June of this year, that growing trend has cooled a little.  According to the State Office of Financial Management

Washington is growing, though it is doing so slightly slower than the annual average from last decade. The population is growing similarly to last year, however, with an unadjusted growth rate of 1.1% for both years.

So How Does This Impact Retirement?

Before diving in to that, it should be noted that you can find different data sets for everything.  Just last year a group, Global Residence Index, listed Washington State as the best state to retire based off 2022 data and factors it used to create it's methodology.

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The ultimate determination of whether a State is great for retirement depends on your budget and what you have available to you for those 'Golden Years'.  Economic viability is always the number one factor and the website Bankrate.com wholly disagrees with Global residence Index regarding Washington State as a retirement destination.

Bankrate cited cost of living as to why states in the Northeast and on the West Coast fared significantly worse than states in the South and Midwest.  Delaware took the top spot for retirement states and was followed by three Southern States (West Virginia, Georgia, and South Carolina) and one Midwest State (Missouri) to round out the top five.

Alaska was dead last for the second year in a row, followed by New York at 49, and then Washington State at 48th worst State for retirement (they finished 47th in the same survey in 2023).

Why is Washington State So Bad for Retirement?

Bankrate used these categories as heavyweights in their methodology

• Affordability
• Quality/Cost of Healthcare
• Well-Being
• Weather
• Crime

Washington was in the top three regarding healthcare, but every other category was woeful.  They came in 47th in Affordability, 30th in Well-Being, and 34th in regards to the Weather.  Crime was another category where the state suffered, placing 34th overall.  In case you're wondering, or considering a new place to plant roots, neighboring States Oregon and Idaho came in 18th and 14th overall respectively.  You can see the full rundown of Bankrate.com's rankings by clicking here.