Planning for retirement should be a lifelong endeavor that begins the moment you start earning enough income to sock some of it away. The earlier you start the better as compound interest and capital gains investments generate more profit when they have a longer time to accrue.
Planning your life after 65 might include finding a new place to call home. Ideally, such a place would offer important amenities such as easy access to physical activities, quality health care, and social venues. (Affordability is important too, and Hawaii is the most expensive state to retire in.)
Based on an index of 11 key measures – including health outcomes, the concentration of medical service providers, air quality, and venues for physical activity and entertainment – Dickinson County ranks as the best place to retire in Iowa. Home to the city of Spirit Lake, Dickinson County has a population of 17,536 people, 25.9% of whom are retirement age.
One reason the county stands out among other parts of the state is health outcomes. The average life expectancy at birth in the county is 80.7 years, compared to 78.7 years across the state as a whole.
Click here to see a full explanation of 11 measures used to determine the best place to retire in every state. Only counties or county equivalents where the share of the population who are 65 or older exceeds the 16% national share were considered.
Best place to retireTotal populationRetirement age residents as share of total pop. (%)Avg. life expectancy at birth (years)Pop. with access to locations for physical activity (%)Primary care physicians per 100,000 peopleAlabama: Baldwin County227,13120.677.765.762.7Alaska: Haines Borough2,09820.984.496.8289.7Arizona: Yavapai County233,78931.978.485.057.4Arkansas: Montgomery County8,52526.875.197.223.2California: Marin County262,38722.485.297.5144.9Colorado: Pitkin County17,47119.392.594.686.5Connecticut: Middlesex County164,56820.580.897.378.3Delaware: Sussex County234,04528.378.465.057.8Florida: Sumter County127,33557.680.288.839.8Georgia: Towns County12,30033.779.0100.054.4Hawaii: Kauai County73,24720.382.391.881.7Idaho: Blaine County23,86819.185.274.588.8Illinois: Monroe County34,73217.780.785.637.2Indiana: Dubois County43,47417.379.275.578.1Iowa: Dickinson County17,53625.980.784.272.8Kansas: Gove County2,77424.880.242.9217.8Kentucky: Woodford County26,75818.577.683.066.5Louisiana: Jefferson Parish439,40217.376.796.397.8Maine: Hancock County55,41725.179.566.4115.7Maryland: Talbot County37,51029.179.371.6103.7Massachusetts: Dukes County20,27724.081.396.766.4Michigan: Emmet County33,94622.579.382.4119.8Minnesota: Cook County5,57428.582.583.8142.4Mississippi: Franklin County7,70520.174.470.126.1Missouri: St. Louis County1,001,98218.077.295.4126.5Montana: Park County17,07223.079.975.4114.5Nebraska: Brown County2,75228.179.179.6103.2Nevada: Douglas County49,15829.081.180.952.1New Hampshire: Grafton County91,02520.880.784.9187.6New Jersey: Morris County508,34717.081.898.597.1New Mexico: Los Alamos County19,16917.483.999.3150.0New York: New York County1,669,12716.883.7100.0142.2North Carolina: Transylvania County32,97930.181.085.072.4North Dakota: Mercer County8,40520.081.979.184.1Ohio: Medina County181,44818.079.992.762.8Oklahoma: Ellis County3,81323.276.237.153.2Oregon: Wallowa County7,33029.382.058.5145.8Pennsylvania: Montgomery County850,89017.780.596.4132.8Rhode Island: Bristol County50,67219.781.299.5192.8South Carolina: Beaufort County186,00727.482.686.071.4South Dakota: Fall River County6,97929.974.786.469.4Tennessee: Johnson County17,91222.874.0100.033.0Texas: Jeff Davis County2,02136.984.444.351.3Utah: Grand County9,63020.479.494.5134.5Vermont: Washington County59,60919.779.873.4100.1Virginia: James City County77,73325.281.697.5111.4Washington: San Juan County17,63133.786.386.270.1West Virginia: Tucker County6,82226.375.598.760.0Wisconsin: Ozaukee County91,02919.881.997.3141.6Wyoming: Park County29,66423.380.572.5122.9
