Washington state has a lot going for itself. The mountains, the forests, the coast, the rivers, the hikes – it’s all part of the luxury living in the great Pacific Northwest. And, yet, we love it here for all of these things and more, it still turns out Washington is ranked among the worst states to retire to. Seriously ?!
According to this list when affordability, quality of life and health care are taken into account, Washington ranks eighth compared to other states. I mean, sure, we’re not as bad as Kentucky which came in last place and some other states like New York and New Jersey, I would have thought Washington state would have been much higher up the list.
When you think of retirement, you probably think of Florida when you hear about so many people who go there to live out the rest of their days. According to this list, Florida comes in 2nd place only after Virginia. I’m not sure what Virginia has in store for this that Washington hasn’t, but here we are.
In case you’re curious about our neighboring states, Oregon finished in 38th place (not great), Idaho is doing very well in 9th place, and California is in 18th place. I would have thought the California would have been higher, but maybe it’s that affordability that puts it where it is.
WalletHub has all the details.
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Many of the cities included jump out to the casual observer as popular spots for summer rentals — Branson of the Ozarks, Missouri or Lake Havasu of Arizona — it might surprise you to dive deeper into some quality-of-living offerings beyond the beach and vacation homes. You’ll likely gain some knowledge from a diverse range of Americana: one of the last remaining 1950s-style drive-ins in the Midwest; a Florida city that began as a retirement area for Civil War veterans; an island boasting some of the best public schools and wealth in the country right in the middle of a lake between Seattle and Bellevue; and even a California town that contains far more than Johnny Cash’s prison blues.
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Using March 2019 data from the Social Security Administration, Stacker compiled a list of the most popular names in each of the 50 states and Washington DC, based on the 2018 SSA rankings. The top five male names and top five female names are listed for each state, as well as the number of children born in 2018 with that name. Historically common names like Michael made the top five in only three states, while the less common name Harper ranks in the top five for 22 states.
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