Retirees, go west. In WalletHub’s annual list of best states for retirement, states west of the Mississippi had a better showing this year.

WalletHub rated states based on 24 metrics in three key areas: affordability, quality of life and health care. Data was pulled from various sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and WalletHub’s own research.

Cost of living 
Affordability was the primary determinant in judging a state’s friendliness to retirees, particularly cost of living. Taxes on pension and Social Security income, and WalletHub’s own Taxpayer ranking, as well as the annual cost of in-home services, were also considered.

However, affordability isn’t the only factor that goes into that decision. Proximity to friends and family, geography and climate, availability and access to health services, local and regional culture, crime statistics, recreation and leisure opportunities, tax burden, and political climate and employment prospects are all critical factors in choosing where to live after retirees stop working, according to Steven Applewhite, professor emeritus in the Graduate College of Social Work at University of Houston.

• Total score: 59.01
• Affordability rank: 41
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 8
• Quality of life rank: 1
• Health care rank: 13
   

• Total score: 59.86
• Affordability rank: 29
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 43
• Quality of life rank: 19
• Health care rank: 8
   

• Total score: 61.06
• Affordability rank: 15
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 28
• Quality of life rank: 14
• Health care rank: 31

• Total score: 61.19
• Affordability rank: 8
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 5
• Quality of life rank: 12
• Health care rank: 43

• Total score: 61.39
• Affordability rank: 21
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 3
• Quality of life rank: 22

• Total score: 62.19
• Affordability rank: 10
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 7
• Quality of life rank: 32
• Health care rank: 29

• Total score: 62.5
• Affordability rank: 6
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 9
• Quality of life rank: 26
• Health care rank: 34
   

• Total score: 66.62
• Affordability rank: 14
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 16
• Quality of life rank: 29
• Health care rank: 1
   

• Total score: 67.09
• Affordability rank: 1
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 4
• Quality of life rank: 28
• Health care rank: 16
   

• Total score: 70.75
• Affordability rank: 2
• WalletHub taxpayer rank: 10
• Quality of life rank: 3
• Health care rank: 15