SALT LAKE CITY – If you’re a woman in Utah who is planning to retire soon, you just happen to live in exactly the right place.
That’s the conclusion of a recent national study that ranked Utah as the state that offered the best conditions for retired women out of all 50 states.
That study, conducted by the research team at Manhattan Mental Health Counseling in New York City, found that Utah provided medium-level living costs, strong safety, good hospital quality and a high population of older women.
If those researchers were hoping to provide good news for female retirees in their own neck of the woods, they were disappointed. New York finished dead last among the states, according to their study.
“Retirement isn’t just a gold watch and a goodbye cake,” observes an MMHC spokesperson.
“For women, especially, the realities that shape daily life matter as much as any nest egg.”
Those include paying the bills, feeling safe in your community, finding quality health care close by and having places to connect with others.
By those measures, Utah sits atop the national ranking. While the Beehive State’s typical living expenses are middle-of-the-pack high at $37,600 per year, Utah also makes up ground by scoring in the top ten among states in the categories of safety (4th), quality hospital ratings (also 4th) and share of women over 65 (2nd).
The MMHC experts also cited Utah has having a remarkably high female life expectancy at 80.2 years.
The study’s methodology ranked states on a 1 to 100 scale using ten factors including cost of living, safety, health care, environment and community opportunities. That ranking was based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the Centers for Disease Control; SeniorLiving.org; Eventbrite; and other national sources.
Joining Utah in the top ten ranking for most hospitable states for female retirees were Wyoming, Hawaii, South Dakota, Iowa, New Hampshire, Alaska, Vermont, Nebraska and Minnesota.
At the far end of the spectrum, New York offers female retirees strong longevity at 81.67 years and a wide-ranging calendar of events year-round. But the state also suffers from the nation’s highest cost of living at nearly $60,000 a year and low ratings in terms of quality hospital care.
The MMHC spokesperson observes that the best states for female retirees are those, like Utah, bring the realities of everyday living together so that life after a career feels secure, social and sustainable.