Paradise comes at a high price for kūpuna looking to retire in Hawaiʻi.
Retirement Living, a national platform for seniors planning to retire, ranked all 50 states for the best and worst places to retire in for 2025.
Hawaiʻi ranked last.
The platform judged each state’s affordability, quality of life, and economic strength. The overall scores were based on a 100-point scale, with quality of life holding the most weight at 60 points, affordability at 30 points, and economic strength at 10 points.
Hawaiʻi received an overall score of 33.9 out of 100 points, compared to first place Wyoming’s 57.06, showing that even the top-ranked state largely lacked in some areas.
Hawaiʻi scored third highest for quality of life, at 23.4 out of 60 points, yet fell desperately short in affordability, at 5.6 out of 30 points, causing the state’s descent to last place.
Jailyn Montero, a media relations specialist for Retirement Living, stated she was surprised that Hawaiʻi ranked last despite its strong rank for quality of life, but added that the cost of living outweighs the benefits.
She noted Hawaiʻi's high state income tax plays a big part in why retirement here is out of reach for so many. Many top-ranking states, like Wyoming and Florida, have no state income tax.
“Hawaiʻi's state income tax is (up to) 11%, which is among the highest in the nation. Those are thousands of dollars per year that could go toward other things like health care, housing, or just plainly enjoying your retirement years,” Montero said.
Retirement Living found that people looking to retire in Hawaiʻi need to have more than $1.6 million, before inflation, saved up to retire comfortably.
Thomas Williams, the executive director of the state’s Employee Retirement System, offered a statement to HPR following the release of the ranked list.
“There are unfortunately always trade-offs. The lifetime income we provide to retirees serves to close the ‘affordability gap’ between here and other places,” Williams said.
“High cost, for better or worse, is broadly considered a reasonable companion to high quality. Coping with expenses in retirement is quite a challenge. Our mission is to help.”
Besides the cost of living, Hawaiʻi has one of the lowest numbers of health care facilities, with roughly 1,240 facilities per 100,000 seniors, according to Retirement Living’s research. This can lead to kūpuna needing to fly to the continental U.S. to get specialized care, which adds to their overall living costs.
“None of these advantages of quality of life matter if you can't afford to live there,” Montero said.
Data on migration rates were not included in the study, meaning it’s unclear if this data applies to local residents as well as retirees moving from the continent to retire.
