Wyoming is one of the best-kept secrets among retirees in the U.S. In fact,
Bankrate ranks Wyoming as the leading state in which to retire. If you are weighing your options for where to settle down after retirement, here are four facts to consider about retirement in Wyoming.
1. Favorable tax rates
Wyoming is among the most tax-friendly states in America. There is no state income tax, the primary reason that Wyoming boasts the lowest tax rate in the country. Wyoming’s effective tax rate is 6.9 percent, or nearly 50 percent lower than New York, which features the highest effective
tax rate in the nation, CNN Money pointed out.
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That’s not all. Veterans receive an exemption from property tax, and the state’s sales tax rate is just 4 percent,
according to TaxRates.com. Wyoming also has no state inheritance or estate tax, a major boon to seniors.
As a whole, Top Retirements reported that Wyoming is 48th of 50 states for total tax burden.
2. Low crime, high safety
Not surprisingly due to a primarily rural population of 576,000 people, Wyoming’s crime rate is the fifth lowest in the nation, according to CNN Money. Wyoming is one of the safer states in the country, ranking 20th of 50 states in overall safety for living,
according to WalletHub.com. Wyoming rates 11th in financial safety, 13th in road safety and 25th in home and community safety.
3. Higher cost of living
Cost of living is extremely important to retirees. In fact, it is their No. 2 retirement priority after safety, according to CNN Money. This is one of the few areas where Wyoming falls short compared to many other states.
Sperling’s Best Places reported that the Cowboy State’s cost of living is 4.4 percent above the national average.
Wyoming’s higher cost of living is caused largely by the lack of private land for residents to purchase; the federal government owns most of the state’s land, converting much of it into national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Wyoming’s private land can be expensive, such as in the Jackson Hole resort area, where most condo prices exceed $1 million, according to Top Retirements.
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4. Health care quality issues
In spite of many other great qualities, Wyoming’s health care is not on par with much of the rest of the country. The state’s quality of health care is ranked far below the 10 most popular states for retirees, according to reports from the federal government.
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