Lists of the best places for retirement—whether around the world or in the U.S.—are always hotly contested. Experts and financial advisors use various metrics to arrive at their conclusions. Readers weigh in with their experiences. There’s always very little consensus.
In one of the most recent lists, we visualized how Bankrate ranked the best states for retirement. But there’s what the data analysis says, and then there’s what the hard data says—that is, where are retirees actually moving?
This chart compares the states considered best for retirement (source linked to above) versus the top states by older adult net migration numbers (sourced from SmartAsset).