15 worst states for retirees

When work becomes over-the-top crazy, I love to dream about the states to which my husband and I might retire. Yes, that’s many years away, but it’s fun to look at websites with houses for sale in those areas and imagine life inside them.

In reality, of course, what is a dream location in one respect can be a nightmare in another. So you have to weigh the variables — affordability, crime rate, health care quality and other quality-of-life issues — before deciding to retire to a new state. Since survey results of such livability factors are sliced and diced in different ways, I took a look at several ranking lists to compile this list of worst options for retirees.

In the end, you’ll have to weigh your own priorities, of course. Your concern about the crime rate, weather, or quality of care might not be the same as mine. And you might decide being near family (or far from them!) makes everything else irrelevant.

But this ranking will help you jump-start your retirement planning. Review the 15 states Bankrate deemed the worst for retirees and how they square with other rankings, starting with the best of the worst first: