Vast and geographically diverse, the western United States has a lot to offer retirees. Maybe you’re drawn to its beaches, mountains, wide-open spaces, major cities, rugged spirit or countless other features.
But before you settle in the West — or any region — it’s worth a look at how long your retirement savings and other retirement income would last you there.
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Let’s start by defining the western United States, with help from the U.S. Census Bureau. The region includes 13 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
There’s also the cost of living vs. the cost of living comfortably, for which there are numerous variables. For the purposes of this study, GOBankingRates calculated the total cost of living for age 65+ in each state. To establish the “comfortably” threshold, we then took each state’s cost-of-living figure and doubled it. That may be lean for some people, but for many it would be more than enough to feel financially secure and pursue those post-work dreams. You can find our full methodology at the end of the story.
Not surprisingly, the cost of living varies widely from western state to western state. Set up shop in Hawaii, and your annual cost of living comfortably will be around $220,000. In New Mexico, you can live comfortably for more like $83,000 a year.
With many of us expecting retirements lasting 30 years or more, we penciled things out that far for each state in the region. We’ve also included costs to live comfortably for 15 and 20 years.
Alaska
- Total population: 733,583
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $107,540
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,613,107
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,150,809
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,226,214
Arizona
- Total population: 7,359,197
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $109,353
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,640,290
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,187,053
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,280,580
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California
- Total population: 39,029,342
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $173,553
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $2,603,291
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $3,471,054
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $5,206,581
Colorado
- Total population: 5,839,926
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $121,575
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,823,628
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,431,504
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,647,256
Hawaii
- Total population: 1,440,196
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $218,621
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $3,279,322
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $4,372,430
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $6,558,644
Idaho
- Total population: 1,939,033
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $108,750
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,631,247
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,174,996
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,262,494
Montana
- Total population: 1,122,867
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $108,112
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,621,677
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,162,236
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,243,353
Nevada
- Total population: 3,177,772
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $109,067
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,636,011
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,181,347
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,272,021
New Mexico
- Total population: 2,113,344
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $83,282
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,249,232
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $1,665,643
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $2,498,465
Oregon
- Total population: 4,240,137
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $121,811
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,827,160
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,436,214
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,654,321
Utah
- Total population: 3,380,800
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $118,637
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,779,548
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,372,730
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $3,559,095
Washington
- Total population: 7,785,786
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $136,816
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $2,052,240
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $2,736,320
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $4,104,480
Wyoming
- Total population: 581,381
- Annual cost to live comfortably: $89,118
- Total cost to live comfortably, 15 years: $1,336,767
- Total cost to live comfortably, 20 years: $1,782,357
- Total cost to live comfortably, 30 years: $2,673,535
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates found the cost of living for each Western U.S. state as sourced from the Missouri Economic Research Information Center. For each state, the average expenditure costs for residents aged 65 and over were calculated using the national average expenditure costs (sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey). The average single-family home value was sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index. By assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate (sourced from Federal Reserve Economic Data), the average mortgage was calculated. Using the average mortgage and expenditure costs, the total monthly and annual cost of living was calculated. These costs were doubled to determine numbers for “living comfortably” and figured for 15-, 20- and 30-year periods. An inflation rate of 2.53% was used (sourced from USInflationCalculator.com). An expected annual rate of return of 10.52% was used (sourced from Vanguard’s How America Saves). All data was collected and is up to date as of September 16th, 2024.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The Cost To Retire Comfortably for 30 Years in the 13 States in the West
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