Rhode Island Not A Bad Place To Retire: Study

Rhode Island ranked relatively high in a recent study of the best states for recent retirees.

The study, conducted by Legacy Healing Center luxury rehabs, analyzed seven factors linked to senior well-being, according to a media release.

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The factors examined were senior suicide rates, share of elders living alone, life expectancy at 65, senior volunteer rates, overall state happiness, senior depression prevalence and senior centers per 100,000 seniors.

"Retirement isn’t just about warmer weather, lower taxes or moving closer to family," the release said. "New research suggests the happiest retirement years may depend more on mental health, life expectancy, social connection and whether older adults have access to support in their communities."

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The researchers from Legacy Healing Center then ranked the 48 contiguous United States, leaving out Alaska and Hawaii.

Rhode Island placed 14th out of the 48 states, one ahead of Iowa and a spot behind North Dakota.

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The top state for recent retirees was New Jersey, followed by Connecticut and South Dakota.

The worst state, according to the study, was West Virginia.

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"The state had the lowest overall happiness score, at 32.0, the highest senior depression prevalence, at 21.5%, and one of the lowest life expectancies at 65, at 16.1 years," according to the release.

The second worst state Louisiana and Kentucky was third from the bottom.

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