South Dakota tops list of best places to grow old

WASHINGTON — Caring.com’s list of the best places to grow old is topped by some states you might not think of as retirement destinations.

Topping the list is South Dakota, followed by Iowa. That’s right: Neither Florida nor Arizona made the top 10.

Caring.com assembled its ratings after looking at data on quality of life for those over 55, quality of healthcare, long-term care, support for seniors and family caregivers, affordability of senior care and ratings of senior care providers in each state.

WHERE TO GROW OLD — TOP 10 

1. South Dakota
2. Iowa
3. Minnesota
4. Alaska
5. Oregon
6. Colorado
7. Hawaii
8. South Carolina
9. Nebraska
10. Wisconsin

Costs of health care in the top two states are around the national average of $36,000 a year for an assisted living community and around $52,000 for a home health aide.

Minnesota’s costs were higher: $42,000 for assisted living and $57,000 for a home health aide.

WHERE TO GROW OLD — BOTTOM STATES

• West Virginia
• New Jersey
• New York
• Kentucky
• Indiana
• Rhode Island
• Mississippi

Rounding out the bottom 10 are Pennsylvania and Ohio, which are tied, and Alabama.

West Virginia is “sorely lacking in important quality of life and healthcare offerings for seniors, ranking dead last in this category,” Caring.com says.

Here are the full rankings from Caring.com: