Is the Sun Belt Really all that?

Retirees still tend to flock to the sunny and warm parts of the country. Most of those areas are so nice in the wintertime, but many are unbearable in the summer. Retirees with enough money to have two houses often spend winters in Arizona and return to a northern climate area in the summer. For people looking to live in one place all year round the decision to ditch winter weather can be very uncomfortable in the summer. 

The annual United Van Lines moving report shows the following states had the highest percentage of inbound moves with retirement stated as the reason for the move.

1. Florida (39%)
2. South Carolina (37%)
3. Arizona (36%)
4. Delaware (34%)
5. Idaho (29%)
6. Nevada (29%)
7. Wyoming (28%)
8. Mississippi (28%)
9. New Mexico (27%)
10. Maine (27%)

For several years Washington State was the number one state to retire to in the northern latitudes but one can see that Maine, Idaho, Delaware, and Wyoming are ahead of Washington which failed to make the top ten for the first time in quite awhile. Washington's popularity has waned a bit most likely due to the high cost of real estate. The median home price in Washington State is significantly higher than any of the state on this top ten list. It should be noted that this particular list is a percentage and Washington still gets a high volume of retirees but we are also getting a lot of young professionals moving here and that waters down the percentage a bit. 

Here in the west, Arizona is the King Kahuna of retirement spots. They have reasonable priced real estate, but it is rising a bit, they have decent low taxes, and they are undoubtedly warm. I could not live in Arizona year round. I would rather freeze in the North Dakota winter than burn in the Arizona summer. Phoenix Arizona averages 110 days per year at or above 100º and nearly as many nights that failed to drop below 90º. Vancouver, Washington on average has... wait for it... ZERO days above 100º. Now before people freak out and point out each time the century mark was pierce I wrote "on average". A typical year produces about 0.4 100 degree days on average. I have recorded a few summers that had 3 or 4 and I once went 4 years in a row without recording one. 

For retirees trying to avoid the deep chill and heavy snow shoveling, Western Washington is the place. Snowfall is fairly light in most places West of the Cascades at lower elevations between sea level and 500 feet. It does get a bit drippy but the temperatures are comfortably mild 95% of the year.

Washington State remains an excellent place to retiree with no state income tax and mild weather in most areas. What are you waiting for?