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The Cost To Retire Comfortably for 30 Years in the 13 States in the West

October 11, 2024

5 min Read

Written by J. David Herman

Edited by Gary Dudak

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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.

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

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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