Most Americans are woefully underprepared for retirement. Based on analysis of Federal Reserve data by the accounting firm PwC, the typical American between the ages of 55 and 64 has just $120,000 in a retirement savings account. Though the vast majority of retirees supplement their savings with Social Security income, the average monthly Social Security payment is only $1,694 – not nearly enough to cover typical living expenses, let alone luxuries like travel and dining out.

Partially as a result, the number of Americans working past retirement age is rising fast. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that more than 26% Americans between ages 65 to 74 were still working in 2020, and that share is projected to hit 32% by 2030. In 1995, about 17.5% of Americans that age were working, and the percentage was even lower before that.

According to the Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the typical retirement-age American spent $52,141 in 2021. Adjusting this figure for average state-level cost of living, inflation, and average life expectancy at age 65 – plus a 15% financial cushion – Louisiana residents can reasonably expect to spend, on average, $1,210,620 over the course of their retirement starting at age 65, the 13th lowest amount of all states.

It is important to note that this figure does not reflect a retirement savings target, as investment and interest income, pension plans, and Social Security can each supplement retirement savings.

All data used for the calculations in this story are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the National Center for Health Statistics. For each year of life beyond age 65, we added 2% of annual expenditures to account for inflation, based on the Federal Reserve’s target inflation rate. Click here to read our full methodology.

 

Rank Geo Est. cost of a comfortable retirement at age 65 ($) Cost of living Pop. who are 65 and older (%)
1 Hawaii 1,501,762 13.2% higher than avg. 19.6
2 California 1,482,796 11.8% higher than avg. 15.2
3 New York 1,452,383 9.5% higher than avg. 17.5
4 New Jersey 1,447,011 9.1% higher than avg. 16.9
5 Washington 1,444,173 8.9% higher than avg. 16.2
6 Massachusetts 1,413,270 6.6% higher than avg. 17.4
7 Maryland 1,408,866 6.2% higher than avg. 16.3
8 Alaska 1,385,205 4.4% higher than avg. 13.4
9 Oregon 1,366,543 3% higher than avg. 18.6
10 Colorado 1,366,238 3% higher than avg. 15.1
11 Connecticut 1,360,853 2.6% higher than avg. 18.0
12 New Hampshire 1,359,620 2.5% higher than avg. 19.3
13 Virginia 1,356,543 2.3% higher than avg. 16.3
14 Rhode Island 1,353,956 2.1% higher than avg. 18.3
15 Florida 1,345,295 1.4% higher than avg. 21.1
16 Illinois 1,345,057 1.4% higher than avg. 16.6
17 Vermont 1,308,556 1.3% lower than avg. 20.6
18 Texas 1,306,460 1.5% lower than avg. 13.2
19 Minnesota 1,305,413 1.6% lower than avg. 16.8
20 Delaware 1,295,518 2.3% lower than avg. 20.1
21 Maine 1,289,258 2.8% lower than avg. 21.7
22 Arizona 1,282,839 3.3% lower than avg. 18.3
23 Pennsylvania 1,278,196 3.6% lower than avg. 19.0
24 Georgia 1,270,411 4.2% lower than avg. 14.7
25 Nevada 1,267,214 4.5% lower than avg. 16.5
26 Utah 1,254,601 5.4% lower than avg. 11.6
27 Michigan 1,250,105 5.7% lower than avg. 18.1
28 North Carolina 1,244,163 6.2% lower than avg. 17.0
29 South Carolina 1,242,677 6.3% lower than avg. 18.6
30 Wisconsin 1,238,088 6.7% lower than avg. 17.9
31 Indiana 1,229,971 7.3% lower than avg. 16.4
32 Ohio 1,226,310 7.5% lower than avg. 17.8
33 Missouri 1,220,514 8% lower than avg. 17.6
34 Idaho 1,217,252 8.2% lower than avg. 16.5
35 Nebraska 1,216,920 8.2% lower than avg. 16.4
36 Montana 1,214,480 8.4% lower than avg. 19.7
37 Wyoming 1,212,503 8.6% lower than avg. 17.9
38 Louisiana 1,210,620 8.7% lower than avg. 16.6
39 Kansas 1,209,042 8.8% lower than avg. 16.7
40 North Dakota 1,208,325 8.9% lower than avg. 16.0
41 Tennessee 1,205,023 9.1% lower than avg. 17.0
42 West Virginia 1,203,816 9.2% lower than avg. 20.7
43 Oklahoma 1,197,264 9.7% lower than avg. 16.2
44 South Dakota 1,195,646 9.9% lower than avg. 17.6
45 New Mexico 1,192,462 10.1% lower than avg. 18.5
46 Iowa 1,187,966 10.4% lower than avg. 17.8
47 Arkansas 1,186,335 10.6% lower than avg. 17.4
48 Kentucky 1,182,077 10.9% lower than avg. 17.0
49 Alabama 1,169,013 11.9% lower than avg. 17.6
50 Mississippi 1,148,614 13.4% lower than avg. 16.8