Are you trying to decide between retiring in South Carolina and North Carolina? Today I am going to share with you reports from 3 major publications who have ranked South Carolina and North Carolina in a head-to-head comparison for the best place to retire, I think you might be as surprised as I was as to who won the title of best Carolina to retire. Plus I’m also debunk one of the biggest myths about these two states.
I’m Keith Lucas a broker associate at LPT Realty and 25-year veteran of the real estate industry if this is your first visit to my channel welcome to my channel and if you’re returning viewer welcome back.
Ok one thing is for sure, there is a rivalry between these two states, and it is truly legit, it even spills over into bragging rights for best place to retire.
Now I may be a bit biased because well after all live in Charleston, South Carolina, but I wanted this to be a fair comparison, so I’ve gone out to the 3 big boys who rank the best places to retire in the country and researched what they had to say and here’s are their findings.
Let’s take a look first at our friends over at WalletHub they have ranked South Carolina number 12 overall for places to retire with a total score of 53.57
it also had an affordability ranking of #3 with quality of life ranking at 38 and health care at 35
Now when we compare that to North Carolina, North Carolina ranks at #18
With a 52.06 total score
An affordability rating of 10
And quality of life ranking coming in at 26 and healthcare coming in at 38
The numbers that are represented here are from zero to 100 and the lower the score the better the overall livability for retirees are in that state
[Lean in, wink, and not for nothing, our friends at Wallethub also ranked Charleston the #2 place to retire and the next best ranking for North Carolina cities was Raleigh, which came in at #26, Hey I said I was biased]
Next, I went over to check out what credit karma had to say about the best state to retire in and there again I found South Carolina coming in more favorably than North Carolina
South Carolina was ranked overall number 19
And had an overall score of 14.39
The cost-of-living was ranked at 22
With Senior living ranking was 35
And the annual senior health care cost ranking was 9 so again zero to 100 are the parameters and the closer to zero you are the better off you are
Now compared to North Carolina they came in ranking number 32 with an overall score of 15.79
The cost-of-living ranking was 23, the senior living rank was 40 and the annual senior health care cost ranking was at 6, so here again South Carolina takes the win from credit karma
And lastly, I took a look at bankrate.com
And this is what they had to say, but this time things have flipped around a little bit with North Carolina scoring better than South Carolina
North Carolina came in at #11 versus South Carolina at 16
So here are the rankings according to Bankrate
North Carolina is ranked number 11
It has an overall score of 23.4 an affordability rank of 11
A Wellness rank of 37
A cultural rank of 27 a weather rank of 29
And a crime rate of 32
And swinging down to South Carolina they put it at number 16
With an overall score of 24.3
An affordability ranking of 9
A Wellness rank of 40
A cultural rank at 21 the weather rank is 33
And their crime rank is 46
OK so there you have it by the numbers And it seems that South Carolina has edged out North Carolina as the more favorable place to retire, according to these reports.
Now to debunk that myth about these two states. During my research into the best Carolina to retire in, I kept seeing statements that said because of its geographical size South Carolina was more densely populated than its cousin to the North. Um, Wrong [Buzzer sound].
So here are the facts, North Carolina is twice the geographic size of South Carolina, and its population is approximately 10 million people where South Carolina is half the geographic size, its population is approximately 5 million.
So how can South Carolina be more densely populated? It is half the geographic size with half the population; therefore, they are equal when it comes to states density. It’s like saying what weighs more a ton of gold or a ton of feathers?
So, what does this mean if you are looking to retire in one of the Carolinas? If you’re looking for a state with more hustle and bustle, and bigger cities, North Carolina is likely a good choice. If you’re after a more small-town feel, and southern charm, then South Carolina would be more ideal.
What’s your opinion on the best place to retire? Drop your vote in the comments below, I’d love to hear where you think the best place to retire is.
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