SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. — According to a new survey, Florida just lost its top ranking as the best place for retirees.
The financial website WalletHub found the Sunshine State slipped to No. 2 behind Virginia.
Florida actually beat Virginia soundly in two of the three categories, measured including affordability and quality of life.
But this year, Florida scored poorly enough in the category of healthcare that it dragged the state’s overall score down to the number two spot.
“A lot of things have happened in the last few months to make Florida unattractive to a lot of people,” said Ed – a Sun City Center Retiree.
Dawn Carr, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Florida State University says the older people get the more important that healthcare component can become.
“I think the biggest challenge we have is that if people are thinking more long-term in those later years, the very latest years - where they want to be and where they’re going to get their greater supports they may be a little more hesitant,” said Carr. “So, they may be wanting to be closer to family and other factors.”
Despite WalletHub’s findings, Florida still has bragging rights as the top destination when it comes to attracting retirees.
According to AARP, about 234,000 retirees moved to a new state last year.
Florida accounted for close to 12% of them.