Chart: The Best—and Worst—Places to Build a Nest Egg

Numbers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia

July 22, 2010 RSS Feed Print

As workers throughout the country struggle to rebuild their savings, it's clear that not all states are created equal. With that in mind, U.S. News created an index to measure which states are the best—and worst—for Americans who are saving for retirement. We've looked at each state's housing market, unemployment rate, per capita income, and taxes to get a sense of where Americans are most likely to be able to tuck away money for their nest eggs.

[See the best and worst places to build a nest egg.]

All state-by-state income figures are from 2010. The numbers are nominal, meaning that they're not adjusted for inflation. Tax burdens are from a 2008 study by the Tax Foundation. Real estate numbers refer to how much (per year) each state's home prices are expected to grow between 2010 and 2013. Unemployment rates are from June 2010. For home prices, income, tax burdens, and unemployment, states were divided into 10 brackets based on their relative performance. For each category, states in the bottom bracket received 1 point, while states in the top bracket received 10 points. States with preferential tax treatment for capital gains got a two-point bonus. The maximum total score that a state could receive is 42 points.

[See slideshow: the best and worst places to build a nest egg.]

Here's a look at the numbers from each state.

State	Per Capita Income ($)	Annual Growth in Home Prices (%)	State and Local Tax Burden (% of income)	Unemployment Rate (%)	Treatment of Capital Gains	Score
Wyoming	45,584	4.5	7.0	6.8	Preferential	40
New Hampshire	42,967	1.1	7.6	5.9	Preferential	39
Alaska	43,369	3.5	6.4	7.9	Preferential	38
Washington	41,855	6.6	8.9	8.9	Preferential	32
North Dakota	39,444	0.2	9.2	3.6	Preferential	30
Montana	34,239	3.1	8.6	7.3	Preferential	29
Vermont	39,510	0.9	10.3	6	Preferential	29
South Dakota	37,221	-1.4	7.9	4.5	Preferential	28
Minnesota	41,727	0.8	10.2	6.8	Normal	27
New Mexico	33,524	2.1	8.6	8.2	Preferential	27
Texas	36,469	0.1	8.4	8.2	Preferential	27
Louisiana	35,759	0	8.4	7	Normal	26
Massachusetts	50,320	0.4	9.5	9	Normal	26
Nebraska	38,765	0.5	9.8	4.8	Normal	26
Colorado	41,235	-0.2	9	8	Normal	25
Iowa	37,306	-0.2	9.3	6.8	Normal	25
Maine	37,225	3.1	10	8	Normal	25
Connecticut	54,671	1.1	11.1	8.8	Normal	24
Illinois	41,545	1.4	9.3	10.4	Normal	24
Kansas	38,561	-0.2	9.6	6.5	Normal	24
Virginia	44,113	-0.3	9.8	7	Normal	24
Hawaii	42,372	-1.7	10.6	6.3	Preferential	22
Maryland	48,570	-0.5	10.8	7.1	Normal	22
New Jersey	50,498	0.6	11.8	9.6	Normal	22
Oregon	35,694	3.4	9.4	10.5	Normal	22
Rhode Island	41,746	1.5	10.2	12	Preferential	22
South Carolina	32,229	1.7	8.8	10.7	Preferential	22
Delaware	39,821	-0.7	9.5	8.5	Normal	21
Tennessee	34,471	-0.2	8.3	10.1	Preferential	21
Utah	30,700	0.7	9.6	7.2	Normal	21
Wisconsin	36,893	0.1	10.2	7.9	Preferential	21
Florida	37,600	-5.0	7.4	11.4	Preferential	20
Nevada	37,771	-2.3	6.6	14.2	Preferential	20
Oklahoma	35,413	-0.3	9.8	6.8	Normal	20
Pennsylvania	40,147	0.6	10.2	9.2	Normal	20
West Virginia	32,549	0.3	9.3	8.5	Normal	20
District Of Columbia	67,341	-0.7	10.3	10	Normal	19
North Carolina	34,735	1.3	9.8	10	Normal	19
Alabama	33,544	0	8.6	10.3	Normal	17
Arizona	32,746	-1.5	8.5	9.6	Normal	17
Arkansas	31,985	-0.2	10	7.5	Preferential	17
Idaho	31,804	0.9	10.1	8.8	Normal	17
Michigan	34,535	0.7	9.4	13.2	Normal	17
Mississippi	30,603	0.7	8.9	11	Normal	17
New York	47,727	-2.1	11.7	8.2	Normal	17
Missouri	35,871	-2.1	9.2	9.1	Normal	16
Georgia	33,708	0.5	9.9	10	Normal	16
Indiana	34,196	-2.0	9.4	10.1	Normal	14
Kentucky	32,476	-0.9	9.4	10	Normal	12
California	42,346	-2.6	10.5	12.3	Normal	11
Ohio	35,662	-3.5	10.4	10.5	Normal	9

Sources: The Tax Foundation, Case Shiller, Moody's Analytics, the National Association of Realtors, Equifax, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Census Bureau.