Americans Are Flocking To Texas, So Why Does It Rank As The Second Worst U.S. State To Retire In?

Texas is the top state for domestic in-migration in 2024. While hundreds of thousands of Texas residents moved out of the state, even more people moved in from other states — about 85,000 net new domestic movers, according to U.S. Census data. Texas is clearly a popular destination, so why did it score 49th — second worst! — in Bankrate’s survey of best states for retirement?

Texas ranks second-worst for retirement: Here’s why

Everyone knows Texas for its low taxes and warm, sunny weather — but that’s about where the superlatives end, at least according to Bankrate’s 2025 survey of best states for retirement. In fact, the Lone Star State scored in the bottom one-quarter of all states in all but two of the eight categories used in the survey, including dead last in the health care category (more below).

Some of the discrepancy between Texas as an overall destination and a retirement destination is due to the issues that are most relevant to America’s seniors.

“While Texas shines in the local tax category, it scores poorly in several other areas important to retirees, such as health care quality and accessibility, neighborhood safety, low home insurance costs, and vulnerability to natural disasters like hurricanes,” says Stephen Kates, CFP, Bankrate financial analyst.

The survey weighted affordability most heavily (at about 28 percent), and Texas ranked 42nd there. In the health care category, which was weighted at 16 percent, the state came in last.

“Texas ranks last in health care, which is troubling for retirees who depend on accessible, high-quality care later in life,” says Kates. “The low ranking is primarily due to two main factors: a high rate of care being avoided due to cost and a low number of health care providers relative to the population.”

Texas also turned in a surprisingly bad performance in at least one category: weather. Weather was weighted 18 percent in the final ranking, the second-heaviest weighting. Texas ranked 47th, a performance that belied its reputation as a sun-drenched mecca.

While the state certainly did perform well when it came to sunny days, its performance was significantly hurt by the sub-category of natural disasters (including tornadoes, hurricane landfalls and earthquakes), where it ranked last. It also fared among the worst (45th) when it comes to temperature extremes, either higher or lower.

Texas cities may differ markedly from the overall score

It’s important to remember that these rankings look at the state as a whole, and so any individual area within the state may differ substantially — either better or worse — from the overall score.

“Texas is a large state, so the experience of someone living in Travis County may be very different from that of someone in Harris or El Paso counties,” says Kates. “These regional differences matter more for individuals considering retirement in Texas than they might for someone retiring in a smaller state like Rhode Island.”

So when it comes down to it, those considering Texas or any other state should look closely at the local amenities to see if their needs would be met. Of course, the needs of a working-age mover will likely differ significantly from those of a retiree, so it’s vital for seniors to factor in what are likely to be their future needs over two or perhaps three decades of retirement, too.

“It’s important for retirees who are thinking about relocating to do their homework and understand the specific benefits and drawbacks of the city or town where they might live,” says Kates.

Texas as a retirement destination: In the numbers

To rank the best and worst states for retirees, Bankrate compared all 50 states across 15 data points spanning eight categories. Below are the eight categories used to rank the best states, including their weighting in the survey, what they measured and how Texas performed.

Each category was weighted according to responses from a public opinion poll that asked respondents what they considered to be most important when choosing a place to retire.

Affordability (28 percent)

• Cost of living index from the Council for Community and Economic Research (2024)
• Average annual home insurance premiums from Bankrate’s Quadrant data (May 2025)

How Texas ranked: 42nd

Weather (18 percent)

• Hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2013 to 2022) and the U.S. Geological Survey (2000 to 2015)
• Heating/cooling degree days, which is a measure of the number of days that are hotter/colder than the standard temperature in the U.S. (65° Fahrenheit) from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center (2025)
• Average annual sunlight exposure per state, collected by the Center for Disease Control’s National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (2020)

How Texas ranked: 47th

Neighborhood safety (17 percent)

• Violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents from Neighborhood Scout (2023)

How Texas ranked: 38th

Health care (16 percent)

• Access to care, a composite metric from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2024), including percentage of adults who avoided health care due to costs, number of dental providers and primary care providers per 100,000 residents and percentage of the population who are uninsured.
• Quality of health care is a composite metric from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2024), including percentage of adults who reported having a personal doctor or health care provider and the number of discharges following hospitalization for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.

How Texas ranked: 50th

Local taxes (9 percent)

• State tax competitiveness index from the Tax Foundation (2025)

How Texas ranked: 7th

Arts, entertainment and recreation (7 percent)

• Arts, entertainment & recreation establishments per 100,000 residents from the U.S. Census (2023)

How Texas ranked: 40th

People of similar age (3 percent)

• Adults 65 or older per 100,000 residents from the U.S. Census (2023)

How Texas ranked: 49th

Other (2 percent)

• This metric included various factors, including walk score from Walkscore.com (2025), Community Well-Being Index from Sharecare (2023), air pollution particles per cubic meter from the American Health Ranking (2023) and percentage of state public water systems with violations from the Environmental Protection Agency (2024)

How Texas ranked: 33rd