A new national report ranking New York near the bottom as a place to retire is adding fuel to growing concerns about affordability and the state’s accelerating loss of older residents.
According to a recent analysis by CareScout, New York ranks next to last for retirement, an eight-place drop from the previous year. The study evaluated states based on affordability, quality of life, and access to health care—areas where New York, under Gov. Kathy Hochul, continues to struggle as taxes, housing costs, and energy prices climb.
“A state that ranks 49th in the nation for retirees is a state that has failed its seniors, and that failure starts at the top,” said Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running for governor this year. “Kathy Hochul keeps taking more out of seniors’ pockets. She raised taxes, caused electricity costs to explode, and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on programs riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse. For retirees, that means less money for groceries, less money for medical care, and less security in the years when they should finally be able to relax.”
Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano said the report highlights a deeper demographic problem facing the state. “New York leads the nation in outmigration, and seniors are a huge part of that,” DeStefano said. “I hear from families all the time who are heartbroken because parents and grandparents are leaving the state—not because they want to, but because they simply can’t afford to stay.”
DeStefano said retirees and younger residents alike are being pushed to states with lower taxes and lower costs of living. He placed the blame squarely on the policies of Gov. Hochul, saying they have created an affordability crisis and eroded retirement security. “These policies are breaking up families,” he said. “Seniors shouldn’t have to leave their support systems behind just to survive.”
The CareScout report also noted that nearly one-third of retirees nationwide are cutting back on essentials, with New York seniors facing some of the steepest financial pressure. Many older residents are delaying retirement or planning to work well into their 70s because they no longer feel financially secure.
Critics warn that continued retiree flight could weaken communities and shrink the state’s tax base, making New York an even more expensive place to grow old. “Kathy Hochul wants to spend $4.3 billion on illegal immigrants this year,” DeStefano said. “This is her plan to replace those who are leaving with new voters dependent on the taxpayer handouts she controls.”
With New York leading the nation in outmigration, seniors don’t have to go far to find a worse option: neighboring New Jersey now ranks as the nation’s worst state for retirees.