Retirement means no longer having to sweat over how to tackle your company’s latest project, what you need to land your next promotion or who microwaved fish in the office breakroom.

But the end of your career brings new questions including where to spend your days now that you no longer punch the clock.

Should you settle by a bright beach and humming population hub? Or maybe in a place where residents wave to each other and green grass grows?

Perhaps a place near the center of it all: Nebraska.

The Cornhusker State is the best state to retire, according to a new Bankrate study, followed by Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota and Florida. Maryland, on the other hand, comes in the last place in our ranking. New York and Alaska also might be better for retirees to visit than reside, according to the study.

For this study, Bankrate looked at affordability, weather and a number of other factors important to retirees. We also created an interactive tool that allows you to see how the results change based on your preferences in retirement.

Ranking of best and worst states for retirement
State Overall rank Affordability Crime Culture Weather Wellness
Source: Bankrate’s 2019 “Best and worst states for retirement” study
Nebraska 1 14 19 21 30 8
Iowa 2 8 15 20 34 12
Missouri 3 1 42 33 19 27
South Dakota 4 17 23 12 39 10
Florida 5 25 29 13 2 31
Kentucky 6 9 9 46 15 24
Kansas 7 7 39 37 20 21
North Carolina 7 13 28 28 12 33
Montana 9 16 31 2 45 20
Hawaii 10 45 24 9 1 9
Arkansas 11 4 46 39 9 34
Wisconsin 12 20 15 17 43 7
North Dakota 13 22 17 26 49 2
Vermont 14 42 1 3 44 1
New Hampshire 15 39 1 4 41 3
Alabama 16 10 44 44 7 31
Texas 17 24 37 50 4 13
Idaho 18 15 4 30 42 15
Mississippi 19 6 24 49 6 40
Wyoming 20 23 9 13 46 11
Oklahoma 21 11 41 43 11 35
Tennessee 22 12 46 34 14 35
Massachusetts 23 43 11 9 33 4
Michigan 24 1 22 35 40 43
West Virginia 25 18 18 27 24 39
Ohio 26 5 19 29 26 47
Rhode Island 27 44 8 5 28 16
Georgia 28 19 35 45 5 44
Indiana 29 3 27 41 25 46
Connecticut 30 46 7 8 29 5
Maine 31 35 3 1 48 18
Delaware 32 30 36 9 16 41
Colorado 33 36 32 22 37 6
Pennsylvania 34 28 13 15 31 28
Utah 35 21 21 47 32 17
Louisiana 36 29 48 48 3 25
New Mexico 37 26 49 38 21 22
Arizona 38 33 43 39 10 29
Virginia 39 32 6 36 17 42
Minnesota 40 31 14 31 47 14
South Carolina 41 27 45 22 8 50
New Jersey 42 48 5 16 22 23
California 43 49 34 17 13 19
Oregon 44 37 30 6 35 45
Nevada 45 34 40 17 27 48
Washington 46 41 37 25 36 37
Illinois 47 40 26 32 23 49
Alaska 48 38 49 24 50 26
New York 49 50 11 7 38 30
Maryland 50 47 33 42 18 37

The best state for retirement

Why should retirees pull the moving van off Interstate 80 and unpack in Nebraska?

The state has an average annual temperature of 49 degrees. So while the heartland can count on experiencing all four seasons, it’s no Hawaii, which had an average annual temperature closer to 80 degrees, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data Bankrate analyzed.

Nebraska lagged behind on weather compared with other states, but it fared well on the other measures in the ranking: affordability, crime, culture and wellness.

Wellness was especially a bright spot with Nebraska ranking No. 8 out of 50 states. Dialing in on health care specifically, Nebraska had 61 percent of the health measures that achieved the benchmark or better, according to the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. That’s a higher percentage than about two-thirds of the other states, the data show.