From Florida to Nevada, retirees are fleeing to no-tax states in search of financial 'heaven.' They don't always find it

Sunny, low-tax states like Florida, South Carolina and Nevada have become a magnet for U.S. retirees, with Florida alone placing four cities in the top 10 WalletHub's Best Places to Retir survey . Scottsdale, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada also placed in the top 12 slots in the survey.

Relocation and family finance experts say retirees are drawn to sunnier, usually southern U.S. locales not only due to the warmer climate, but for a lower, or no, tax-rate. Now, data is showing that many retirees are finding their new states bring countering cost of living issues to the buffet table, most notably homeowners association fees and sky-high home insurance rates.

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"Florida has no personal state income tax, which can be very attractive, particularly to higher-income retirees, but "no income tax" and "lower cost of living" are not the same thing," Nicole Brown, CEO of Pathways International Inc., a real estate and capital advisor, told Moneywise.

"The number that matters is net disposable income after the entire lifestyle is considered, not just the tax rate," she noted.

Here's what's happening on the low-tax retirement destination front

The rebound move is alive and well in the Sunshine State, with just the same numbers of retirees entering and leaving Florida. According to data from HigherAHelper's New Retirement Map , 45,696 Americans aged 65-or-over moved to Florida in 2025. Yet 44,881 retirees exited the state the same year, leaving Florida with an 815-retiree net gain for 2025.

No doubt, personal income flow plays a big role in who moves to a state like Florida and who leaves, retiree-wise. "The income issue is huge," Brown noted. "Two retirees with the same net worth can experience a move very differently depending on whether their cash flow comes from Social Security, pensions, tax-deferred retirement accounts, taxable investments, real-estate income or some combination."

What to do before making a move to a low-or-no tax state

If you're thinking of moving to Florida or any other low- or-no-tax state, consider these things beforehand.

Brown said that someone generating significant taxable working or investment income may place a much higher dollar value on moving to a state without personal income tax than someone whose income receives better treatment in their original state.