Survey Says: 2024 Most Age-Friendly States

Here are the 2024 top states for age-friendly living. How does your state rank? See the full list and add your own star rating and comments on your community.

In the minds of older residents, how is your state faring when it comes to age-friendly living? In its ongoing approval rating survey regarding the communities older adults live in, the Age Friendly Institute collected more than 75,000 submissions from older residents across America. On AgeFriendly.com, older residents rated their own town on age-friendly domains used by the World Health Organization, including Access to Care, Available Jobs/Volunteer Work, Community Engagement, Convenient Transportation, Continuing Education, and General Livability.

The survey gives visibility into how sentiment changes over time, and enables leaders to track progress and set new targets. The Age-Friendly Institute compiled responses at the state level. Utah earned the highest ratings by its older residents, followed (in order) by Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Idaho, Georgia, and Florida (see full list below).

 

2024 State Rankings:

2024 Ranking	State	2024 Star Rating (0-5 Stars)
1	Utah	4.14
2	Louisiana	4.09
3	South Carolina	3.99
4	Arkansas	3.99
5	Hawaii	3.98
6	Kentucky	3.97
7	Massachusetts	3.96
8	Idaho	3.94
9	Georgia	3.93
10	Florida	3.93
11	Maryland	3.88
12	North Carolina	3.88
13	Washington	3.87
14	Mississippi	3.86
15	Minnesota	3.85
16	New Jersey	3.85
17	West Virginia	3.84
18	Alabama	3.84
19	Illinois	3.84
20	Oklahoma	3.83
21	New Hampshire	3.81
22	Rhode Island	3.81
23	California	3.81
24	New Mexico	3.80
25	Oregon	3.80
26	Indiana	3.80
27	Wisconsin	3.80
28	Texas	3.79
29	Maine	3.79
30	Missouri	3.79
31	North Dakota	3.79
32	Michigan	3.78
33	Wyoming	3.77
34	New York	3.76
35	Pennsylvania	3.74
36	Virginia	3.72
37	Tennessee	3.70
38	Ohio	3.69
39	Kansas	3.68
40	Connecticut	3.66
41	Arizona	3.66
42	Nebraska	3.65
43	Iowa	3.61
44	Delaware	3.60
45	Alaska	3.55
46	DC	3.51
47	Montana	3.50
48	Vermont	3.48
49	Nevada	3.42
50	Colorado	3.41
51	South Dakota	2.59

 

The Age-Friendly Institute worked on the rankings with Dr. Alexandre Kalache — who conceived the age-friendly communities program for the World Health Organization (WHO) — to survey people about how age-friendly they thought their communities were.

They used WHO’s eight criteria: community and healthcare; transportation; housing; social participation; outdoor spaces and buildings; respect and social inclusion; civic participation and employment and communication and information.

“It’s important to look at the results as ‘directional,’” Kalache told MarketWatch in 2023. By that, we mean, don’t assume the No. 4 state on the list is worse than the No. 3 state on the list. They are both great places where a lot of older residents are very happy. There is, however, a meaningful difference between No. 3 and No. 30.”

Remember, too, Kalache added, that this ranking is based on how satisfied residents who’ve chosen their communities are with the choice they’ve made. It’s not, therefore, based on data.

Older Utah residents across the state appear to be very satisfied.  Exceptions come primarily from those who are concerned about bias when it comes to age in the workplace.  Here are selected reviews from Utah locals:

• "West Jordan is a great community for families and senior living.  Some of the perks that would interest a senior looking for a great home include - friendly neighborhoods, low crime rates, accessible public transportation, walking distance to churches, shopping, large park, library, senior center and recreation center."
• "Salem is a very agreeable and faith driven community with a strong standard of living, and high emphasis on respect for one another, especially for elderly members of the community. We have highly engaging sports and activity programs, as well as vigilant community outreach and support programs. Most of our community is quick to assist our elderly and/or diabled neighbors in snow removal, landscape and/or automotive maintenance etc."
• "Lindon is one of the most desirable cities to live in in Utah. Lindon has a very friendly atmosphere, a great senior citizens senior meals program. The scenery is very good. It is in close proximity of of all medical needs, shopping, fitness facilities, and recreation, and has that small town feel to it."
• "Bountiful is a very age-friendly place to live. There's plenty of outdoor activities, shopping, and performing arts for families to enjoy. Whether you want to take a hike up Mueller Park or spend the night cruising downtown, Bountiful is a great place to live."
• "Riverton is a fantastic city to live in. The schools are updated, clean and kid friendly. Neighbors bring you cookies and nod hello when you pass them. Jobs are abundant. It's overall living quality is high in my book."
• "Taylorsville has a brand new retirement community called Summit Vista. One of the largest in Utah. There's great shopping, theaters,  and many recreational activities."
• "There is rampant age discrimination for getting a job for seniors in this city [Salt Lake City].  they want to hire mostly people younger than 55.  Especially if you're 60 or older it is very tough getting a job here as a professional."

See the The Most Age-Friendly States rankings from 2023 including the Announcement by World Health Organization's Alana Officer, Head of Demographic Change and Healthy Ageing: